Known as "George the Jap," Sachihiko Murata left Japan as a youth, stealing aboard a U.S. Navy ship under the command of Admiral George Brown. He served as Brown's chef for several tours in the Pacific fleet, but when Brown retired settled first in New Orleans, coming up the Mississippi and Red rivers until settling in Caddo Parish in the 1905-1910 time period. He finally settled on the north shore of Caddo Lake, just inside Texas, where his ability to cook and lead fishing expeditions made him a favorite of both the Caddo Parish, La., and Harrison/Marion Counties, Texas, authorities. He discovered pearl-bearing mussels in Caddo Lake some time after 1900 and started a tiny closet industry of diving for them until creation of a dam in the early 20th century raised the water level of the lake, killing the mussels. When World War II came around and Japanese were rounded up, the FBI went looking for Murata. Caddo Parish deputies and Texas law officers, reportedly under the direction of Texan "Cap" Taylor, Lady Bird Johnson's father, protected Murata from the federal agents, promising his good behavior, and Murata was able to lead a peaceful and undisturbed life until his death just after the war ended. He was buried in the Core Cemetery by those he loved and who loved him, in a country he came to know and love as his own. Murata was reportedly the son of a Japanese admiral, though this is unconfirmed. I was shown Murata's grave in the 1980s by Tom Ayres, a music producer who lived in Oil City, on the shores of Caddo Lake.
Known as "George the Jap," Sachihiko Murata left Japan as a youth, stealing aboard a U.S. Navy ship under the command of Admiral George Brown. He served as Brown's chef for several tours in the Pacific fleet, but when Brown retired settled first in New Orleans, coming up the Mississippi and Red rivers until settling in Caddo Parish in the 1905-1910 time period. He finally settled on the north shore of Caddo Lake, just inside Texas, where his ability to cook and lead fishing expeditions made him a favorite of both the Caddo Parish, La., and Harrison/Marion Counties, Texas, authorities. He discovered pearl-bearing mussels in Caddo Lake some time after 1900 and started a tiny closet industry of diving for them until creation of a dam in the early 20th century raised the water level of the lake, killing the mussels. When World War II came around and Japanese were rounded up, the FBI went looking for Murata. Caddo Parish deputies and Texas law officers, reportedly under the direction of Texan "Cap" Taylor, Lady Bird Johnson's father, protected Murata from the federal agents, promising his good behavior, and Murata was able to lead a peaceful and undisturbed life until his death just after the war ended. He was buried in the Core Cemetery by those he loved and who loved him, in a country he came to know and love as his own. Murata was reportedly the son of a Japanese admiral, though this is unconfirmed. I was shown Murata's grave in the 1980s by Tom Ayres, a music producer who lived in Oil City, on the shores of Caddo Lake.
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