Jean Lafitte
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Jean Lafitte or Laffite (ca1780 - ca1826?), was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He 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 (1815). Following this, Lafitte was engaged in the slave trade after it was banned.
Lafitte was a colorful character, said to have been born in France. He engaged in smuggling and privateering, from his "Kingdom of Barataria" (in what is now Louisiana) recognizing the sovereignty of no other nation.
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, raised a family and wrote this journal. At his request, the publication of the journal was delayed for 100 years. In the 1950's the journal was translated from the French language and published. The original manuscript was purchased by Texas Governor Price Daniel and is on display at the Sam Houston Regional Library and Archives in Liberty, Texas.
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. 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.
After the War of 1812, Lafitte was active in the Neutral strip of coast between Spanish Texas and American Louisiana, left unoccupied and lawless until 1821.
His later years are obscure; a man many said was Lafitte died in Yucatan.
A U.S. National Park is named for him, in six physically separate sites in southeastern Louisiana, interpreting the local Acadian culture. The Barataria Preserve (in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana) interprets the natural and cultural history of the uplands, swamps, and marshlands of the region. Six miles southeast of New Orleans is the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery, actual site of the 1815 battle and the final resting place for soldiers from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and Vietnam.
The breakfast cereal character Cap'n Crunch for a while had a pirate nemesis named Jean La Foote, after Lafitte.
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 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.
Jean Lafitte is the name of a Cajun fishing village and tourist spot on Bayou Barataria.
External links
- Jean Lafitte: Gentleman Pirate of New Orleans (http://www.crimelibrary.com/americana/lafitte/main.htm)
- The Legacy of Jean Lafitte in southwest Louisiana (http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/jean1.htm)
- Laffite Society (http://thelaffitesociety.com/)
- Contraband Days (http://www.contrabanddays.com/)
- Searching for the Real Jean Lafitte (http://www.frenchquarter.com/history/jeanlaffitte.php)