jean lafitte in. the next a, there was a reward of $1000. when the battle of new orleans became a folktte hero to the entire state of louisiana. many people feared that the british would take new orleans. we didn't have the ammunition or manpower to defend the city. the person they considered a traitor, who rallied his pirates and came to the aid of the city. he donated men, a lot of those people were evidently former members of napoleon's army and they defended the city. great deal of flint and ammunition and cannons to defend new orleans. some historians say that lafitte accidentally attacked an american ship. for some reason, he was expelled from new orleans after the battle, even though he was a hero to some people. that is when he came to galveston and set up base there. this part of louisiana, from the river that runs through lake charles to the river that divides texas and louisiana, it was still up for debate area -- debate. the united states thought they had purchased all this land but the spanish government said they hadn't. debate

that is the period of john lafitte. all the trade -- he was responsible for about 25% of all the trade in the lower mississippi valley through his black market. he would relocate people for money. he dealt with all sorts of commodities. it wasn't just the gold and silver. we're not talking about johnny depp here. we are on lakeshore drive. we are going to convert into shelby drive when we cross this intersection. >> so we're seeing actual lake charles? adley: you're actually seeing the lake. the city's namesake. of course, lake charles was named for charles selya, one of the people brought to the area probably by jean le feet. was -- selya was probably on the wrong side of the french revolution and had to escape to europe and came west. pushed further west into louisiana, and then settled along the bodies of this particular shore. on the other side of the lake you can see the working side but this side of the lake used to be working as well. >> i am seeing refineries. you have a big petroleum industry. adley: we have a

and when you have heard the with jeanim sailing lafitte once, it is interesting, but after the third or fourth time, it gets wearing. and for whatever reason, he was thrown out of the freemasons. he decided to get even. and he was going to write a book that would reveal the secrets of the freemasons. and they did have some secrets. they were pretty harmless rituals and initiation rites, and distress calls and so forth. and he -- i think one of the reasons, in addition to the revenge element, that he imagined that his book -- as many authors do -- that his book would become a bestseller. he would recoup his financial losses on it. he had some investors when he started writing the book, and the freemasons told him not to write it. as all masons had, he had sworn an oath not to publish secrets. was he not doing it, he was printing it. he was harassed by freemasons. they threatened to turn down the printing shop where the book was being printed. in september 11, 1826, a year after the canal was finished, he was arrested on trumped up charges, taken vast -- back east to the town of canand