Ghosts along the Texas Coast Read Free Page A

dead and buried.” (This statement probably refers to the inhabitants of the Indian village of Silan in the Yucatan Peninsula.) “And yet, there he stood, all alone; so with his braves, Running Snake approached, and in terrible shock, saw the figure vanish. After that, only from a distance would any Indian watch.
    â€œBut watch they did, for the figure returned and stationed himself where the waters hid the long boat. The figure waited in the manner of one who would summon others, and knowledgeable of dark matters, Running Snake’s braves were not overly surprised when a strange, shadowy boat slid noiselessly up the narrow waterway.
    â€œFrom that boat emerged silent men, who, as though directed by their summoner, began to raise chests from the sunken vessel. Mutely they worked, loading their boat and then, with the dead Lafitte standing in their boat, they left as soundlessly as they had come.
    â€œWhere did they go? They started towards the big lake (Sabine Lake), then disappeared in a mist. After that, no one came again. Naturally, the braves of Running Snake thereafter avoided the place.” Who could blame them?
    Now, it’s hard to tell whether Jean and Pierre Lafitte and their pirate crew spent more time plying the ocean deep in search of ships to plunder, or whether they spent more time ashore, digging holes in which to bury their ill-gotten goods, if we are to believe all the buried treasure stories that are often told. These stories run the gamut of the Texas coastline, from Cameron County, down near Brownsville, clear up to Jefferson County near the Louisiana border. Why the pirates didn’t come back for their treasure is anybody’s guess. Maybe they had poor memories, or maybe they partook of too much rum while out burying their loot. I’d buy the theory that the shifting sands on the windswept seashore caused the terrain to change in appearance sufficiently to make the burial spots unrecognizable. And, we must remember, the pirates more than likely buried their chests under cover of darkness as well. It would have been a real chore to find a certain spot among all the almost identical sand dunes and tufts of sea oats and marsh grasses that dot the coastline.
    Conversations with psychics, and time spent reading and researching the subject of “ghosts” in general and “pirate ghosts” in particular, have brought out several interesting conclusions. Ghosts, which are the spirits of dead people who can’t quite accept they aredead, do come back. In the case of Jean Lafitte and his pirate-followers, they return to guard the treasure they buried so long ago, and never got around to dividing up. But are they there just to protect their treasure? Might be they are there to lead a selected someone to the site of their buried treasure. Maybe this selected person would be someone with whom they could identify, a “kindred spirit” chosen to be the finder. Now, since there aren’t any pirates out there robbing the big ocean freighters and tankers and cruise ships today, the Lafitte crew’s spirits might have to identify with an airplane hijacker, since they have largely replaced the buccaneer!
    For some unknown reason, there has always been a certain amount of romance and mystery attached to pirates. It must have something to do with all that buried gold, because they really were dastardly individuals. Boarding and looting and sinking ships was NOT a wholesome occupation!
    Before we can begin to think about the ghostly guardians that protect the pirate treasure, we have to have an idea of where the booty is buried.
    Using Thomas Penfield’s book
A Guide to Treasure in Texas
, we will come along on a make-believe trip along the Texas coast, county by county, from the southernmost portion, near Brownsville, in Cameron County, where Penfield reported, “unconfirmed is the report that the pirate Jean Lafitte sank an unidentified Spanish galleon off