DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Pier 19 tells it, and I wouldn't change a word. Well — maybe a few words. Jean Lafitte's pirate ships worked these waters from 1815 to 1821.
Let that sit for a second. Before Galveston was much of anything on paper, it was already a place where ships with stories arrived and departed fast. Then came the Republic of Texas Navy — and yes, Texas had its own navy — sailing these same waters into the 1840s.
History was already stacking up at this particular stretch of shoreline before most folks had thought to name it. The Galveston Wharves and Cotton Press Company got itself chartered in 1854 and built an early dock right here, putting the whole operation on a more respectable footing. That respectability took a hit in 1863, when Confederate marine assaults at sites in the vicinity freed the isle city of Federal occupation.
The fighting came close. And then — allegedly, the marker is careful to say allegedly — rum runners invaded the area in the 1920s. So: pirates, a navy, a civil war, and bootleggers.
That is one well-traveled pier. But here's the piece of this story that sneaks up on you. Through all of it, the Mosquito Fleet kept docking here.
Now the name alone deserves a moment — these boats earned it honestly, named for their insect-like profiles skimming the water. Small, quick, everywhere at once. The fleet brought together Asian and European fisher customs and blended them, right here on this Galveston pier, into something that became American.
The marker calls it enriching the city and the nation, and it's hard to argue. That blending didn't stay quiet, either. The international custom of blessing the fishing fleet is observed every year in Galveston — a tradition that crossed oceans and found a home.
Pirates and navies and rum runners come and go. The Mosquito Fleet stayed, and it left something.
What the marker says
Jean Lafitte's pirate ships (1815-21) and Republic of Texas Navy (1836-40s) once sailed here. Galveston Wharves & Cotton Press Company, chartered 1854, built early dock. Confederate marine assaults at sites in vicinity freed the isle city of Federal occupation, 1863. Rum runners allegedly invaded the area in 1920s. Through the years, the Mosquito Fleet docked here among other ships, enriching the city and nation and blending Asian and European fisher customs into Americanisms. The international custom of blessing fishing fleet is observed yearly in Galveston. Fleet is named for boats' insect-like profiles. (1974)