Jean Lafitte
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- See also Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, United States.
Jean Lafitte or Laffite (ca1780 - ca1826?), was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. Lafitte was a colorful character, said to have been born in either France or Hispaniola in what is current day Haiti. Though well known in history and folklore, both the pirate's origins and his demise are unknown.
Lafitte established his own "kingdom" of Barataria in the swamps and bayous near New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. He claimed to command more than 1,000 men and provided them as troops for the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812, assisting Andrew Jackson in repulsing the British attack. Lafitte reportedly conducted his operations in the historic New Orleans French Quarter. His name is commonly associated with a building in the quarter that is known today as Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and operates as a tavern.
After being run out of New Orleans around 1817 Lafitte relocated to the island of Galveston, Texas establishing another "kingdom" of "Campeche." In Galveston Lafitte either purchased or set his claim to a lavishly furnished mansion used by French pirate Louis-Michel Aury, which he named "Maison Rouge." The building's upper level was converted into a fortress where cannon commanding Galveston harbor were placed. Around 1820 Lafitte reportedly married Madeline Regaud, possibly the widow or daughter of a French colonist who had died during an ill-fated expedition to Galveston. In 1821 the brig-of-war USS Enterprise was sent to Galveston to remove Lafitte's presence from the Gulf after one of the pirate's captains attacked an American merchant ship. Lafitte agreed to leave the island without a fight and in 1821 or 1822 departed on his flagship the Pride, burning his fortress and settlements and reportedly taking immense amounts of treasure with him. Currently the remains of Maison Rouge sit under the ruins of a later 19th century structure near downtown Galveston.
After his departure from Galveston, Lafitte was never heard from again. Rumors have long circulated that Lafitte died in a hurricane in the Gulf or in the Yucatan around 1826. A controversial manuscript, known as the 'Journal' of Jean Laffite, relates how, after his announced death in the 1820s, he lived in several states in the United States, and raised a family until his death in St. Louis in the 1840's. Reportedly at his request, the publication of the journal was delayed for 107 years and surfaced in the 1950's in the hands of a man claiming to be the pirate's descendant.
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Lafitte's Journal
The authenticity of the Lafitte Journal is hotly debated among Lafitte scholars, with some accepting the manuscript and others denouncing it as a forgery. The problem of authenticating the diary is confounded by the scarcity of genuine documents in Lafitte's handwriting for comparison. The most reliable genuine Lafitte documents are two short manuscripts from the library collection of Republic of Texas president Mirabeau B. Lamar, which are currently held by the Texas State Archives. Paper tests confirm that the Journal is written on paper from the 19th century, though no consensus exists about authenticity among a small number of handwriting experts who have studied the document. The original manuscript was purchased by Texas Governor Price Daniel in the 1970's and is on display at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Archives in Liberty, Texas. Translated versions of the journal have been in print since the 1950's.
Folklore
Lafitte claimed never to have plundered an American vessel, and though he engaged in the contraband slave trade, he is accounted a great romantic figure in Cajun Louisiana. The mystery surrounding Lafitte has only increased the legends surrounding his name. Lafitte was said to be a master mariner. According to one legend he was once caught in a tropical storm off the coast of Galveston and steered his ship to safety by riding the storm surge over Galveston island and into the harbor. Lafitte's lost treasure has acquired a lore of its own as it, along with his death, was never accounted for. He reportedly maintained several stashes of plundered gold and jewelry in the vast system of marshes, swamps, and bayous located around Galveston bay. Other rumors suggest that Lafitte's treasure is sunken with his ship, the Pride, either near Galveston or in the Gulf of Mexico where some believe it went down during an 1826 hurricane.
His legend was perpetuated in Cecil B. DeMille’s classic, The Buccaneer and even by a poem of Byron:
- He left a corsair's name to other times,
- Linked one virtue to a thousand crimes.
Other occurrences
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in Louisiana is named for him.
Lafitte is also the subject of the Contraband Days festival of Lake Charles, Louisiana, which occurs on the first two weeks of each May. The festival is held because of rumors of buried treasure in Lake Charles. The treasure has been said to be buried somewhere along Contraband Bayou. The festival features a band of actors portraying pirates, led by an actor portraying Lafitte, who sail into the city's namesake lake and capture the city's mayor, forcing him to walk the plank. No such event is known to have occurred, although there are unsubstantiated legends that Lafitte hid treasure in the area of the lake.
The breakfast cereal character Cap'n Crunch for a while had a pirate nemesis named Jean La Foote, after Lafitte.
The 13:th or 14:th generation of the comic book/comic strip character The Phantom, a pirate nemesis, was married to a sister of Jean Lafitte. (The 13:th Phantom according to a Sunday comic strip storyline published in 1979-1980, the 14:th Phantom according to a daily comic strip storyline published in 1994.)
Jean Lafitte is the name of a Cajun fishing village and tourist spot on Bayou Barataria.
Jean Lafitte is also the name of a street in Chalmette, Louisiana.
