The Saga of Orange County’s “Pirates” - San Juan Capistrano Visitor Series Part 8
Author's Note: The following was written after consulting a large number of resources, including material from the Bancroft Library, the Santa Barbara Mission Archive Library and sources provided by fellow scholars. I hope to publish a thoroughly footnoted version of the following as a chapter in a book about San Juan Capistrano, but wanted to post this in preparation for the 200th anniversary of Bouchard's visit to California and the associated events marking his attack in San Juan Capistrano in early November of 2018. I could not have written this article without the help of my friend Phil Brigandi (1959-2019) , who assisted me with research every step of the way. A big thanks also goes out to Michael Melzer, the author of The Patriot Pirate , the definitive book on Bouchard's privateering journey around the world. Another big thanks goes out to Dr. Rose Marie Beebe for assisting me with some translations. And finally, another big thanks goes out to Phoebe Herring