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YMKG was instrumental in establishing the Inter-Krewe Council, which has grown to include more than 60 other Krewes. Credit Daylina Miller / WUSF Public Media. [30] However, none of these claims were true, as no treasure, murder victims, or other physical trace of Gaspar's exploits has ever been found in the area, and John Gmez drowned while fishing alone, making a deathbed confession impossible. Initially, they modeled themselves after the Krewe of Rex and were knights or reflected royalty. One of the first was the Gasparilla Open, a PGA Tour stop which was sponsored by Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) from 1932 to 1935. & Queen Anne Lawson Kelley, King William L. (Larry) Smith & Queen India Powell Stallings, King J. Rex Farrior, III & Queen Laura Elizabeth Straske, King Gary W. Harrod & Queen Margo Hall Ennis, King Christopher C. Lykes & Queen Courtney Laurens Farrior, King CVII James A. Turner III & Queen CVII Martha Davis Straske, King CVIII Richard McKinley Chapman III & Queen CVIII Caroline Grace Dearing Lackman, Copyright @ 2023 Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla - All Rights Reserved |. This document recounts the Gasparilla legend first published in 1936 but adds a coda which concedes that scholarly research conducted in both Spanish and American archives has not uncovered any evidence of Gaspar's existence. There is actually one example of when a ship wasnt totally empty of its cargo and that cargo was livestock pigs and chickens. The History of Gasparilla Legend has it that a Spanish pirate named Jos Gaspar terrorized his way up and down the west coast of Florida in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Gasparilla is here! The parade was even cancelled in 1991 over disputes about diversity. Karl E. Holland / State Library & Archives of Florida. [24] In 1885, he told state census takers that he had been born in Corsica,[25] and reported to the 1900 US Census that he was born in Portugal in 1776. [35], Other large-scale events held during the Gasparilla season include the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts (established 1970), the Tampa Rough Rider's St. Patrick's Day Parade (first held in 1977), the Gasparilla Distance Classic road race (established 1978), the Gasparilla Film Festival (established 2006), the Gasparilla Music Festival (established 2013), and the Gasparilla Bowl college football game (renamed in 2018). [42][43] Besides promotional material and contact information for the Gasparilla Inn, the brochure prominently featured the "Story of Jose Gasparilla," the "last of the Buccaneers" who it said had terrorized the Gulf of Mexico for almost 40 years. Some guys will be walking with their grandfathers in this parade and certainly their fathers, Chapman said. However, the retellings differ greatly in the details. Once they had the idea for Gasparilla, Louise Frances Dodge and George Hardee invited members of Tampas high society to form a secret group called Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla. Chapman serves as the King for Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla this year. Most male prisoners would be forced to join his crew or be put to death, while women would be taken to a nearby isle (called Captiva Island for this reason) to be held for ransom or serve as wives or concubines for the pirates. Some versions of the legend claim that Gaspar entrusted Lopez with his personal log or diary, which have been cited as sources for information about the pirate although neither has ever been produced. Gasparilla began as a surprise "pirate invasion" on horseback during the city's May Day festival in 1904. FL lawmaker wants political bloggers to be registered, Man accused of dumping 30 mattresses in Key West:, Spirit flight makes emergency landing in FL due to, FL man wins lottery, state claims he owes them money, Jack in the Box coming to Florida, seeking franchisees, Disney Worlds Typhoon Lagoon water park set to reopen, Universal Orlando adds vegan Butterbeer to menus, 4 new things to check out at the FL Strawberry Festival, Co-workers win $50K after buying ticket during lunch. [32][35], In 1904, members of the Tampa business elite staged a surprise pirate "invasion" during the city's previously sedate May Day celebration. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. Last year about 1,500 boats joined in on the invasion. [3] His book repeated claims that a "burying ground" containing the "bleached bones" of Gaspar's many victims had recently been discovered on Gasparilla Island, that a tall "burial mound" built by a "prehistoric race" had been excavated and found to be full of gold and silver artifacts along with "hundreds of human skeletons", and that a dying John Gmez had confessed to witnessing the murder of the "Little Spanish princess" and sketched a map that led searchers to her body. Courtesy Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System], [Burgert Brothers | Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System], [DAVID KADLUBOWSKI | Tampa Bay Times], [PENDYGRAFT, JOHN | St. Petersburg Times], [ | Tampa Bay Times], Gasparilla Festival of the Arts returns to Tampa. And a few pigs and chickens didnt make it from one end of the invasion to the other.". [Photo by the Burgert Brothers. Recent examples include September 2019 episodes of the TV series, This page was last edited on 30 January 2023, at 17:26. [1][15] Besides planning Gasparilla and its own private events, YMKG raises money for various charitable causes and annually endows several college scholarships through its community fund. 'Milo' Vega & Queen Shirley Morgan, King Ed K. Nelson Jr. & Queen Mary Louise Lee, King James L. Ferman & Queen Pamela Logan, King Blackburn W. Lowry & Queen Betsy Allison, King Fred S. Johnston & Queen Stella Louise Ferguson, King H. Grady Lester Jr. & Queen Lavinia Lee Witt, King Richard S. McKay & Queen Bonnie Grace Hall, King J.H. [17], "The Legend of Gasparilla: Myth and History on Florida's West Coast", "Gasparilla parade's 100th edition marked by mostly behaved revelry", "Children's parade kicks off Tampa's Gasparilla celebration this weekend", "Annual Knight Parade lights up Ybor with family-friendly revelry", "Everything you need to know for Gasparilla 2019", "The True History and Swashbuckling Myth Behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Namesake", The History of Gasparilla Pirate Fest - Tampa, Florida, "The pirates are coming! Pirates with Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla fill up the 168-ft. Jose Gasparilla II for the annual invasion. Whatever his supposed origins, the legends agree that Gaspar fled to the virtually uninhabited southwestern coast of Spanish Florida in the 1780s and established his "pirate kingdom" on Gasparilla Island in Charlotte Harbor, south of Tampa Bay. Now in its 53rd year, the festival is popular with . Im passionate about highlighting community efforts to improve the quality of care in our state and make it more accessible to all Floridians. The Jose Gasparilla pirate ship is decorated with a banner welcoming the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2020 Stanley Cup Champions, as they return to downtown Tampa on Tuesday, September 29, 2020. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Various activities and events for children are held in and around downtown Tampa in the hours before the Children's Parade, including the Preschooler's Stroll, which is a short, informal parade of small children riding pirate-themed wagons, strollers, bicycles, and scooters that runs for a few blocks along Bayshore Boulevard. Photos from the past show the festivities have changed over the decades. "That's my uncle and my mother going to Coronation back in 1950," said. [52] However, in 2018, the city did not change the regularly scheduled date of the parade to avoid the NHL All-Star Game and related activities, which were held at Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa over the same weekend. [26] Meanwhile, various contemporary letters and news articles report that Gmez claimed at different times to have been born in 1778, 1781 or 1795 in Honduras, Portugal, or Mauritius. In the festivals early years the invasion was done on horseback. Some claim that Gmez was the pirate's cabin boy, others that he was Gaspar's brother-in-law and first mate, still others that Gmez was Gaspar's first mate while his son was a cabin boy, and some even suggest that Gmez was the extraordinarily long-lived Jos Gaspar himself living under a false name. [52][60] The number of krewes and similar civic organizations has continued to grow in recent years, dampening controversies over inclusion. Sometimes the ships they found werent in great shape, so they would run aground, he said. Thus, Gasparilla was born. Beard III & Queen Courtney Clewis Howell, King Stephen W. Swindal & Queen Mallory Cason Howell, King John A. Brabson Jr. & Queen Caroline Elizabeth Annis, King O.Fred Dobbins & Queen Kelly Clewis Davis, King Michael D. Annis & Queen Katherine Bagwell Dobbins, King Harold W. Mullis Jr. & Queen Rosemary Elizabeth Williams, King J. Thomas Touchton & Queen Jennifer Louise Tuttle, King Preston L. Farrior & Queen Mary Ellen Buell, King Michael L. Carrere & Queen Kerry Lynn Carson, King R. James Robbins Jr. &Queen Merrin Baldwin Jenkins, King David A. Straz Jr. & Queen Elizabeth Lykes Carrere, King Philip R. Carroll & Queen Colleen Paige Pizzo, King Joseph W. Taggart & Queen Sara Katherine Ennis, King James C. Von Thron M.D. [33][6][34], Besides the three main parades and the many galas, parties, and fundraisers hosted by individual krewes, Tampa has long hosted a variety of other Gasparilla-related events from approximately January through March. [56] The Krewe of Venus (a women's organization formed by relatives of YMKG members) was allowed to join the parade in 1966, and the Krewe of Sant'Yago (formed by leading members of Tampa's Latin community) began holding their own Gaspar-themed parade in Ybor City in 1972, with both krewes collaborating somewhat with YMKG. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The first invasion by boat was in 1911. Girl "pirates," 1968, in the ratlines of a ship. More than a century. The vast majority of loot taken by real-life pirates consisted not of gold doubloons but of easily liquidated trade goods, and there were no nearby towns where stolen cargo could be sold. Courtesy of the Florida Archives. [57][3], The issue grew into a heated controversy in 1990, when the city planned to stage the Parade of Pirates a week earlier than usual to coincide with Super Bowl XXV, which was to be played at Tampa Stadium in January 1991. [3], Gmez's uncertain birth was said to be just the beginning of an exceedingly long and adventure-filled life. We estimate that 9400 Little Gasparilla Is Unit E2 would rent between $3,776 / mo. Krewe of Venus was formed in 1966 and was the first krewe to allow women to join. Dozens of other Krewes have joined the festivities over the years, which has grown into of one of the largest parades in the United States. "In 1783, having become a traitor and a pirate, Jos Gaspar gave the name of "Gasparilla" to himself as well as to his ship and the island in Charlotte Harbor, on the west coast of Florida near. Can SunRail help ease traffic in Polk County? [1], While Gaspar is a popular figure in Florida folklore, there is no evidence that he actually existed. However, the construction of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway through downtown in 1976 ended that tradition, as the 100-foot (30m) masts of the Jose Gasparilla II do not fit under the expressway where it bridges the river near its mouth. Gasparilla is one day out of the year, you celebrate the tradition, but really 364 days out of the year youre here working, being part of Tampa, you live here, you worship here, you support all of the organizations here, you try to make this a great place, said Chapman. He explained that the story had been inspired by John Gmez's tall tales, which Lemoyne had heard second-hand. [11], For over half a century, various Gasparilla pirate ships would sail about half a mile up the Hillsborough River to near the University of Tampa, where members of YMKG would disembark for the parade. The parade has always been held along Tampa's waterfront near downtown Tampa, and since 2011, it has ended along the Tampa Riverwalk, where festivities continue into the nighttime hours.[4][1]. Still she refused, and he killed her in a rage (or alternately, because his crew demanded her death). TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) For Richard Chapman, Gasparilla is a story about family. [3][15][22][1], Since then, many elaborate and often conflicting stories have been told regarding Gmez's alleged exploits alongside Jos Gaspar. In 2004, YMKG published a new centennial history of the organization. [3][7][5][18], In 1949, a retired Pat Lemoyne gave a history lecture at a Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce function in which he cheerfully admitted that his biography of Jos Gaspar was a "cockeyed lie without a true fact in it" and that he had written the brochure in a dramatic style that "tourists like to hear". His family has been a part of the fun for decades. [7], Several historians and other interested parties have attempted to find documentation of Gaspar's existence without success. A look back at the costumes, floats and festivities over the years. Burnt Store Marina apartments for rent. [3][7] While the USS Enterprise was assigned to the West Indies Squadron tasked with suppressing piracy in the Caribbean, it is documented to have been in Cuba in December 1821, not in Charlotte Harbor, where Gaspar's last battle is said to have taken place. [14][3] In addition, few pirates of any age based their operations along Florida's west coast. "[3] The earliest known written mention of Jos Gaspar was a short biography included in an early 1900s promotional brochure for the Gasparilla Inn on Gasparilla Island at Charlotte Harbor, the author of which freely admitted that the dramatic tale was a work of fiction "without a true fact in it". [9][17] However, no trace of this "pirate kingdom" has ever been uncovered despite the fact that the island became a key shipping point for Florida's phosphate industry in the early 20th century and the resort town of Boca Grande now encompasses most of its land area. [3][18][22], Despite his obvious lack of fact-checking, Bradlee's book was used as a source for later works such as Philip Gosse's Pirates' Who's Who and Frederick W. Dau's Florida Old and New, the authors of which also took Gaspar's authenticity for granted. [31], The Sant'Yago Illuminated Knight Parade (sometimes referred to as the "Gasparilla Night Parade") has been organized since 1972 by the Krewe of the Knights of Sant'Yago. Taken together, the events of Tampa's Gasparilla Season have an estimated local economic impact of about $40 million.[4]. [11] The sails are merely decorative and the "pirate ship" has no engine, so on Gasparilla Day, it is guided through the flotilla of accompanying smaller vessels by three tugboats helmed by experienced harbor pilots.