Jean Lafitte

Another legendary spot.

Hinman points out its pirate-tinged lore, noting it was historically known as the Devil's Tavern.

But he also makes a very specific observation, stating there is a particular kind of gothic atmosphere that comes from being near water.

It's very distinct.

It brought the threat of invading armadas.

Right.

And as the article mentions with its pirate lore, it brought smugglers, river pirates, and criminals who could strike the docks, commit murder or theft, and then just vanish into the tides where the local police could not follow them.

They just floated away.

Somebody was probably like, oh, remember when we were developing this? So we could probably do this.

And next door to it was a Jean Lafitte adventure.

And this was in 1963 when they were planning this.

So I think that that was the Jean Lafitte adventure was probably inspired by that early Claude Coates 1958 concept for pirates that had Jean Lafitte in it and the Battle of New Orleans and all those kinds of things.

So but anyway, just really kind of interesting to see the Lewis and Clark adventure concept come back around for this park, you know.

Yeah, I was, of course, I was impressed because, like, naturally you would make that connection with that one.

Lafitte say?

I have it on very good authority that Jean Lafitte stopped an entire revolution once.

One man against a thousand.

On whose authority do you have it? Why, on Lafitte's, of course.

Well, I've heard that he's the leader of the pirates of Barataria.

Oh, nonsense.

Whatever Jean Lafitte is, he's positively not a pirate.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

If you don't have his name by now, here's one more clue.

During the Battle of New Orleans, as major general of the army, he accepted the help of the pirate Jean Lafitte.

Who was he? Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States.

His life is part of your American heritage.

But we did our welcome cocktail hour in the wax museum.

So you walked through the museum, you know, and you said to, hello to, like, a wax Jean Lafitte or something.

And then in that area, there'd be little cocktail hors d'oeuvres or whatever.

And I mean, talk about unique.

And she can blame me for holding her husband here.

At the moment, Fred is up to his nautical boot top, starring for me as Jean Lafitte in The Buccaneer.

Tonight, however, he sheathes his cutlass, turns his back on the swamps of Louisiana, and becomes Anton Ragazzi in Dorothy Brandon's melodrama, The Outsider.

His lovely wife is heard as LaLarge Sturdy.

We've been happy to have you here, Mr. Barrett.

To Mr. and Mrs. Frederick March, I owe a debt of gratitude.

To Miss Eldridge for helping me interest her husband in the role of Jean Lafitte.

And to Fred for the superb characterization he's giving Lafitte in The Buccaneer.

Um, okay.

So this is pretty fortuitous time that he comes back onto the scene and makes this grand entrance, because of February 1823, the world is gonna lose another beloved pirate, one called Jean Lafitte.

Oh.

[laughs] And if you're curious, this is episode 41.

The Mona Passage, excuse me.

Gran Colombia sends two warships led right by a man called Renato Beliche.

He is a former associate of the pirate Jean Lafitte.

And Britain sends a ship called the HMS Scout after a separate pirate incident involving a ship called the William Henry.

One would no doubt need to be a New Orleans native to understand every reference to the city on display here.

However, as a newbie, I've identified myself a mounted head of an alligator wearing sunglasses, a wood-burned sign that reads, "Be nice or leave," which I believe is a famous quote attributed to Jean Lafitte.

But the greatest find of all hangs here right on the wall next to me where I'm currently seated: autographed portrait of America's sweetheart of the screen and stage, Josh Gad.

New Orleans has played host to a wide variety of entertainers throughout its history, and to think I'm sitting in the same booth and eating at the same place is pure greatness.

Uh, many, many people died through that.

And even before that, the Karankawa Native Americans were there, uh, doing their thing, and then they had Jean Lafitte the pirate show up there.

Uh, lots and lots of things.

And then of course the Civil War in 1863.