Again on January 23, 1832, he went out in search of the mine. Again he was unsuccessful.

While visiting Natchez, Mississippi in July of 1832, Bowie heard the news that the Mexican commander of Nacogdoches, Texas, José de las Piedras, ordered all citizens to surrender their arms. The citizens refused. Bowie went to Nacogdoches and joined James W. Bullock and 300 men in their siege of the garrison there. Piedras chose to fight. In the subsequent fight, Piedras lost thirty three men killed. In the night, he attempted to lead his command out of the fort and southward. Bowie and eighteen others, ambushed Piedras command and marched the captured soldiers back to Nacogdoches. Piedras escaped.

In 1833, Bowie served as a delegate at the convention held at San Felipe. The convention wanted to have Texas as a separate state within the Mexico federation.

In September of 1833 a cholera epidemic struck Texas. As a safety precaution, Bowie had his wife and children move with her family to the family estate in Monclova. Sadly, Monclova experienced a large cholera outbreak, killing his wife, their two children and her entire family. Following that, Bowie began to drink heavily.

In 1834 and 1835, laws were changed allowing large-scale land speculation within the Texas. Land speculation was a specialty of James Bowie. He was appointed a land commissioner to promote the settlement of 400 leagues of land purchased by John T. Mason. Some citizens questioned Bowie’s handling of affairs involving the land parcels. In May of 1835, Santa Anna abolished the Coahuila-Texas government and ordered all Texans who were doing business in Monclova to be arrested. Bowie fled the capital and returned to Texas.

In the fall of 1835, Bowie led a small group of Texas militia to San Antonio to seize a number of muskets from a Mexican armory located there.

Under the command of Stephen F. Austin, Bowie and Captain James Fannin scouted south of Bexar for a new campsite. They were spotted by a patrol of the Mexican army. Bowie and his men drove off the attacking patrol.

At about dawn on October 28, 1835, while patrolling an area near Bexar, Bowie’s command was attacked in a heavy fog by a force of 300 cavalry and 100 infantry. They fought for three hours and the Mexican army withdrew, leaving 16 dead and carrying as many wounded with them. In the process, they captured a six-pound cannon and thirty muskets. Bowie lost one man in the fight. Bowie and Fannin, with their command, remained in the area south of Bexar, while Austin moved his army to the Alamo Canal. The battle became known as the Battle of Concepcion.

On the 26th, he and thirty horsemen went out to check on a Mexican pack train. He charged the cavalry escort and fought off several assaults by the Mexican infantry. The Mexicans retreated after heavy losses. The pack train was carrying grass for the garrison livestock. The battle became known as the Grass Fight.

Following the Grass Fight, Bowie headed to Goliad to assess the conditions there. While he was away, Burleson drove the Mexican forces out of Bexar on December 5.