Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, Barataria Preserve

This guide to Barataria Preserve, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park near New Orleans, follows soldiers wading up these same bayous before dawn in November 1812, hunting a smuggling colony run by brothers Jean and Pierre Lafitte. It traces their black-market empire out of Barataria Bay, the raid that caught them and dozens of unarmed smugglers, and the bail they paid before vanishing rather than stand trial. You'll hear about Pierre's later conviction and the naval force sent after the operation two years on. Local tradition holds this boardwalk traces one of their old getaway routes.