Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here. Many Londoners in the eighteen twenties were exhausted and impoverished from the Napoleonic Wars that had ravaged Europe. They were eager for some hope and good news. So when Scotsman Gregor McGregor arrived in town, claiming to be his Serene Highness Gregor, the first Sovereign Prince of the State of Poious and its Dependencies, and Casque of the poor Nation, they fell for his engaging tales of this
far off land. The wrongs of citizens invested in the Kingdom and even attempted to move there, becoming victims of one of the world's greatest swindlers. McGregor's intriguing tale begins in eighteen eleven when McGregor took it upon himself to sail to South America and fight under Simone Boulivard in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spain. Impressed with McGregor's solid military background in the Royal Navy, Bolivard granted him
a commission. The personable, daring McGregor did well in many battles and quickly rose through the ranks. When the Spanish were largely vanquished, McGregor moved two various spots in the region to testle with other European outposts. In eighteen twenty, he landed on the Mosquito Coast, an area that today incorporates the eastern coast of Nicaragua and a little of southern Honduras, named after the native Mosquito people who lived in and around the region. It was little more than
a swampy, pest filled jungle. After applying the landowner, King Frederick Augustus with booze, McGregor persuaded Augustus to sign over the forlorn acreage to him. Then he sailed for London to start his scheme. McGregor told Londoners and his fellow Scots that King Augustus had dubbed him Prince of Poise and granted him twelve thousand, five hundred square miles. That's about thirty two thousand, three hundred square kilometers of beautiful land in the Bay of Honduras, full of old mines,
where fruits, sparkling water and fertile soil. The land simply needed settlers, he said, partnering with other hucksters. He opened the offices for the Poiagan Legation to Britain in London and land offices in Glasgow, Sterling and Edinburgh to sell acreage. McGregor swapped fake poy in money had printed for interested settlers real currency. He even proofered the book Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, including the Territory of Poias, as proof
of Pois's existence. The book similarly described land not only rich in resources, but also possessing a civil service, bank, army, and democratic government. But McGregor had actually published the book himself, using the startling pen name Captain Thomas Strange Ways. Hundreds of people, both rich and poor, bought his story and invested in the land. Soon McGregor was a multimillionaire by today's standards. Then, McGregor chartered boats to take Well to
their new home. In eighty two, some two hundred and forty people, many of them older in age, set out for Poia's in two ships. When they arrived, they obviously didn't find the paradise McGregor had described. Instead, they found an empty, inhospitable buggy land. Malaria and yellow fever soon swept through the group. Killing three quarters of them. Eventually, fifty people made their way back to London, where McGregor was exposed as a fraud, but by then he had
snuck away to France. The French were as easily swept away by the concept of poias as the Brits and Scots, but French authorities grew suspicious and McGregor landed in jail in France and later in England. Incredibly, authorities in both countries released him after short stays. Nonetheless, in eighteen thirty nine, penniless and friendless, Gregor and McGregor moved back to Venezuela, where he persuaded authorities to grant him a pension for his years of service as a general in the Venezuelan
War of Independence. He'd id on December four at the age of fifty nine. Today, Pious remains undeveloped. Today's episode was written by Melanie red Zekei McManus and produced by Tyler Clain. To learn more about Gregor McGregor, check out the podcast Ridiculous History and their episode Gregor McGregor invented a country and convinced people to invest in it and For more on this and lots of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Breen Stuff is a production
of iHeart Radio. More podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.