Lafitte the Pirate

This is my favorite privateer!! According to the El Lago Historical Society, Lafitte used to come to our neighborhood to hide from our first Navy Ship and/or to repair their ship after a damaging fight. Very interesting character!! Was NOT a pirate actually, but a gentleman privateer and smuggler of goods into LA when the US stopped allowing goods going into LA in hopes that they would buckle down and join the United States. Jean Lafitte was a war hero of The War of 1812 in New Orleans; then the current US Governor of LA following the war thanked them for their service and then immediately arrested as many as possible to hang them as pirates!! That's when Lafitte and what was left of his crew came to Galveston Island, TX. I have seen the remnants of his house's (or should say Fortress?) foundation and it's front steps. The Governor placed a price on Lafitte's head; Lafitte then placed a much higher fee on the Governor's head!! Gotta love him!

Saxon provides an decent overview of the life of Jean Lafitte (somtimes spelled Laffite) that is suitable for siting as a secondary resource of information. Although not a scholarly work in itself, the book should provide a most suitable platform or "guide book" from which more in-depth study can be done. While the author's own research is solid enough, the writing is not hampered by an academic, stiff style and his recounting of this fascinating figue carries merit for the recreational reading of amature history enthusiasts. Of the adult level, book length literature in print on the subject, this work could easily be considered as the cornersone of study for anyone interested in Jean Lafitte.