On Feb. 8, 1858, U.S. Rep. John Potter, of Wisconsin, - who was considered a backwoods hooligan by Southern aristocrats - leaped into a fight on the House floor. When Potter embarrassed a pro-slavery brawler by pulling off his wig, the gallery shouted that he'd taken a Southern scalp. Potter emerged from the melee covered in blood and marked by slave owners as an enemy.

Two years later, he accused Rep. Roger Pryor, of Virginia, of falsifying the Congressional Record. Pryor, feeling his character was being impugned, challenged Potter to a duel. According to Southern custom, a person challenged had the right to choose the weapons. These were usually inaccurate pistols fired at a safe enough distance for both parties to escape unhurt.

Potter, however, replied that he would only fight with "Bowie knives in a closed room," and his Southern challenger beat a hasty retreat.

The press had a field day, and Potter soon began to receive Bowie knives from anti-slavery groups around the nation. That summer, at the 1860 Republican convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln, the Missouri delegation gave him a 34-pound, 6-foot-long, folding knife. The blade was engraved: "Will always meet a Pryor engagement."

Six months later, the nation plunged into the Civil War and Southern lawmakers left Congress. "Bowie Knife" Potter (as he became known) served as Lincoln's ambassador to Canada before retiring to his Walworth County farm.

His knives, including the giant one, came to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

- Wisconsin Historical Society
www.wisconsinhistory.org

Odd Wisconsin Look for Odd Wisconsin on Wednesdays in the Local section. Let us know what you think:
justaskus@madison.com; 608-252- 6192; Just Ask Us, P.O. Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708.