W F Ventry

The Adventures of Captain Will and the Pirate Ship, Mary Faye, Volume Four, Pirate Lads W F Ventry

These are the escapades of the sloop "Mary Faye" as Captain Will and his crew sailed the waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. They sailed during a time of great change in the Florida panhandle. France, Spain, England, the upstart colonists, as well as the Native American tribes, all desired the control of Florida during the late 1600, 1700 and early 1800's. The "Mary Faye" was one of the last pirate ships to operate in the New World. The ship and her crew plundered the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and raided the inland trading posts and other areas along the Apalachicola River. They made friends with the Apalachee Indians and joined in efforts to drive out any foreign country from the Indian nation. Adventure was everywhere and anywhere for the ship and crew. Their travels took them from the Gulf coast to the Florida boundary with Georgia. Many of the adventures occurred in what is present day Apalachicola National Forest and Tate's Hell State Forest, as well as the current Florida counties of Columbia, Suwannee, Dixie, Jackson, Franklin, Liberty, Gadsden, Gulf, Leon, and Wakulla.