Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     

Preface     


1. About Cat Island     

2. The French Discover Cat Island and Settle Biloxi     

3. The Fort on Cat Island     

4. The First Mutiny on American Soil     

5. Jean Lafitte, the Pirates, and Buried Treasure     

6. The Hero of Cat Island     

7. Juan de Cuevas Captures the Pirates     

8. A British Soldier Visits Cat Island After the War     

9. The Cuevas House on Cat Island     

10. Pioneer Life on Cat Island and the Developing Coast     

11. The Seminole Indians on Cat Island     

12. The Last Great Party on Cat Island     

13. The Funeral of Juan de Cuevas     

14. How the Truth Became a Legend     

15. The Lighthouses on Cat Island     

16. Turpentining and the Lumber Industry on Cat Island     

17. Al Capone and the Rumrunners     

18. The Goose Point Tarpon Club     

19. The Secret War Dogs of Cat Island     

20. Cat Island Owners from the Past to the Present     

21. A Visit to the Cuevas Homestead in Spain     


Notes     

Bibliography     

Index     

Just off the coast of the Gulf Islands National Seashore lies Cat Island, an isolated, T-shaped sliver of sand with a remarkable past. A coveted hiding place for Jean Lafitte's pirate treasure in the late eighteenth century and illegal booze during Prohibition, Cat Island also witnessed the first shots of the Battle of New Orleans, an encampment for Seminoles during the Trail of Tears and the first lighthouses on the Mississippi coast.
As a child, author John Cuevas learned that his family had owned and lived on the island for three generations beginning with his ancestor, Juan de Cuevas, referred to as "The King of Cat Island," who received it by way of a Spanish land grant. In this engaging work, Cuevas chronicles the historic events that occurred on the island's shores and offers a tribute to the legacy of one of the Gulf Coast's pioneer families.

A retired advertising executive, John Cuevas has been researching and writing about his family's connection to Cat Island since the 1950s and has published several articles on the subject.