Well, Gasparilla is this weekend and I do not know about most of you but I am super excited. Over the past years the tradition of Gasparilla has pretty much become an excuse for old people to get drunk, dress up like pirates, and throw beads. But who would have thought there was more behind it? For the few of you who do not know where the Gasparilla tradition started, I will give you a brief history.
It all started when Jose Gaspar, a lieutenant in the Royal Spanish Navy, decided he needed to be more adventurous and became a pirate assuming the name of Gasparilla. In 1783, he got a crew together started capturing ships off the coast of Florida, 36 ships during his first 12 years as a pirate. In 1812, Gasparilla and his Buccaneers had decided to retire from piracy, divide their fortunes up, and disband elsewhere to live their lives in fortune. But soon after a ship appeared, The U.S.S. Enterprise. The Buccaneers could not resist this last chance to be adventurous so the tried to seize this ship but lost. As a final gesture of defiance, Gasparilla tied his feet with chain and jumped from his burning ship, his sword plunging into the water below.
Supposedly, when Jose Gaspar died, he left behind treasure buried along the coast of Florida. No one has found it to this day. As a Tribute to Gasparilla, the city of Tampa assumed the pirate as their mascot. In 1904, the “Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla” put together a surprise mock pirate attack on Tampa in the spirit of Jose Gaspar and his Buccaneers. This attack of pirates still occurs to this day on the last Saturday in January.
HISTORY OF GASPARILLA– The Legend
http://gasparillapiratefest.com/history.shtml