OCR Text |
Show HISTORYS ! j MYSTERIES li j P J Unsolved Riddles Thai Still Punle j j Authorities Hers and Abrotd sjgy The Fate of Jean Lafitte TlIOL'titi less spectacular and Sensational Sen-sational than Capt. Kidd, Morgan and the other raiders of the Spanish Main, Jean I.atitte built up a name and a reputation for himself, which was a close second to those of the master pirates. In spite of the fact that he confined his operations to the j vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico nearly a full century after Kidd's exploits had passed Into history. The name l.al.lte, however, is more or less unfamiliar, principally on account ac-count of the mystery which surrounded surround-ed the man, for no one knew whence he came, Just what he did nor what finally became of him. As the name i would indicate, I.alitte was a French- man and well known lu the extremo South for nearly a score of years during dur-ing the early part of the last century, lie first attracted attention when he and his brother Pierre opened a blacksmith black-smith shop in New Orleans, principally principal-ly us a blind, for neither of them looked the part of a blacksmith nor made the slightest effort to appear like one. They prospered, however, for they secured negroes to handle the hard part of the work, while they directed di-rected larger and more lucrative enterprises. enter-prises. It was not long, however, before l.afitte's real occupation became known. He was a pirate who would frequently sally forth under cover of the night to the Gulf of Mexico and return hy no means empty handed. But it was not by piracy alone that the I.alittes made themselves rich. They worked out an even cleverer ga me. Realizing the great opportunity for money making through the importation importa-tion of negro slaves, the Laflttes hit upon the Idea that It would be an economy for them to seize the Spanish Span-ish slave ships off the Cuban coast and capture the slaves, thereby getting get-ting them without cost and practically practical-ly without danger, for the blacks could not be traced or Identified. Jean himself did not participate In such piratical work, for he was the "brains" of the organization, a captain cap-tain of Industry of his time who acknowledged ac-knowledged Inferiority to no one. Accordingly, Ac-cordingly, he gathered around him an army of no less than a thousand men and, after financing' the purchase of a small fleet of ships, Lafitte stayed home and posed as a gentleman while his employees carried out the plans which he had laid, returning with cargo car-go after cargo of slaves, valued at anywhere from SoOO to $5,000 each. In order successfully to carry on the work, Lafitte built a harbor and a fortified for-tified town of his own at Baratarla, and It was here that he made his headquarters. Finally, the government became cognizant cog-nizant of the illegitimate business which Lafitte was conducting but, as have his counterparts of more recent years, the master smuggler kept out of the clutches of the law for some time by means of bribes Judiciously applied. Then, just ns word was about to he sent out from Washington that Lafitte and his men must be swept from the Gulf, the War of 1812 broke out and the pirate slave trader was Ignored for larger game. When the British undertook the capture cap-ture of New Orleans, they offered Jean Lafitte a large sum of money for his assistance and thnt of his men, but instead of accepting the offer Lafitte Informed Andrew Jackson of the enemy's en-emy's plan and offered his services, which were gratefully accepted. In revenge the British burned the Lafitte plantation at Barataria and seized all the slaver's ships, but the United Stales, appreciating his assistance, pardoned him for all the crimes which he had committed, and when the war had ended Lafitte went back to his old pursuits, settling on the land now occupied oc-cupied by the city of Galveston, Texas. Tex-as. Finally, however, he became so audacious in his defiance of tlte government gov-ernment that his entire camp was seized In 1S20, but not before the pirate pi-rate himself had sailed away on a well-loaded treasure ship, never to be heard of thereafter. For a brief space of time the master mas-ter criminal, the pirate king, had come to the assistance of the nation which had sought to ruin his business and put him in irons. Then, after receiving receiv-ing a full and complete pardon, he returned re-turned once more to his old habits, again to attract the attention of the forces of law and order. What fate finally overtook him Is a riddle which has never been answered. (S bv the Whseler Syndicate.) |