Bowen was born on a farm in
Lowell, Indiana during the
American Civil War. He graduated from
Drake University in
Des Moines, Iowa in 1894 and was admitted to the bar in both Iowa and California that year. Almost from the time he landed here he became interested in the tract which he afterward dedicated as Exposition Park. At that early day the place was known as Agricultural Park. . . . On it were a race track, a
rabbit chasing course, a
clubhouse and two
saloons which formed a hangout for race-track
touts and gamblers. In December 1918, as park commissioner, he made a proposal on behalf of Mayor
Frederic T. Woodman that a "gigantic monument," 250 feet high, be erected in Exposition Park in honor of military and naval troops who had fought in the
World War just ended and that it be surmounted by a "victory" figure, nine feet high, to rest on a bronze ball four feet in diameter. Access would be provided by a passenger elevator. He was the attorney for and a member of the
Board of Regents of the
University of California. ==Death==