Heyil here. You may be wondering what's up with this mini episode.

I wanted to let you know I just launched my first Patreon campaign to help support the show.

Each month I'll be releasing exclusive mini episodes like this one that will only be available to my Patreon

supporters.

I'm posting this first one to the public so that everyone can get a taste of what I have in store.

Subscribers on Patreon will also get access to all sorts of other benefits based on their level of support including stickers, thank you notes personal lives with a handwritten message by me, shoutouts to my supporters of my regular show and other swag including the

conspirators t-shirts and tote bags. In the meantime, kick back, relax, and enjoy

this mini episode. After Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in the Louisiana purchase back in 1803.

A mass influx of immigrants began moving into the area looking to claim some land of their own and make their fortune.

French, Creoles, and of course plenty of Americans were the first to move in.

Over time they'd be joined by large numbers of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Italy.

Nearly 90% of the people who came to Louisiana moved in and around New Orleans,

which became the center of the local sugar and cotton plantations.

As a principal port and major agricultural area, New Orleans played a massive role in the African

slave trade, as well as being a major hub for business throughout much of the United States. Back around 1830, a Philadelphia-born dentist named Joseph Gardette arrived in New Orleans

hoping to achieve a bit of the business success he'd had back in Crescent City.

It turned out to be the right move, because within a few years, Guardet's business

was flourishing.

He commissioned a local architect named Frederick Roy to design a stately mansion worthy of a man of his wealth and status.

The three and a half story mansion at 716 Dauphine was the envy of many people around town.

With its pink exterior, raised half basement,

and elevated first floor.

...