From its storied harbor to its stately Victorian mansions, historic Galveston is filled with legendary figures and ghostly stories. Galveston is one of the most haunted cities in America, according to numerous websites, books and “ghost hunters” that track reports of ghostly occurrences. The island has been home to the allegedly cannibalistic Karankawa Indians and merciless pirates, including the famous Jean Laffite whose lavish and lawless den of thieves was the island's first European settlement. Galvestonians in the 19th century knew fires, epidemics of yellow fever and malaria, military occupation and bitter war, and of course, storms.