The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1912-05-23

| splendid, handsome giant, the nero Vi
this story-neyer welded hammer or
shod horse In all his career. In
stead, he made negro slaves do the
rough work while he strolled about
the city and planned bigger enter
prises.
Jean Laftte was a BLACKBOARD. But
be was a manly, likeable blackguard-
And. once at least. lie did our country
valiant service. He was a pirate. Yet
some historians say he went TO sea
but twice In his life-once when he
came from France TO New Orleans as
a youth and once when he sailed
away from America in 1920. never
again TO be heard OF. Others say It
was Pierre who set sail In 1920 and
who persisted somewhere in the ocean.
while Jean went to Yucatan and lived
six years longer in ill-earned luxury.
The fact remains that there IL no abb
solute knowledge as TO whence Jean
LATTE came OF whittier he vanished.
He was a man OF mystery.
Louisiana in those days consisted
largely OF rich. unsettled land. Into
these waste spaces the pioneers be-
gan TO come. Huge plantations sprang
up. To work the plantations there
was need for thousands OF negro
slaves. And the slave trade between
Africa and America throve tremen-
dously. A negro that cost $40 in his
African Jungle could often be sold for
81. 900 In the New Orleans market.
Then the United States declared the
horrible African slave trade illegal.
This stopped the imports. The plant
ers clamored for more slaves. Gangs
OF emugglers met the demand by
secretly buying slaves intended for
SPANS Cuban and South American
plantations and landing them by night
IN the Louisiana bayous. There was
money in this sort OF business. More
than In blacksmithing. So. the La
fitte brothers became slave snug
glers.
Then Jeans fertile brain stu furth-
er improved his business In a rather
original way. What was the use OF
buying negroes from the Spanish
slave ships OF the Cuban coast when.
by seiring those ships. he could get
the negroes for nothingi II was q
clever idea and be at once put II into
practice. He also seised vessels laden
with other vRluabbes, and altogether
be prospered exceedingly.
L.ntte himself did not 20 In search
OF such prey. He was q business man.
not a cheap sea rover. BY this time
he had a number Of good ships and
nearly one thousand men to send on
his piratical erranda- He had foru-
ned town and harbor Of his own st
Barataria and made that place his
Headquarters. Jean had marvellous
control over his men. and. though he
seldom troubled himself 70 fight, be
was unconquerable. One night band
OF mutineers attacked him In his
cabin. LATTE, single-handed. slow six
Of them and beat OF the rest.
The pirates called Lafitte. behind
his back, the Old Man" To his face
they called him "Bosse- (meaning lit
orally -prominenceO. And thus the
word boss" came into our own Ian
guage. He seldom spoke to his men
except when he had to and held aloof
from them.
BY judicious brides to the right au-
thorities he managed to steer clear OF
active prosecution. though countless
governmental threats were hurled at
him.
When the British planned their at
tack on New Orleans In the War OF
1919 they offered Jean Lafitte cap
tain's commission and $4,000 to Join
them with his men. Instead OF 40
cepting. be sent word OF the offer
land Of the British plot against New
Orleans) TO the American government,
volunteering his services In exchange
for a pardon. The British. in revenge.
destroyed his Baratarta stronghold
and seized his ships. But the Ameri-
can general, Andrew Jackson latter
cursing him for a -hellish bendit") &C
cepted LAfitte's offer. And the pirate
fought bravely for America In the bat
tic OF New Orleans, receiving par
don for all past crimes.
After the war LATTE went blithely
back 10 his old ways. With his men
be settled on an hDnnuonou iSiohe'
where now stands the city OF Calves
ton, and made that place his new
headquarters. Thus he was In
sense the real founder OF Galveston.
He hit on an odd way to sell his
smuggled slaves He would arrange
for Colonel Bowie Inventor OF the
bowie knife) 10 seize them from him
and TO take them to New Orleans.
There. as confiscated goods. they were
placed on sale. and LATTE and Bowie
each reaped a goodly profit.
A visitor to the pirate lair wrote:
Gold pieces are as plentiful here as
biscuits"
In 1890 the government captured
Lafitts's Galveston camp and hanged
many OF his 6p4lQy0A