General Giuseppe Garibaldi and Major Roberdeau Wheat landed at Marsala, on the westernmost point of Sicily, on 11 May 1860 to unify Sicily and Italy. Wheat was from New Orleans and would take 1,600 Prisoners’ of War with him when he returned from Sicily in 1861 to fight as Confederates.

The was the beginning of Wheat’s raising a group of men who would latter become known as “The Fighting Tiger” and be honored as the mascot of LSU. 160 years later, the Sicilian influence is felt through Louisiana in food, festivals, commerce, and politics.