1 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: The stretch that the fought. The battle was taken is 2 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: by a mile. So the boat was going and they 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: was with the machine gun and the people from Delhiphot 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: were shooting over the level, you know, just shooting the 5 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: shot gun, the rifles whatever they had. Yeah, a lot 6 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: of them with bird shot, lot on wood buckshot would 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: kill the machine gun man. I don't know. I guess 8 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: just just shot them up with the way I understand. 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: The mortar was all shot up the boat. The cabin 10 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: on the boat was all shot up with bullet holes. 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: I guess that's what I could see, you know. 12 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 2: On this episode, we're getting into the nitty gritty details 13 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 2: of the November nineteen twenty six one day. It is 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 2: Laanio's Trappers War in South Louisiana over muskrat trapping rights. 15 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 2: We'll hear from two men whose fathers were involved in 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 2: the war. But a bigger question to me is why 17 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 2: is this region of the country known for producing corrupt leaders? 18 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 2: And is that even a fair question? This is a 19 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 2: look into human nature when it's corrupted by power and muskrats. 20 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 2: I really doubt that you're gonna want to miss this one. 21 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 2: And for anyone new to the bear Grease Feed. We 22 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 2: have multiple podcasts on this feed, bear Grease, The Render, 23 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 2: Brent's Country Life and Lake Pickles Backwoods University. The complexity 24 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 2: can be daunting, but the good times just keep rolling. 25 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed this episode. My name is klay 26 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 2: Nukem and this is the bear Grease Podcast where we'll 27 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 2: explore things forgotten but relevant, search for insight and unlikely 28 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 2: places and where will tell the story of Americans who 29 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 2: lived their lives close to the land. Presented by f 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 2: HF gear, American made purpose built hunting and fishing gear 31 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 2: as designed to be as rugged as the places we explore. 32 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 2: We established in the last episode the culture of the 33 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 2: Islamios trappers camps on Delacroix Island in Louisiana in the 34 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 2: nineteen twenties and how muskrat soared in value, making formerly 35 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 2: almost worthless swampland extremely valuable. This is Placamine Parish's Paul Legard. 36 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 3: In those days, there wasn't no you owned this piece 37 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 3: of land, and now the guy I owned up. It 38 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 3: was all opened priory. It was just like Wild West. 39 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 3: And when you know when a story at the beginning 40 00:02:58,240 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 3: of the season, you went out Dan, you picked out 41 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 3: spot and you put your trap on out and people 42 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,079 Speaker 3: honored each other's areas. You know. You said. That went 43 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 3: on for a few years, and the politicians got involved 44 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,119 Speaker 3: with it, but what they wanted to do was take 45 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 3: a percentage away from each trapper, and they wouldn't go 46 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 3: for it. People have been trapping at Landfa at that 47 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 3: time almost one hundred and fifty years, you know, and 48 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 3: now they had camps. People used to build camps in 49 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 3: the priory for they could. The whole family went out 50 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 3: there and uh in some cases, and they spent the winter, 51 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 3: you know, trapping, and the women were cooking to take 52 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 3: care of as far as the men we're in up 53 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 3: properly working well. They pushed them on those camps and 54 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 3: they brought in trappers from West Louisiana are Texas. They 55 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 3: brought in own trappers and put them into camps. 56 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 2: What Paul is calling the prairie is what I understand 57 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 2: to be Swampland the people who had trapped here for 58 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty years were getting pushed out by 59 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 2: the politicians bringing in trappers from the outside. They'd been 60 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 2: double crossed by one of their own, a man named 61 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 2: Leander Perez, who had become the chairman of the Trappers Association. 62 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 2: He was also a judge in Plaquemine Parish. But when 63 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 2: he saw an opportunity to make a bunch of money, 64 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 2: he pushed out his own people and brought in new 65 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 2: trappers that played by his rules, paid more money for 66 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,080 Speaker 2: the trapping leases, and sold the furs to him. The 67 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 2: Islanos were not gonna take this from Perez. Here's what 68 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 2: they did to the new trappers that were now in 69 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 2: their old camps. 70 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 3: My grandfather told them that those camps were not but 71 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 3: more or less a platform. They build a big platform 72 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 3: and they put a top paper shack around it, and 73 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 3: he said they they're waiting a gang of fellas, not 74 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 3: one guy, but a bunch of fellaws. Would wait until 75 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 3: say ten o'clock in the morning, when all the men 76 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 3: were out in the in the prairie trapping, and they 77 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 3: go and they take tell them, women, take all your 78 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 3: stuff and make it. They told us they didn't try 79 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 3: to hurt those people because they were working people, just 80 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 3: like they were. They make them take everything out the camp, 81 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 3: their supplies, their beds there, whatever they had, and they 82 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 3: you know, they had fifteen twenty guys. They picked that camp. 83 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 3: I'm trying to buy the whole camp. We're going to 84 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 3: buy you. So when that happened, they brought into Texas 85 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 3: Rangers to protect them, and uh, that's when the real 86 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 3: trouble started. 87 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 2: The real trouble started as Perez hired mercenaries to kill 88 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 2: and intimidate the eslonos. I'm trying to make sense of 89 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 2: how trapping muskrats could bring a community to bloodshed. We're 90 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 2: not talking about gold or black dirt, farmland or oil, 91 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 2: but a rat. We've been backed into a corner here, folks, 92 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 2: We've got to talk just a little bit about muskrats. 93 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: My name is Martin Cooker. 94 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 4: I work for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fishers in 95 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 4: Parks and I currently serve as the Nuisance Species program 96 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,960 Speaker 4: Bologist and also the Furbearer Program Bologist. 97 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 2: This guy is a muskrat expert. 98 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 4: A rare breed, but the muskrat is in the rodent family, 99 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 4: native to the US and Canada. In the US, it 100 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:48,039 Speaker 4: has at least fourteen different subspecies Virginia, Rocky Mountain, the 101 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 4: Oregon Coast, Nevada, the Great Plains, So there are subspecies 102 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 4: really depending on location, they're going to be about nine 103 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 4: fourteen inches long with a with a tail anywhere from 104 00:06:57,760 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 4: seven to twelve inches, so you're talking about twenty four 105 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,679 Speaker 4: twenty six inches head to the end of the tail. 106 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: They're going to weigh. 107 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 4: Anywhere from like a pounds and a half to four 108 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 4: and a half pounds. Muskrats weren't really seeing that much 109 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 4: in Louisiana until like the late eighteen hundreds, especially like 110 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 4: in the coastal parishes. One of the things that they 111 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 4: put forth is that the decline in alligators due to 112 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 4: hunting and with the burning of the marshes to locate 113 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 4: the alligators, and also with the reduction in minx, all 114 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 4: were linked to the muskrat increase. Now, after that the 115 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 4: predators were gone away, the habitat's gone up, and then 116 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 4: the mush rats appeared in the millions. It was just 117 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 4: like a population explosion. It was an article in the 118 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 4: nineteen oh two in the New York Times. The headline 119 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 4: was the muskrat is the principal fur producer in America. 120 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 4: There was a quote from the I think the Fort 121 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 4: Worth Star in nineteen oh eight in this stated that 122 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 4: Louisiana has the largest fur trade in the world, all right, 123 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 4: And that now that is verifiable if you go back 124 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 4: and look at the records in Louisiana was the fur 125 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 4: trapping capital of the US fourth it was more first 126 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 4: coming from Louisiana anywhere else. 127 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 2: The muskrat trade peaked around nineteen twenty five, when they 128 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 2: were worth a dollar thirty each and a good trapper 129 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 2: could catch as many as one hundred and fifty day, 130 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 2: yielding thousands of dollars during the seventy five day season, 131 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 2: and several millions of dollars worth of muskrat firs were 132 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 2: flowing through Placamine Parish alone. I could see Steve Ranella 133 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 2: wanting to get in on that. Here is Wimpy Serenae. 134 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 2: He's eighty four years old and was raised on Delacroix 135 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,679 Speaker 2: Island in the trapping camps. He's going to take us 136 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 2: right into the One Day War. 137 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: What happened with Perez in that it was long before parting, 138 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: you know, get out, but uh, Perez gathered up cagunes 139 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: from the west part of Louisiana, Texans gunslingers at that time, 140 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: it was really gun slingers, and he formed like a 141 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: little army. He monitored a machine gun on oyster board. 142 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,360 Speaker 1: I think it was either boat. You know. What happened 143 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: before they attacked the people from Dinna crew found out 144 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: about it, that they were planning this thing. Matter of fact, 145 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,560 Speaker 1: my dad used to have relatives in what they called 146 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: Kinnharven and uh, these Texans and that was hanging around 147 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: the ballrooms there, you know, and you heard overheard them saying, 148 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: we're gonna make some Spanish shop. Body these jokes down here, 149 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, so they found out about that day. 150 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 2: Who was your dad involved in finding out about it? 151 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, he found out about it, and I guess other 152 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: people did too, because they had relatives in Knoven And 153 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: this is what these guys used to hang on when 154 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: they was starting to get together, you know, and going 155 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: to barrooms in that and I guess they talked and 156 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: sort of people from Della Cruill find out that they 157 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: will come in. 158 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 2: After almost one hundred years, the people from Delacroix Island 159 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 2: still recalled the words that started this war and maybe 160 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 2: saved their lives. They overheard someone saying that they were 161 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 2: going to make some Spanish soup. And if you remember, 162 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,199 Speaker 2: the Islanios were originally from the Canary islands off the 163 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 2: coast of Spain. So this region, this island, they spoke Spanish. 164 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 2: Here's filmmaker David Dubos who made the film Delta Justice, 165 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 2: the Islanios trappers. 166 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 5: War word filtered down from They got into a bar 167 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 5: not too far from where the Islanians were, and it 168 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 5: was literally just guys bragging in a bar that they 169 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 5: were going to go down to Ela Crow and make 170 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:06,680 Speaker 5: Spanish soup out of the Islanios and just loud, drunken 171 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 5: stupidity and arrogance, and was overheard. And they went back 172 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:14,559 Speaker 5: and told them what was happening, and you know that 173 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 5: was it. 174 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 2: So this this gunboat with these Texas Rangers, this machine 175 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 2: gun mounted on the boat come down, comes down the bayou. 176 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 2: There's a levee, yeah, which is like a damn that's 177 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 2: keeping the bayou from going into the onto the land. 178 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 2: And behind the levee is the Islanio's houses. 179 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 5: Right. 180 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 2: Author Glenn Jeanson estimated there to be four hundred armed 181 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 2: Islanios on the levee waiting on this gun boat when 182 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 2: it arrived. The machine gun was essentially a gatling gun 183 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 2: like on a World War two boat, and the captain 184 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 2: of the boat was J. H Asher, a former Texas 185 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 2: ranger from Dallas. They had no idea they were going 186 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 2: to be met with resistance. They thought they were just 187 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,319 Speaker 2: going to take the boat down the bayou and just 188 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 2: splattered the Islaono's camps with rounds from that machine gun. 189 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:10,000 Speaker 2: Who knew these people were so passionate about muskrats. 190 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: And the way I understand it, they moneled the machine 191 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: gun on the boat, and so they monited and they 192 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,319 Speaker 1: came up what they called gentility. It was, you know, 193 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: the island, like I said, with the with the machine 194 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: gun and all of the Texans in that. But the 195 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: people from down there was ready. So they got their 196 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,599 Speaker 1: shot gun. There was a levee whe whether if you 197 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: go down there, you can see the road is on 198 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,280 Speaker 1: the levee the highway, and it was a higher levee 199 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: than what it is today because everything's singing, but anyway, 200 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: it was much higher. So they got behind the limit 201 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: with the shot and guns and whatever guns that they had, 202 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: and when they made the turn into the Bayer Terra 203 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:56,719 Speaker 1: buff you know, they started with the machine gun, but 204 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: they also went I got back up a little bit. 205 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: It took the machine gun the night before and set 206 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,679 Speaker 1: it to shoot over the levee, over the bank, you know, 207 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: to buying the bank. But what happened when they attacked 208 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: the next morning, the tide went down. 209 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 5: So they had to fix the machine gun, but it 210 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:23,599 Speaker 5: couldn't reach the Islanios because. 211 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 2: They couldn't angle upwards correct. 212 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 5: So they were kind of stuck. 213 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 3: You know. 214 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 5: They tried to get it up and hang it up, 215 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,959 Speaker 5: but that those things were enormously heavy. And then you're 216 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 5: in the line of fire too. 217 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 1: You have to remember that. So so when they couldn't 218 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: adjust it, that machine gun like the dude and did 219 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: it kind of so when they would shoot, it was 220 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,839 Speaker 1: hitting the levee instead of hitting the people because the 221 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: tide went down, and so they would hit the bank. So, 222 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: you know, they didn't the machine gun didn't do them 223 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,319 Speaker 1: too much good. And of Coastal had the other people 224 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,599 Speaker 1: with their pistols and guns and what have you, and 225 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,480 Speaker 1: they started that they wore right there and they they 226 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,319 Speaker 1: shot up the the machine gun boat. They killed the 227 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: the only one was killed, the gun, the guy that 228 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: was running the machine gun boat. You know, quite a 229 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: few guns, quite a few guns. 230 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 5: Well. 231 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: The stretch that the fought the battle was taken is 232 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: about let's see, about a mile, so you know where 233 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: where the battle took place, where they was at, where 234 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:33,920 Speaker 1: they were. 235 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 2: Set shooting that whole mile down the canal this gun ship. 236 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: As to what our vision, the boat was going, and 237 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,520 Speaker 1: they was with the machine gun and the people from 238 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: Delapert were shooting over the level, you know, just shooting. 239 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: They shot guns and rifles whatever they had. Yeah, you know, 240 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: because a lot of them had just shotguns, you know, 241 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: a lot of them with bird shot, a lot of 242 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: them with buckshot, you know, and would killed the machine 243 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: gun man. 244 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 5: I don't know. 245 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: I guess just just shot them up with the way 246 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: I understand that the mortar was all shot up the boat. 247 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: The cabin on the boat was all shining up with 248 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: bullet holes. I guess that's what I could see. 249 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 3: You know. 250 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, the man who was killed, Sam Galland, was reported 251 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 2: by the coroner they had seventeen bullet holes in his body. 252 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 5: But these leios had, you know, the trajectory sort of 253 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 5: like a forty five degree trajectory angle on that boat 254 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 5: where they could just fire away. And yeah, they wounded 255 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 5: several of them and killed one. But yeah, that's like 256 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,400 Speaker 5: you're literally walking into a I mean, I don't know 257 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 5: what you would call them. In the military. Sometimes in 258 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 5: these wars, they you know, you get trapped like that, 259 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 5: you're just you just just no way out. 260 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 2: So you have studied about this and talked to all 261 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 2: these different people, who do you think fired the first shot? 262 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 5: Probably the Islanios. Probably they weren't gonna sit there and 263 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 5: let them fire a machine gun at him. 264 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. 265 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 5: One, only one person was killed, one Texas ranger whose 266 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 5: last name was Gowland, Sam Gowland. He was the one 267 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 5: operating the machine gun. The other ones were driven away 268 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 5: and they went looking for Perez. They were going to 269 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 5: kill him. That's how angry they were, as you can imagine. 270 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 5: And Perez escaped and managed to get out of town 271 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 5: literally by getting over into New Orleans and getting out 272 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 5: of the parish. 273 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,640 Speaker 2: Was Perez wasn't on the boat though. 274 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 5: No, he was not, of course not. No, those were 275 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 5: his hired guns. Literally, he was nowhere near the boat. 276 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 5: He's not gonna get his hands dirty, He's not going 277 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 5: to get shot at. And I'm sure he had people 278 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:54,800 Speaker 5: around him protecting him. 279 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: It was your dad. 280 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 2: There was your father there. 281 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, he was there, yea. And like I was seeing 282 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 1: my dad had went to something happened, and I don't 283 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,639 Speaker 1: know what it was. I just told these things that 284 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,160 Speaker 1: these Texans and gunsling as well. When they started getting 285 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: shot at, they started running through the march and they 286 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: shot him up, you know, but they didn't kill them all. 287 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: And they got all shot up, and one of them 288 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: was coming swimming across the bay. And this is when 289 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,359 Speaker 1: I'm one of the incident. I was told and a 290 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: friend of my dad they said, look, that's the guy 291 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 1: that tried to beat you up and off in the couch. 292 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: And uh, my dad had an Elsie Smith shot double 293 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: shotgun and I didn't know, but he had it in 294 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: the in our attic and he never did use it. 295 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: I used to go up there and I could see 296 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 1: it and the stock was cracked, you know. And somebody 297 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: else told me that my dad hit that guy with 298 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: the stock of a shotgun and they broke the stock. 299 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 1: Oh wow, And I remember the shotgun. It was an 300 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: old Elsie Smith and the stock was broken. 301 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 2: Paul told me the same story about Whimpy's dad breaking 302 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 2: a gun stock off one of the boatman's heads. Here 303 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 2: is Paul with an unusual story of a first hand 304 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,879 Speaker 2: account from a man on the boat involving a wild 305 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 2: coincidence with the dog and a guy named to What's 306 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 2: Yep to What's. 307 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 3: I'm going to tell you another little story of cut 308 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:43,280 Speaker 3: fits right into this. My daddy used to buy crabs 309 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 3: before he died. My daddy died when he was thirty 310 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,919 Speaker 3: eight years old. I was fifteen fifteen is on when 311 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:52,720 Speaker 3: he died, and we used to go to old on 312 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 3: Highway eleven. They had a family over there. They were 313 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,800 Speaker 3: s stands. The old man was Pete and he had 314 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 3: a son that was Pete. One of them was towards 315 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 3: uh old man, Old Man Pete. His daddy was on 316 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 3: the boat when they shot it up. Like I said, 317 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 3: those people had no education and they looked to make 318 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 3: a dollar whatever they could make a dollar. And he 319 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 3: wasn't from Dela Crown. But they come there the trap. 320 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 3: When the trapping was good, they stayed. He said, well, 321 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 3: some kind of way he got mixed up and got 322 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 3: on that boat. He must They must have gave him 323 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 3: a job, that can of whatever, and he got on 324 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 3: that boat. And he told me, he said, when they 325 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:42,880 Speaker 3: started shooting that boat, the cast net LEDs were bouncing off, 326 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 3: And I asked him, said the cast that they said, Yeah, 327 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 3: they take a cast net ledge. It's got a whole 328 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 3: clean through it, you know, the castle. Yeah, And they 329 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 3: had smashed the end of that and they put that 330 00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 3: in the shotgun shell he said. He said, the cast 331 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,360 Speaker 3: that LEDs were bouncing off. He said, But them steel jackinson, 332 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 3: them rifle shells was going clean through red boat. And 333 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,920 Speaker 3: it wasn't no steel boat late they had. There was 334 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,479 Speaker 3: a wood boat, he said. And he said, what happened, 335 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 3: he was sleeping on the other side of the motor away. 336 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 3: It happened early in the morning. He's sleeping on the 337 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 3: other side of the motor and he said, three or 338 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,640 Speaker 3: four of them Texas Rangers jumped on top of him, 339 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 3: trying to get away from getting behind that motor you said, 340 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 3: getting trying to get away from there. And uh, well, 341 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:30,920 Speaker 3: let me back up a minute. We used to go 342 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 3: over there and buy crabs. We'd buy crabs or fifty 343 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 3: two pounds hamp of crabs for four dollars of hamper 344 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 3: number ones and uh but anyway, we were over there 345 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 3: buying him and old man, old man Pete was there. 346 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 3: He had a bunch of old cars and trucks stuff. 347 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 3: You know junk, and they had a dog in there, 348 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 3: and that dog come out wanting to eat or something. 349 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 3: He told, told that dog, go let down. Dog. The 350 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 3: doge went it was button back and laid down. And 351 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 3: he told me saying, no, that dog is now I 352 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,160 Speaker 3: can't remember exiety. It was sixteen at eighteen years old, 353 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 3: he said, I've been having that dog a long time, 354 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 3: the old dog. We went in the house, he told 355 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,639 Speaker 3: told a story about that being behind that mode and 356 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 3: them Texas rangers and all jumping on top of him 357 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 3: and all. And when we come out of there to leave, 358 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 3: that dog was dead. I'll never forget that the dog 359 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 3: was laying their dead. He died. Why he told that story. 360 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's odd the things you remember that seemed completely disconnected. 361 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 2: But I think these are mechanisms in our mind to 362 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 2: help us remember the important stuff. Like an eighteen year 363 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,640 Speaker 2: old dog dying while the man was telling you about 364 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 2: being on the gun ship. That's just odds. What I'm 365 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 2: here for, Paul, good story here is wimpy. I'm trying 366 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 2: to understand, like how the thing could escalate to where 367 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 2: lander Perez was willing. 368 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: To kill people? 369 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 3: Yeah, how did that? 370 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,639 Speaker 1: How does that happen. The only thing I can understand 371 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: is that he told these guys, all these people that 372 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: he's hired, Look, uh, we have to take care of 373 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: the people at Dental Croil, and you're going to have 374 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: the all this trapping lands and you can trap it 375 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: as long as you give me a percentage of whatever 376 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,480 Speaker 1: you're catching all that, and you're going to have the 377 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: land instead of instead of and we got to run 378 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: them all and even if we have to kill Wow. 379 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:45,879 Speaker 2: That was so he just had that that strong of 380 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 2: an iron fist. He was isolated enough down in the 381 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 2: deep Delta that he just thought, I can I can 382 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 2: do anything. 383 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: That's why I kind of consider him a dictator. You know, 384 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: he had that Powell and he thought he can just 385 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: do anything until he faced the people from Golacron. What 386 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:09,439 Speaker 1: about his. 387 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,159 Speaker 2: Reputation here, Like if you were to go on the street, 388 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 2: like when we drove here, we drove down. 389 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: Perez Drive, Yeah, in the Pere Rive, well, a lot 390 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: of the politicians were with you in Saint Benod. 391 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 2: Perez Drive was named after Leander Perez in nineteen sixty nine, 392 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 2: but in the late nineteen nineties, after history had kind 393 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 2: of showed who this guy was and had judged him. 394 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 2: The name of the road was changed to be named 395 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 2: after a more likable judge named Melvin Perez, so it 396 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 2: remains Perez Drive. It's just a different Perez. What tell 397 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 2: me how your dad handled the trappers war? So he 398 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 2: he is actually there on the levee with a gun, 399 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:07,120 Speaker 2: did he? He didn't view that it's like something real 400 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 2: honorable that he had done, like he had defended his people. 401 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 2: Or was it just kind of like something he didn't 402 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:15,679 Speaker 2: want to talk about. 403 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: Right, He didn't talk about it too much. I guess 404 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 1: he felt like it was survival. He had to fight 405 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: to savive. 406 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 2: Like it wasn't a cool story to him, like today 407 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,400 Speaker 2: it was today one hundred years later, we're like, wow. 408 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: Wow, this is what happened. Oh, it wasn't. It wasn't 409 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: no big honor or nothing like that. It was just 410 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: something that he had to do that he didn't want 411 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: to do, but he had to do it to savive. 412 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: Isn't either kill or be killed. 413 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 2: It's interesting in the history because it's real easy to 414 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 2: like kind of glorify something good and bad one hundred 415 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 2: years later, and but back in the day, we might 416 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 2: have thought this was the least interesting thing that ever happened. 417 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 2: We're just like this is a bad thing, Like this 418 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 2: shows kind of the the evil of mankind. What what 419 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 2: do you think about that? 420 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: Uh? I think about what a person with power would 421 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: try to do to maintain that power. That would be 422 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: land a parath even if he had to kill to 423 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: do any he did it. That's how I look at it. 424 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: As far as a lot of people liked land in Parrett, 425 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: but I couldn't cry. 426 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 2: It's it's kind of wild to think about people having 427 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 2: a right trying to kill each other over a muskrat, right, 428 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:36,119 Speaker 2: you know that's today. 429 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: You look at it, man and people killed him something 430 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 1: or mushkranchy a well living you know, you had to survive. 431 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 2: Here's a simple version of how the conflict reached its 432 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 2: final resolution. It involved a guy named Manuel Malaro that 433 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 2: was in Islanias. So the people went to Manuel Malario. 434 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 2: He was an educated man with money, successful, They said, 435 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 2: can you help us? He buys the lane? 436 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: Right he and what does he do? He just wanted 437 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: to In other words, he was a good businessman. Also, 438 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 1: let's face that, you know. So what he did is 439 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 1: he went and where and formed Delacrat Corporation named it 440 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: after Delacrot, and he bought it, and then people would 441 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: trap for him because he would buy it afar. Delacro 442 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: Corporation would buy it afar. Okay, Okay, Like I said, 443 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,600 Speaker 1: he's a businessman, you know, true businessman. So he buys 444 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 1: all this land. Okay, okay, this is the only way 445 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: I can do it. You know, I'll buy the land 446 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:49,399 Speaker 1: we bought it from. I got it. I don't. I 447 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: wouldn't know, but I'd have to think that he had 448 00:26:56,359 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: to make some kind of arrangement with Leeann the Reds. 449 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 1: But talking to his granddaughter, they hated land the press, 450 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: you know, and I thought, wow, how can he buy 451 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: this land when out going through the dictator of Plagamin Parish. 452 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,639 Speaker 1: I couldn't answer that. But he didn't buy it, and 453 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: then he sold it to the trappers, the people from Delacrow. 454 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 2: So he sold the land back to them. He didn't 455 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 2: lease it to him. 456 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,880 Speaker 1: No, we could some of them. Some people didn't buy land, 457 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: but they're all. Even if you bought the land, you 458 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: had to sell you for the Delacrat Corperation. 459 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 2: So Malario ended up being the good guy. The only 460 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 2: difference between he and Perez is that he was fair 461 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 2: in his dealings with the Islanos. But I think we 462 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,080 Speaker 2: have got to take a closer look at Leander Perez. 463 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 2: He was born in eighteen ninety one and Placuamine Parish 464 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,439 Speaker 2: and raised in a wealthy Catholic family. Graduated from lsu 465 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 2: with the Law in nineteen fourteen at the age of 466 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,120 Speaker 2: twenty three, and was appointed judge of Plaquemine Parish by 467 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:09,440 Speaker 2: his cousin in nineteen nineteen. Early on, he was accused 468 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 2: of being corrupt. An example of that corruption he once 469 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 2: scheduled as judge. He scheduled seven murder cases to be 470 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 2: tried on the same day. All of the accused were 471 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 2: murderers involved in the illegal trade of liquor. They were bootleggers, 472 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 2: and it's alleged that Leander Perez wanted to protect them. 473 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 2: As I understand it, all of them were acquitted because 474 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 2: of the shortness of the trial. That's pretty slick if 475 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 2: you're wanting to be corrupt. Then later in nineteen twenty three, 476 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 2: while he was still really young, there was an impeachment 477 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 2: petition charged against him to impeach him as judge, and 478 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 2: there were twenty three specific charges against him that included 479 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 2: a bunch of stuff. But one of them on the 480 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 2: list was that he had a pearl handled revolver on 481 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 2: his person during court hearings. People didn't like that. Another 482 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 2: one was that he used county money to take people 483 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 2: to the restaurants of his friends, avoiding his political enemies 484 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 2: who owned restaurants. That's interesting, but most of them involved finances. 485 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 2: He would ultimately be acquitted when he and this is 486 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 2: when he was a young man, which empowered him even 487 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 2: more for the rest of his life. He kind of 488 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,440 Speaker 2: got away with it and he thought, I will do 489 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 2: whatever I want in this place, and he did. But 490 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 2: what he would become most known for was his stance 491 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 2: on racial issues. But as with all people, everyone had 492 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 2: a different opinion of Leander Perez. Here's Paul, I've read 493 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 2: a book about Leander Perez. You knew the man or 494 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 2: met him? 495 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, quite a few times. 496 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 2: He perceived around here. Is he a hero or is 497 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 2: he a vig? 498 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 3: They don't even know him no more. 499 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 5: Uh. 500 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 3: I think he was a I think basically he was 501 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 3: a good man. He uh he was a segregationist completely 502 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 3: and he ran that parish with a pretty stiff hand. 503 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,719 Speaker 3: But it was a good parish. It was a uh 504 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 3: it was well, it was the wealthiest. It was the 505 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 3: wealthiest parish in the United States. 506 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 2: He kind of had the reputation of being like a 507 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 2: crooked politician. 508 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 3: I mean, uh yeah, I said, hey, well crook, I say, 509 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 3: all of them will crooked. It was like the cowboys 510 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 3: days down here. And but they had good points to 511 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 3: him too, you know, they claim he was he was 512 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 3: such a bad man with the black people. I had 513 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 3: a buddy of mine, he me and he was in 514 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 3: army together, went through basic training and all but friends, all, 515 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,360 Speaker 3: you know, till he died. And he told he was 516 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 3: in the ballroom down there, and when day his motor 517 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 3: had broke down in his boat. He's oyster fisherman and 518 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,880 Speaker 3: his motor has broken his boat. And the ballrooms down 519 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 3: there had had imaginary line running through the middle of them. 520 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 3: The white people stood on one side and the black 521 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:18,680 Speaker 3: people stood on the other side. And he was in 522 00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 3: the ballroom by the bar, and Leanda Press walked in 523 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,080 Speaker 3: and he asked him. He said, Paul, what now, what's 524 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 3: the matter? You're not working? You wanted he wanted a 525 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 3: burdy working when people making a living for himself, and 526 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 3: he said, well, my motor's broken. My boat, Judge, he says, 527 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:36,280 Speaker 3: I can't work. He said, right now until I can 528 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,480 Speaker 3: make some money and get another motor. And uh he 529 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:41,400 Speaker 3: told me, he said, Paul, he said, go up to 530 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 3: Donovan that was the main place where you got your 531 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 3: motives and all up in the city. He said, put 532 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 3: get your the motor you need and put it on 533 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 3: my charge account. He said, but I want you to 534 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 3: pay me. He said, you're come and pay me. He said, okay, judge. 535 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 2: So and this this, Paul, this is the guy that 536 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 2: you knew, Yeah, when I was in army and he 537 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 2: was the black guy. 538 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 3: Black yeah, yeah, a fine boy, fine man. He wasn't 539 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 3: no boy. He was a man, a piece of man too. 540 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 3: But anyway, yeah, he uh, he had a lot. He 541 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 3: had He had everybody. Everybody's got good and bad in him. 542 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 3: You know, it's what's good to one personally be bad 543 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 3: for somebody else. Looking at a situation, when did you 544 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 3: meet Leander Press When I was a child, a kid, 545 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 3: fourteen twelve, fourteen, fifteen years old, Leander Peret brought the 546 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 3: first charlet bull from Mexico in here and he sent 547 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 3: an oyster boat with the with the they had pens 548 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 3: on oyster boat. The whole oyster's on the deck. They 549 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 3: put the pens up and went down there and got 550 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 3: him a bull and he brought it to Idle Wall 551 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:47,960 Speaker 3: that's on the other side of the river. That was 552 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 3: his his place on the other side of the river. 553 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 3: And old man the Bella took us. I can remember 554 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,800 Speaker 3: him taking this there and the judge was sitting on 555 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 3: the front porch and he all at the judge, he said, well, 556 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 3: look at the boat. Yeah, right back then look at 557 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:07,120 Speaker 3: it like that big, big animal. Boy. You know what 558 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 3: he had asked you. You caught you on the street 559 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 3: being good. Oh boy, you're being good? Oh boy, yeah, judge, 560 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 3: you know you'd asked if he was being good. 561 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 2: You know, that was the time when Hughey Long was 562 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 2: the governor, and so there was like there was just 563 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 2: a lot of kind of these big, strong politicians that 564 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 2: just ruled the land. 565 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 3: Yep. Yeah, he told you. He told you Long. He said, 566 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 3: if I could take Packham in Parish and push it 567 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 3: off into the Gulf and get away from the United States, 568 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 3: I do it. And you along told him I wish 569 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 3: you could. 570 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:46,719 Speaker 2: He wanted it to be like his own nations. 571 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 3: It was it was I tell you what, there wasn't 572 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 3: a piece of trash on that road. You couldn't found 573 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 3: a cigarette butter on that road. Cleanest place I want 574 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,480 Speaker 3: to see in your life. Beautiful. 575 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,640 Speaker 2: Here's David responding to Paul's story of Leander helping the 576 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 2: guy out with the boat motor and. 577 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 5: Look, there's not to say that, you know, Leander was 578 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:16,840 Speaker 5: not incapable of doing the occasional kind gesture for someone. 579 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:23,359 Speaker 5: But he made his bones, you know, using African Americans 580 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:28,480 Speaker 5: as targets of you know, prejudice and bigotry and scaring 581 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 5: white people into saying, you know, I'm going to keep 582 00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,319 Speaker 5: them out of the parish kind of thing, or I'm 583 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 5: going to control them, they're not going to let them vote, 584 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 5: or so. Yeah, he could occasionally throw a bone to someone, 585 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 5: a kind gesture here or there, but mainly he was not. 586 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:49,240 Speaker 1: A good person. 587 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 5: He was I think a very greedy, selfish, arrogant man 588 00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 5: who he was basically an amoral. 589 00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 2: Leander Perez became nationally known during the Civil rights movement 590 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 2: as being a staunch segregationist and just classic good old 591 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,719 Speaker 2: fashioned bigot and David's movie Delta Justice. They played a 592 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 2: clip of Leander on William F. Buckley's national talk show 593 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,600 Speaker 2: where he was asked directly about being a bigot, and 594 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:26,880 Speaker 2: Leander's answer was so repulsive Noah had permission to play it. 595 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:29,840 Speaker 2: It was just too grubby and I couldn't do it. 596 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:32,720 Speaker 2: But I'm glad that David put it on his movie. 597 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,279 Speaker 5: That's why I put the William A Fuckwee clip in there, 598 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 5: because I said, I didn't make this up here he is. 599 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:44,800 Speaker 5: Here's here's the guy himself confessing on national television his beliefs. 600 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:46,839 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. 601 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,200 Speaker 5: But other than that, people, I'll tell you my story. 602 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,359 Speaker 5: When we released the film on DVD. It was during 603 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:57,319 Speaker 5: the Islnios Festival, which was in April of the following year, 604 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 5: which would have been twenty sixteen, and this elderly African 605 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,880 Speaker 5: American gentleman came in and he said, are you mister Dubos. 606 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 5: I said yes, I am. He said, you're the gentleman 607 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:11,680 Speaker 5: who made the movie about the trappers war. I said yes. 608 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:14,879 Speaker 5: He said you're selling those DVDs. I said yes, sir, 609 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 5: and I said I'll take ten of them. He pulls 610 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:20,799 Speaker 5: out one hundred dollars pill because we were like ten 611 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:23,400 Speaker 5: bucks each. And I said, can I ask why A 612 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:25,759 Speaker 5: you're buying ten of them? He said, I want to 613 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,480 Speaker 5: give them to my grandchildren. Because I went to see 614 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,399 Speaker 5: your movie at the film festival. He said, I came 615 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 5: back and started your film three times. I watched you 616 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,239 Speaker 5: do your Q and A after every he said, and 617 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 5: I just wanted to thank you for showing what kind 618 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,799 Speaker 5: of person Leandon Perez was. And he said, I want 619 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:50,520 Speaker 5: to teach that to my children and grandchildren. But you know, 620 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 5: so they're people's people are complicated. I think Leander was 621 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,440 Speaker 5: in some ways complicated, but in other ways, I think 622 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 5: he saw a way to use his power and his 623 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 5: wealth and his influence to a negative degree. So much so, 624 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:12,640 Speaker 5: like Carville said in the film, he's the most odious 625 00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:15,200 Speaker 5: person in the history of Luisiana. And that says a 626 00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 5: lot because there's been a lot of people going through 627 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,840 Speaker 5: this state that have been notorious people. 628 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,360 Speaker 2: What about this part of the world produces kind of 629 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,520 Speaker 2: these dictator type leaders. 630 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 5: We've had a colorful history of politicians here. Perez is 631 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:40,239 Speaker 5: just one of them. Edwin Edwards was our governor for 632 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,200 Speaker 5: many years. I think he served three terms, and he 633 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 5: was a very colorful Cajun Democrat governor. He was on 634 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:55,920 Speaker 5: Sixty Minutes. He just meant Edwin was he was kind 635 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:01,440 Speaker 5: of like Clinton magnified. He loved women, he loved drinking, 636 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 5: he loved gambling. He got caught carrying a suitcase of 637 00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 5: a million dollars into a casino one time. Sixty Minutes 638 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 5: asked him about it, and he said, they said, you know, 639 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,040 Speaker 5: that's quite unusual for a governor to be carrying Goes misity. 640 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: It's unusual. 641 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:21,759 Speaker 5: And I just kind of like stopped and they looked up, like, well, 642 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:23,719 Speaker 5: don't you think that's he Goes. I don't know if 643 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:27,400 Speaker 5: it's illegal, it's unusual, but you know, it just kind 644 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:31,319 Speaker 5: of like brushed it off with the seventies and then 645 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 5: again in the eighties. It was a race in eighty 646 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 5: eight when he ran against David Duke, who was the 647 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,880 Speaker 5: notorious clansman who ran for governor, and Edwin had to 648 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,280 Speaker 5: come back and said, there used to be a famous 649 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:47,799 Speaker 5: bumper sticker said vote for the crook, meaning Edwin, it's 650 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:49,640 Speaker 5: important over Duke. 651 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:56,719 Speaker 2: Vote for the crook. It's important. Yeah, wow, what about 652 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:57,359 Speaker 2: Huey Long. 653 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,399 Speaker 5: Huey Long was another and again on Randy Newman's there's 654 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,480 Speaker 5: a song called the Kingfish. It was about Huey Long. 655 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 5: He was a very highly respected and very popular populist governor, 656 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:16,040 Speaker 5: so he would be the equivalent of kind of uh, 657 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,320 Speaker 5: a more moderate version of Bernie Sanders might be a 658 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:27,919 Speaker 5: good description of him. He was very much giving back 659 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,080 Speaker 5: to the people. But if you ever saw All the 660 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:34,160 Speaker 5: King's Men, which is a famous Hollywood movie with Broderick Crawford, 661 00:39:34,239 --> 00:39:38,279 Speaker 5: he played essentially Huey Long. That was a Pulitzerprise winning book, 662 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:43,160 Speaker 5: and they did a remake with Sean Penn which wasn't good. 663 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:47,399 Speaker 5: But the original film is wonderful and it's about Huey Long, 664 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,560 Speaker 5: and it's about how even the best intentioned person, once 665 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:55,759 Speaker 5: they get to power, you know, absolute power corrups absolutely. 666 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:55,839 Speaker 3: Kind of thing. 667 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,959 Speaker 5: And Huey Long, you know, he did kick out stand 668 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:04,279 Speaker 5: oil from essentially, you know, stealing the oil from the 669 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,719 Speaker 5: land owners was kind of like a bigger version of 670 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:13,320 Speaker 5: the Trappers War. But Hughey was again a colorful character. 671 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:16,399 Speaker 5: And then his brother, Earl Long. They made a movie 672 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:19,440 Speaker 5: about him called Blaze with Paul Newman in the eighties, 673 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:23,919 Speaker 5: and Earl was quite a character. Earl was institutionalized while 674 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:25,880 Speaker 5: he was governor, and then he so the. 675 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,040 Speaker 2: Two brothers both were governors at different times. 676 00:40:28,160 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 5: Yeah, well, let me tell you this quick story about 677 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:33,000 Speaker 5: Earl Long. So he's in a mental institution because the 678 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,640 Speaker 5: people wanted to take over the state threw him in there, 679 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:40,200 Speaker 5: and then he found a loophole where called the guy 680 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 5: in charge of mental institutions. He said, is this so 681 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,640 Speaker 5: and so on the line who runs the mental institution 682 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,600 Speaker 5: I'm currently in. Yes it is this is the governor 683 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:52,800 Speaker 5: Earl Long. You're fired. I'm here by appointing you know 684 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:54,799 Speaker 5: so and so to being which was his friend. He says, 685 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:59,040 Speaker 5: I here by release ear Along. You know, very famous 686 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 5: story which is hit it in the movie with Paul Newman. Yeah, 687 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:08,200 Speaker 5: Earl was a character Huey was. You know, he had 688 00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,600 Speaker 5: his handle a lot of pockets. Again, when you're in 689 00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:12,959 Speaker 5: charge of a state like Louisiana, which at the time 690 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:21,280 Speaker 5: was oil rich, mineral rich. Today even I think something 691 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,319 Speaker 5: like forty percent or it might be as high as 692 00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:28,839 Speaker 5: sixty percent of the natural gas in the country comes 693 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:31,960 Speaker 5: from here. I mean, Louisiana is one of the most 694 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:36,400 Speaker 5: important states we in terms of providing services for the 695 00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:40,560 Speaker 5: country and so when you are the governor of this state, 696 00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:42,719 Speaker 5: you have a lot of power and even but back 697 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 5: then it was magnified because there wasn't a lot of 698 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,800 Speaker 5: oil drilling, but the ones that were being done in 699 00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:54,520 Speaker 5: Louisiana were, I mean it was. It was unbelievably rich. 700 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:57,400 Speaker 2: A lot of people made a lot of money. And 701 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:01,319 Speaker 2: they didn't have the Internet, no tell on people, they 702 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:05,440 Speaker 2: didn't have nothing cell phones and email communications. It was 703 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:09,800 Speaker 2: just an environment that I guess lended itself to potentially. 704 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,880 Speaker 5: Look, man, when you are in charge of something and 705 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 5: if you are tempted by millions of dollars and the 706 00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:21,719 Speaker 5: power to get away with it, human nature is going 707 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,560 Speaker 5: to dictate that. That's hard to resist because look what's 708 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,440 Speaker 5: going on now, what look at all the things that 709 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,320 Speaker 5: have happened in our country over the last fifty years, 710 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:37,319 Speaker 5: just from politicians going to jail, whether it was Watergate 711 00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:41,280 Speaker 5: or all the things, you know, and he never sees 712 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 5: sometimes the people in charge, like a lot of people 713 00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:48,600 Speaker 5: around Clinton and Trump went to jail, but they didn't, 714 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:53,279 Speaker 5: you know. So yeah, you got to wonder, you know, 715 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:57,800 Speaker 5: keep their hands clean. Everybody else is going to dirty 716 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,680 Speaker 5: them for them, you know. So they've learned a lot 717 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:03,600 Speaker 5: since then. Here we long was assassinated by the way 718 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:06,360 Speaker 5: in the state capitol, on the steps of the capitol. 719 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:09,160 Speaker 5: There's a lot of conspiracy theories about. 720 00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:12,720 Speaker 2: That, but he was really I mean, the same story 721 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:16,320 Speaker 2: on a very small scale involving muskrats that happened with 722 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:17,080 Speaker 2: Leander Perez. 723 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:17,840 Speaker 5: Absolutely. 724 00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:21,160 Speaker 2: I mean it's like, yeah, at some level, you talk 725 00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:24,440 Speaker 2: about a story about big oil money and governing a state, 726 00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 2: this was Leander Perez just had his parish that he 727 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:30,960 Speaker 2: was the king of. 728 00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:33,839 Speaker 5: He was the dictator of his own parish for sure. 729 00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:37,719 Speaker 2: So it's this thing scales inside of people power scales. 730 00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:38,719 Speaker 1: Absolutely. 731 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:49,359 Speaker 5: You've seen the film, yes, do you remember the last 732 00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:54,080 Speaker 5: shot of the film, So the ending shot is of 733 00:43:54,760 --> 00:43:57,759 Speaker 5: what looks like a muskrat. I ended the film with 734 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,680 Speaker 5: that image because it's like all of this fighting, all 735 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:08,600 Speaker 5: of this bloodshed and warfare and animosity over this creature, 736 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:11,520 Speaker 5: and it's just sort of the matter of factness of 737 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:15,520 Speaker 5: the animal who's just oblivious to its environment, you know. 738 00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 2: You know, it also shows the frivolity of human nature too, 739 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,799 Speaker 2: that's right, that we were willing to kill in order 740 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:28,560 Speaker 2: to get this little little animal. Yeah, that's not even 741 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:32,560 Speaker 2: nobody wants fur coats, nobody. I mean, fur trade's kind 742 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:34,440 Speaker 2: of coming back just a little bit in some places. 743 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 2: But it was this fashion trend, you know, that pushed 744 00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:41,480 Speaker 2: people in this time to do this kind of extreme stuff. 745 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:46,480 Speaker 5: Yeah. Here humans are fighting over money and land, and 746 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:52,120 Speaker 5: here are these animals. They're just still oblivious to the 747 00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:56,239 Speaker 5: insanity that we are producting in our daily lives and 748 00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:57,840 Speaker 5: they're just going about their business. 749 00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:04,400 Speaker 2: Is there something that we can learn about human nature? 750 00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:08,240 Speaker 2: About people? Like, what's the what's the value in this story? 751 00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:13,279 Speaker 1: I'd have to look at leand the Perez's position that 752 00:45:13,520 --> 00:45:17,800 Speaker 1: some men, I guess I would want that power to 753 00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:18,759 Speaker 1: do what they want to do. 754 00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:22,560 Speaker 2: So that's that shows you that there's kind of dangerous 755 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:23,200 Speaker 2: people out there. 756 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:27,840 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well Leander wasn't the first one. It is 757 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:31,840 Speaker 1: not going to be the last one. There's always some 758 00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,560 Speaker 1: people like that out there. You know that they just 759 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:38,440 Speaker 1: when they get a certain amount of power, it just 760 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:43,600 Speaker 1: upsets them, you know, I guess m hm. So you know, 761 00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,279 Speaker 1: somebody mentions LeAnn the Perez that's this is all I 762 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:51,960 Speaker 1: can think of. He tried to kill more people. H Yeah, 763 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:04,480 Speaker 1: other people may look at him different, but I can 764 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:06,239 Speaker 1: it's sad. 765 00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:15,680 Speaker 2: Looking into the lives of humans is wildly interesting and 766 00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:20,360 Speaker 2: to me, especially when it overlaps with wildlife, even muskrats. 767 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:23,520 Speaker 2: But inside of these stories, I think that we can 768 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:28,080 Speaker 2: learn so much. And as a final thought in regards 769 00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:33,319 Speaker 2: to the animals, today, muskrats are almost completely gone out 770 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:39,880 Speaker 2: of Louisiana. They have been ecologically replaced by the invasive nutria. 771 00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:43,680 Speaker 2: In the last few years, less than four hundred muskrats 772 00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:47,600 Speaker 2: were trapped annually in the whole state, down from millions 773 00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:54,200 Speaker 2: one hundred years ago. Things are always changing and Wimpy 774 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:59,040 Speaker 2: Serenai and Paul Leguard's family land on Delacroix Island, where 775 00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:03,840 Speaker 2: their families used to trap, are now almost completely underwater 776 00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:09,360 Speaker 2: as South Louisiana continues to sink. It's a wild story. 777 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:15,520 Speaker 2: I can't thank you enough for listening to Bear Grease Brins, 778 00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:20,840 Speaker 2: This Country Life and Lakes Backwoods University. Please leave us 779 00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:24,840 Speaker 2: a review on iTunes, share this podcast directly with a friend, 780 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:28,799 Speaker 2: share it on social media. We thank you so much 781 00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:32,560 Speaker 2: for your support this Bear Grease feed and what we're 782 00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:37,360 Speaker 2: doing keep the wild places wild because that's where the 783 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:37,920 Speaker 2: bears live.