Hunting for Jean Lafitte’s Treasure: A Couple’s Activity
By Gilbert Hernandez
Editor--
During that frigid, rainy, and windy weekend in January, when most people on the Island were indoors and staying warm, my girlfriend, Priscilla, had the crazy idea of metal detecting on the beach. Our interests complement each other’s remarkably well. She’s always on the lookout for exciting day trip adventures like this one and her idea resonated well with my bucket-list wish of attempting to discover the rumored treasure of the famous pirate Jean Lafitte.
Jean Lafitte’s role in South Texas history is questionable at best and doubtful at worst. Legend has it that he prowled the Laguna Madre and Padre Island during his adventures in the Gulf of Mexico. Even Brownsville’s first historian, William Neale, perpetuated the rumor by writing in the mid-1800s about how the people of “Point” Isabel (before there was a “Port” there) whispered about Lafitte’s treasure buried somewhere in the dunes of South Padre.
Sadly, there’s no concrete evidence that he was here. Even the story behind Lafitte’s Well, which he supposedly built in Laguna Vista, also starts with “Legend has it…” Regardless, as Mark Twain once said, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!”
With Priscilla’s rented metal detectors and my love of South Texas history, we were both on the hunt for Jean Lafitte’s Treasure as the only two souls at the end of Park Road 100. The cold wind invaded our jackets and the drizzle made us shiver. We were listening for the detectors’ beeps and shoveling the ground across the beach with big smiles.
Your guess is correct - we didn’t find Jean Lafitte’s treasure. However, after all we went through, we did unearth two rusted pennies! You know what? They were the best two cents I ever made.
The inner child in me imagines them as two pirate’s doubloons, but the cheeky adult in me claims that our net worth increased (albeit slightly) as a result of treasure hunting for Jean Lafitte’s booty!
Gilbert Hernandez is an entrepreneur in Brownsville.
