José Gaspar
José Gaspar, also known by his nickname Gasparilla, is a mythical Spanish pirate who supposedly terrorized the Gulf of Mexico from his base in southwest Florida during Florida's second Spanish period. Though details about his early life, motivations, and piratical exploits differ in various tellings, they agree that the 'Last of the Buccaneers" was a remarkably active figure who amassed a huge fortune by capturing many vessels and ransoming many hostages during his long career, and that he died by leaping from his ship rather than face capture by the United States Navy, leaving behind his still-hidden treasure.
While Gaspar is a popular figure in Florida folklore, there is no evidence that he existed. No contemporary mention of his life or exploits has been found in Spanish or American ship logs, court records, newspapers, or other archives, and no physical artifacts linked to Gaspar have been discovered in the area where he supposedly established his "pirate kingdom." The earliest known written mention of José Gaspar was a short biography included in an early 20th century promotional brochure for the Gasparilla Inn on Gasparilla Island at Charlotte Harbor, the author of which freely admitted that it was a work of fiction "without a true fact in it". Subsequent retellings of the Gaspar legend are based upon this fanciful account, including the accidental inclusion of José Gaspar in a 1923 book on real pirates that has caused ongoing confusion about his historical authenticity.
José Gaspar's legend is celebrated in Tampa, Florida during the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival, which was first held in 1904.
Legend
The story of José Gaspar's life and career has been told in many forms since the early 20th century. The accounts generally agree that Gaspar was born in Spain about 1756, served in some capacity with the Spanish Navy until turning to piracy around 1783, and died during a battle with the United States Navy off the coast of southwest Florida in 1821. However, the various narratives often conflict when describing his origins and his personal character.Early years
The first published version of the Gaspar legend claims that he was a Spanish nobleman whose brilliant exploits helped him to rise to the rank of admiral and key advisor to King Charles III. While capable, Gaspar already harbored a piratical nature, and he masterminded the theft of the crown jewels. His crime was discovered, however, so he seized the "prize vessel of the Spanish fleet" with some loyal followers and abandoned his wife and children to flee across the Atlantic Ocean. Other versions follow a similar course but claim that Gaspar did not actually steal the crown jewels but was instead falsely accused of the crime by a jilted lover in the Spanish royal court. Unjustly facing arrest, he commandeered a ship and fled, vowing to exact revenge on his country.Other versions of the story state that Gaspar was not of noble birth, but rather began life as a poverty-stricken Spanish youth who kidnapped a young girl for ransom. Captured and given a choice between prison and joining the Spanish navy, he went to sea and served with distinction for several years. Different versions of the story provide different explanations of why this Gaspar variant turned to piracy. Some say he was a junior officer on a Spanish frigate that fled from a fleet action with the English navy. Mortified by his captain's cowardice and disillusioned with his country, Gaspar took command by force. In some versions, he led a mutiny against a tyrannical captain, after which the grateful crew agreed to become his pirate band in exile.
Piratical career
Whatever Gaspar's origins, the various versions of his story agree that he established a base on Gasparilla Island on the uninhabited southwestern coast of Spanish Florida and turned to piracy aboard his ship, the Floriblanca. Roving across the Gulf of Mexico and the Spanish Main, he amassed an enormous fortune by preying on shipping for nearly four decades during a period coinciding with the second Spanish rule of Florida. Plundered vessels and cargo were sold in friendly ports, male prisoners were either put to death or forced to join his pirate band, and female prisoners were taken as captives to Captiva Island to be held for ransom or to serve as wives or concubines for the pirates.Different versions of Gaspar's legend relate a variety of adventures over his long career, some of which appear in conflicting variations depending on the source. One of the most famous episodes involves a Spanish princess named Useppa, who was a passenger on a captured ship. The beautiful noblewoman rejected Gaspar's advances until he killed her in a rage. The pirate instantly regretted the deed and buried her body on a nearby island which he named Useppa in her memory. Some versions identify the lady with Josefa de Mayorga, daughter of Martín de Mayorga, viceroy of New Spain from 1779 to 1782, and contend that the island's name evolved to its current spelling over time. However, no evidence has been found to support this claim.
Sanibel Island is similarly mentioned as being connected to Gaspar, but different versions of the story conflict on the details. While some say that it was named for Gaspar's first love, others claim that it was named by Gaspar's first mate, Rodrigo Lopez, after his lover whom he had left back in Spain. In these versions, Gaspar eventually allowed Lopez to return home and entrusted him with his personal diary and ship's logs for safekeeping. Both of these documents have been cited as key sources for information about the pirate, though neither has ever been produced.
Gaspar has been associated with various other pirates, both historical and not. Some versions of Gaspar's story claim that he often partnered with the real pirate Pierre Lafitte and that Lafitte barely escaped the battle in which Gaspar was killed. This is unlikely, as there is no record of Lafitte traveling to southwest Florida, and he died in Mexico before Gaspar's supposed demise. Gaspar has also been associated with Black Caesar, Brewster Baker, and "Old King John", other pirates found in Florida or Caribbean folklore for whom there is little to no historical evidence.
Death
Most versions of the legend agree that José Gaspar met his end in late 1821, soon after Spain transferred control of the Florida Territory to the United States.As the story goes, Gaspar had decided to retire after almost forty years of pirating, and he and his crew gathered on Gasparilla Island to split the enormous treasure cache he'd collected over his long career. During the distribution process, a lookout spotted what appeared to be a vulnerable merchant ship nearby. Gaspar could not resist taking one last prize, so he and his crew hurriedly boarded the Floriblanca to pursue their prey. However, when the pirates closed on their quarry and fired a warning shot, their intended victim raised an American flag to reveal that it was the US Navy pirate hunting schooner USS Enterprise in disguise. A fierce battle ensued in which the Floriblanca was hulled several times below the waterline and began to sink. Rather than surrender, Gaspar wrapped an anchor chain around his waist, dramatically shouted, "Gasparilla dies by his own hand, not the enemy's!", and leapt to his death in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
His surviving crew attempted to flee as the Floriblanca sank within sight of the shore, but most were captured and hanged, with only a handful escaping into the wilderness. Some versions of the story claim that one of the survivors was John Gómez, who would tell the tale to subsequent generations.
Evidence
José Gaspar became a well-known figure in Florida folklore after civic leaders in Tampa chose an obscure tall tale from 100 miles down the coast as a new theme for the city's May Day festival in 1904. However, though the authenticity of the legend has been investigated for over a century, no evidence to support Gaspar's existence has ever been found.Historical context
Large-scale piracy was rare in the Gulf of Mexico during the late 1700s and early 1800s, when Gaspar was supposedly active. This was well after the "Golden Age of Piracy", when infamous figures such as Bartholomew Roberts, Blackbeard, and William Kidd operated in and around the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic basin. European nations began a concerted effort to suppress piracy near their colonial holdings in the early 1700s, and every major pirate of the "golden age" had been killed by 1730, over a quarter century before Gaspar's supposed birth in Spain.Scattered seaborne attacks by small bands of privateers and pirates were a continuing nuisance in the Gulf and Caribbean into the 1780s, when Gaspar is said to have arrived at Charlotte Harbor. However, the navies of Britain, France, Spain, and the newly independent United States were actively hunting the few remaining pirate bands in these waters, making it improbable that any buccaneer could brazenly operate in the area for almost four decades, especially at the scale claimed by the Gaspar legends. The original published Gasparilla story and many subsequent tales claim that the pirate had amassed the enormous sum of $30 million in stolen wealth by the time of his death in 1821. To put that figure in context, the total military budget of the United States in 1821 was about $8 million, and Spain transferred the entire Florida territory to the United States in that same year for $5 million.
Even during piracy's "golden age", the activities of real-world pirates of the Caribbean and Gulf almost never involved daring sea battles between pirate frigates and massive treasure ships laden with gold coins. Instead, pirate bands usually targeted small cargo ships carrying basic trade goods such as food, tobacco, and lumber which could be quickly sold in nearby ports without drawing unwanted attention. There were no established towns on Florida's west coast until well after Gaspar's demise, making the area unsuitable for the wholesale disposal of stolen cargo. In fact, there is little evidence that pirates of any era used Charlotte Harbor as their base of operations.