Search the Encyclopedia Mavericana:   ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Ziggy

Pawn broker in New Orleans[1] in 1879. (June 30, 1827 – August 6, 1907)[2]

An opportunistic man, often acting as an informant to the police for monetary compensation.

In April of 1879,[2] Bart Maverick pawned his prized silver saddle at Ziggy's pawn shop in the French Quarter to raise a stake for Brother Bret and himself to buy passage on the maiden voyage of Henri Devereaux's luxurious steam packet, the River Princess. Later that night, while planning to overthrow Jody Collins' plot of kidnapping Devereaux's daughter, Yvette, Bart went back to Ziggy's shop to buy two pounds of black powder. Ziggy was hesitant to sell that much powder all at once, so asked for ten dollars to sell it to Bart without filing a police report. Bart objected, paying only five dollars, and tore off a short length of fuse form a roll when Ziggy wasn't looking. Afterwards, Bart went to Devereaux's suite at the Hotel Royale to tell him what he knew of his daughter's kidnapping and to collect $50,000 ransom. Inspector Marvin was present and demanded to know the location of Collins and the girl. While they argued, Ziggy arrived to tell Marvin of Bart's suspicious purchase, but Bart had already hidden the powder and covered his story by producing the pawn ticket for his silver saddle earlier in the day. Marvin quickly dismissed Ziggy, but Ziggy hesitated, hinting at getting paid for his information and left only when Marvin assured him he would get his money.[1]

See: Hostage