Galveston 1817-1821
The famous pirate Jean Laffitte made his home in Galveston, Texas after being run
out of New Orleans by the U.S. Navy. He called his island home "Campeche" and he
led a group of "privateers" on countless shipping raids around the Gulf of Mexico
for 5 years. When he left Galveston, it is believed by many that he left stockpile of
hidden treasure behind and intended to return to reclaim his pirate treasure - the
treasure was never recovered and his fate remains somewhat of a mystery
In this period the Mexicans were trying to become independent of Spain, and the
Mexican Manuel de Herrera had commissioned a Frenchman named Loius d'Aury to
occupy the island of Galveston .d'Aury was chosen the civil and military leader of
Texas and Galveston was declared part of the Mexican Republic on Sept 12, 1816
.D'Aury had a small squadron of 12 to 15 ships and 500 men were given letters of
Marque to raid Spanish shipping in the Gulf . D'Aury left with all of his ships but one
to aid the Mexican general Mina, but falling out with him, returned to Galveston,
where he was shocked to find Lafitte had sailed in and taken over on May 14,
1817 . Lafitte, was still an agent for Spain, and it was suggested by the viceroy
of Cuba, Don Jose Cienfuegos, to use the Lafittes against the pirates attacking
Spanish shipping . The Lafitte's were given money to start a rival base against
d'Aury by the Spanish . Lafitte then turned against Spain and supported Mexico
.d'Aury was run out of Galveston, and Lafitte took over .In this period Texas was
claimed by both Mexico and Spain . Lafitte's ships flew under the flag of Mexico .
The famous French pirate lived on Galveston Island from 1817-1821. This location
(located off of 1417 Harborside Drive) is where his old mansion and headquarters
stood- Maison Rouge. Legend says Lafitte burned this part of the island down
when he was forced by the U.S. government to leave.
They arrived at Galveston in May, 1817 . The island was named Galveztown by
Spanish explorers, in honor of Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, a viceroy of New
Spain . Galveston Island, also called Snake Island at the time, for the many
snakes there . Before Lafitte arrived, Galveston served as the home base of
privateer Louis-Michel d'Aury. While d'Aury was away, Jean Lafitte took control .
Lafitte called his settlement Galveztown in 1819 and Galveston Island was named
Campeche.
In 1818 , Lafitte was notified by President Monroe to leave the island as it was
considered part of the Louisiana Purchase. this message was delivered by
Col George Graham. Also in 1819, one of Lafitte's ships, the El Bravo, was captured
by two U.S. revenue cutters after a brief battle . The captain of the ship, Jean
Desforges and his crew were taken to New Orleans for trail. Jean Lafitte went
to New Orleans to hire lawyers for the trail. They were unable to provide a
letter of marque from the Mexican Republic, found guilty and hung on the yard arm
of a revenue cutter anchored on the Mississippi by New Orleans in 1820 . After this,
the Lafitte's started to secure secret storage places for their loot, sensing a
coming of the end of operations out of Galveston.
A hurricane in 1835 merged the two islands into present day Galveston Island.
D'Aury returned, but could not remove Lafitte from the island . Lafitte's colony
grew to around 1000, drawn to the profitable business of capturing Spanish
ships and outlaws from America. All who came were personally interviewed by
Lafitte and required to take an oath of loyalty to him.
Lafitte either purchased or took over a lavishly furnished mansion used by French
pirate Louis-Michel Aury, which he named "Maison Rouge". This building was
painted red and surrounded by a moat , the upper level was converted into a
fortress where a cannon commanding Galveston harbor was placed. Jim Bowie,
of the knife and Alamo fame, was there in this period, involved in the profitable slave
trade .
Around 1820, Lafitte reportedly married Madeline Regaud, daughter of Antoine
Regaud or Lallemand(1758-1820) a French officer in Napoleon's service. He had
sailed to Texas, with a group of French exiles and adventurers in 1818 and
started a colony on the Trinity River, called Champ d'Asile, which failed, and its
population went to Galveston.
According to one story, one day the ships of Lafitte brought in a captured galleon,
loaded with treasure. As soon as the ships weighted anchor, a furious hurricane
hit, and the men were forced to leave their ships. After the hurricane had
passed, the galleon was gone, and never found .
In 1818, the Karankawa Indians attacked, after some of the Galvestonians made
off with an Indian woman, but were driven off by cannon fire .
By this time, Spain was rerouting its shipping to bypass the Gulf Of Mexico due
to piracy, and the prizes for Lafitte were fewer and fewer. Many of his men
had already left by the early 1820s.
In 1821, the schooner USS Enterprise was sent to Galveston and demanded
that the privateering camp be destroyed and the Lafittes were to leave the site . If
this were not done in 60 days, the Enterprise would return and attack . 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. All that remains of Maison Rouge is the foundation,
located at 1417Avenue A near the Galveston wharf. Just Sayin...RJS
Thanks for the history lesson RJS. BEING A NATIVE TEXAN raised in Houston I think Texas History is very interesting. I remember Texas History and US History in school. Back when they taught the history of our GREAT COUNTRY. Now some people want to change or simply tear it down. So Sad.
Mustang66: Thank you. Where I grew up right on Red River in Cooke County and next to Montague Co., was a bloody battle ground for a long time even after the Civil War because Comanche's could raid accross the river and get back to safety after stealing horses and taking scalps quickly. Just Sayin....RJS
Robert J Samples wrote:
Mustang66: Thank you. Where I grew up right on Red River in Cooke County and next to Montague Co., was a bloody battle ground for a long time even after the Civil War because Comanche's could raid accross the river and get back to safety after stealing horses and taking scalps quickly. Just Sayin....RJS
RJS I may be slightly younger than you, but I did grow up before color tv, fancy cars, cellphones, and computers.
I had History class in junior high, high school, and my freshman year at A&M.
I don’t think kids care about our countries history nowadays. Just the internet and what is free. Not all but a lot. It’s a sham where our country is headed. We want be around to see the worst be our grandkids will!
Mustang66; Hello Aggie, I too only spent my "fish" year at A & M. The rest at UNT. I grew up in Cooke County and my dad grew up in Montague. I was the class of 57, and more of my Aggie classmates keep up with me than those of UNT.
Due to our Aggie experiences, and all our drill, etc. of the Wing Staff at UNT, 3 of us on the UNT wing our Senior year were Freshman Aggies and knew each other! Just Sayin..RJS
where do you get all these stories and history? Awesome stuff - and the real deal.
Well, I read a lot, am curious, and I use Bing and Google!
When a kid there was another family that had a branch of the county library in their home. At the outbreak of the war they were force to move. They aske d Momma if she’d take it and she was going to refuse because she didn’t think we’d go into the county seat often. I talked her into accepting it! I don’t think either my sister or I would have made it in college if we had not had that resource as a window to the world! Just Sayin...RJS
that might have been your best sales pitch - certainly a very valuable one!
Yep! I’ve done million dollar deals but it was one of my best! Since neither of my parents had much education I was allowed to give my opinion from about 12 on! Just Sayin...RJS
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