Crain, Robert H.

The Sandbar Fight developed at a duel between Samuel Levi Wells III and Dr. Thomas Maddox on a Mississippi River sandbar near Natchez, Miss., on September 19, 1827. After the principals had exchanged shots without effect, a melee developed among their supporters arising from individual feuds. Colonel Robert Crain, a supporter of Maddox, killed General Samuel Cuny. Jim Bowie, a supporter of Wells, killed Major Norris Wright, Sheriff of Rapides Parish, with his knife, thus beginning his reputation as the South's most formidable knife fighter.

From the description of Robert H. Crain letter, 1827. (Louisiana State University). WorldCat record id: 123131292