This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

February 11, 1977
Commodore
Bay-Waveland Yacht Club Bay St. Louis KS 39520
Dear Sir,
Enclosed are the details of the first Regatta on the Gulf Coast after the War Between the States which was created through the leadership of Bay St. Louis people.
Yachting in the ante-bellum days was much like Football or Baseball today. Not everyone could afford it but the competitive races were front page news and were followed with spirit and money.
Things were dismal in 1867. Reconstruction problems were reaching a friction between North and South with an occupying army,plus carpetbaggers and scalawags, plus very sti'ained race relations, plus difficulty in getting jobs and meeting tax bills for Southerners, plus the influx of Northern capitalists vying competitively with local people in commerce.
This Bay St. Louis race of August 19, 1867, proved so successful in reviving Louisiana-Mississippi-Algbama spirits that Mississippi City Yacht Club followed with another on September 2 and Pass Christian on September 9 and Biloxi later.
Thought you might be interested in commemorating this event perhaps in your activities this summer.
cc:	Sea	Coast	Echo
Lionel Baxter, Pres
cock County Historical Society
40 SEPARATE OR MOTEL STYLE UNITS
on the Beach of the Gulf of Mexico Halfway Between Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi Mail: 02300 Beach Drive (Hwy.90)	Phone	896-	1221
Mississippi City Station, Gulfport, Mississippi 39501