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Pirate House
JEAN LAFITTE and THE PIRATE HOUSE
Until very recently, the beginning and ending of the life of Jean Lafitte, whose exploits were well known to all school children in these parts, were dark mysteries.
Some recent works have shed new light on the life of the famous buccaneer.
Most biographers say that Lafitte was born "ca 1780," adding that nobody is sure. A Lafitte biographer, Catherine Gonzales, wrote that information "about his early life is obscure,"and she catches up with him in 1810, when he opened his black-smith shop in-New Orleans as a cover for smuggling.
As for Lafitte's last days, Gonzales wrote that "he was reported in many places, but most accounts say he died in the Yucatan peninsula about 1825."
The Encyclopedia Britannica claims that "nothing authentic" is known about Lafitte's early years, and concludes that after the Americans destroyed his Galveston
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