"The fall of the Confederacy in 1865 spawned the rise of the Mystical Order of the Knights of The Ku Klux Klan, whose white-sheeted pogroms against the freed Black population effectively undid their emancipation and restored the Old Order. In Louisiana, the target was Catholics , the 'French.' So the elite of New Orleans, including the Frenchmen, had to create their own orders. By 1872, the secret societies, The Mystick Krews of Comus and Rex, begun before the Civil War, took on a new mandate: to designate the exclusive rulership of the city and name its King. For more than a century, membership has remained secret, kept behind masks during Mardi Gras, except for Rex of Rex, the King of Carnival..." - Greg Palast http://gregpalast.com/VulturesPicnic " Following the war, Pike settled in Memphis , Tennessee , where it was rumored he became involved with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), though no definitive evidence proves his relationship with the organiza...