His capture and eventual escape from hostile Chickasaw led him on a two-year adventure before returning to the United States from Cuba in 1782.
Their father and grandfather, George Bowman and Jost Hite, respectively, were also prominent pioneers in the Colony of Virginia.
[1] One of his patrilineal descendants, Alpheus Michael Bowman, was a successful Virginia businessman and politician during the late 19th century.
During this time, he was assigned to escort a number of high-level British officials and military officers as prisoners-of-war from Fort Vincennes to Williamsburg, Virginia, including Governor Henry Hamilton and Philippe-François de Rocheblave.
Returning to Illinois, he was reportedly present at the capture of Fort Vincennes and attended the burial of his brother in August 1779.
He was later chosen as a son-in-law and, although the details of this marriage are unrecorded, there is an account of members of the Lewis and Clark expedition who, in 1804, encountered an Indian woman who had the name of a "J.
Accounts differ as to the exact circumstances of his escape, another being that he was purchased by a man named Turnbull for a keg of whiskey and remained in his service until his debt was repaid.