Barataria

Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's sidekick, was long lured by his greed, imagining that he could ride his noble knight's coat tails to riches. His greed was his down fall -- numerous times over. At once point, a Duke and Duchess pull a prank on Sancho by naming him the govern of Barataria, an island they invented, riffing off "barato," the Spanish word for cheap.

Centuries later, the phantasmic isle inspired the Spanish settlers who applied the name Barataria to the mouth of the Mississippi river. Three islands sit in the Bay of Barataria; though they are barely even there (they are prone to disappearing under water during hard rains), their strategic and semi-tropical location has led to a colorful and decadent history. Jean Lafitte took up residence there in the early 1800s and established himself as Sancho's heir apparent in the Kingdom of Barataria, ruling over a misfit collection of pirates, runaway slaves, and deserters. He imported prostitutes from the mainland to stock his island brothel and established an easy-going live-and-let-live island life. Guarding the mouth of the mighty river-road, Lafitte saw to the safe passage of U.S. ships, and let his pirates plunder Spanish and French traders. His "kingdom" retained a quasi-recognized fiefdom status with the Independent Republic of West Florida. When Grant moved in and took control of West Florida, Lafitte welcomed West Floridian soldiers looking to maintain a last holdout. As there was really little chance that the West Floridians in Barataria could offer any real resistance to Grant, the "holdout" turned into a debauched party with women and booze and money and fisticuffs gone wild as they tend to do during the end-of-times. A.W. Slippers is rumored to have hooked up with the Albert Kook gang during these mad apopolipitic days. The West Floridians hunkered down in Barataria were eventually pardoned in a deal worked out by their former governor, Fulwar Skipworth who was colorful associate of the Founding Fathers.

See Also

• Florida
• Manatee

Desiderata