Gregor MacGregor was a soldier and conman, savior and murderer, and a testament to how justice is not always served. His story serves as a cautionary tale to how charm and connections may blind people to one's character, and frighteningly, perhaps, an encouraging tale to some who aspire to become tricksters themselves. Nevertheless, this story is fascinating and a must read for anyone who is interested in adventure.

To truly understand MacGregor’s actions we must start from the beginning. Every action that occurred in his youth and young adulthood led him to becoming the fraud that he was.

Gregor MacGregor was born on December 24, 1786 in Stirlingshire, United Kingdom. He was born with action in his blood from daring relatives so it was no surprise that in 1805, at the age of 16, MacGregor joined the British Army. This was the same year that the Napoleonic Wars broke out. He was placed on the island of Guernsey which turned out to be a bore. At that same time, he met his first wife Maria Bowater who happened to be a part of a wealthy family. In his search for more excitement, he used his wife's money to obtain the rank of captain and move his station to Gibraltar. This turned out to be boring as well, so in 1809 MacGregor left for Portugal to help fight Napoleon's forces in the Peninsular War. He stayed there for a year, but eventually left. It was once he left Portugal that he made a discovery that led to his later cons. After leaving Portugal he told people he was knighted for his service which would have made him Sir MacGregor. No one questioned this and he learned just how easy it was to lie.

MacGregor’s inability to stay in one place ensued. In 1811, MacGregor's first wife died and her wealthy relatives cut him off. This, along with his thirst for adventure, led him to then, in the spring of 1812, go to Caracas, Venezuela. A year before he arrived, Venezuela declared independence from Spain starting the South American Wars of Independence. MacGregor got involved and the Republican Leader Francisco de Miranda appointed him cavalry officer. In 1812, he married Josefa Antonia Andre Aristiguieta y Llovera who was the cousin of Simón Bolívar, a key player in the South American wars. Unfortunately, a few months after their marriage the First Venezualan Republic fell to Spanish forces so they, along with other Venezualans including Bolívar, had to flee for safety.

In 1813, MacGregor joined the New Granada Army and was assigned to Admirale Bolívar's Campaign that founded the Second Republic of Venezuela. The Second Republic fell, but the two saw each other again in 1816 in Haiti while joining a campaign. This campaign almost resulted in MacGregor’s death. The idea was that they could free Venezuela from the control of Spain by creating a mass uprising. They got there but the plan soon bombed and Bolívar retreated, leaving MacGregor and some of the other men stranded on the shore. It seemed that each man's life was soon coming to an end, but MacGregor rose to the occasion and saved them all. As if it were a scene from a movie, MacGregor led the men through royalist territory by using a number of tactics such as tricking Spanish troops into trudging through swaps and having his men create charge blockades. He led the men to the safety of a Republican territory and became a hero in the eyes of many. A belief that would result in many deaths.

Numerous men wanted to serve under MacGregor after experiencing or hearing of his incredible leadership. This reputation enabled MacGregor to have men to take over areas of land on three separate occasions and twice leaving his men unexpectedly. First in 1817, MacGregor took over an island apart of Florida and declared it Amelia Island Republic of East Florida. He and his men settled down there but on one morning in September of 1817, the men woke up to find MacGregor had taken the ship and all of the money. The second time this happened, MacGregor gathered a group of men from Britain to take over Panama. They were successful in taking over the city and stayed there until they had to flee from a counterattack. The third and final time MacGregor pulled this off was in October of 1819. He brought his surviving men to Venezuela and yet again took over the city. One day MacGregor took the ship and left all of his men. When Spain retook control of the city, troops shot every single one of MacGregor’s men. At this point, MacGregor had a bad reputation and Bolívar commanded that if any Venezualan saw him, they should kill him. It wasn’t just Bolívar but also people from Spain, America and Britain that all wanted to kill him. 

In trying to avoid being murdered, MacGregor traveled in April of 1820 to Mosquito Shore which is a part of what is now known as Honduras and Nicaragua. It was there that MacGregor met a local tribal leader called King George Fredrick Augustus. MacGregor and he talked and shared some drinks together before MacGregor persuaded the local tribal leader into giving him eight million acres of Mosquito Shore’s land.

It’s here we get to the crux of the story. It has become apparent that MacGregor was no moral man. He was after the thrill and excitement in life and if he happened to save a few lives along the way then so be it and if he happened to kill many more then who cared? MacGregor’s set up with the land and his disregard for others led him up to create a massive scam that killed hundreds of people.

It was around this time that Britain was getting ready for the coronation of George IV. Dignitaries from around the world came to Britain for this event. MacGregor disguised himself as Sir MacGregor, First Sovereign Prince of the State of Poyais and it's Dependencies. His disguise as a dignitary went unquestioned because in 1821 so many new nations were becoming established including Mexico, Chile and Peru. To really sell this lie, though, MacGregor wrote a guidebook to Poyais under the fake name Thomas Strangewater.

MacGregor’s reason for doing this was for money and excitement. He sold trip tickets and made business deals related to Poyais. By the fall of 1822, the interest in Poyais skyrocketed and at the same time the first boatload of settlers left for Poyais. He had made £200,000 and expanded the legitimacy of the scheme by starting up Poyais consultants throughout Britain. By the winter, MacGregor had made over a £1 billion in today's money. This was also around the same time that the second boatload of settlers left.

The first boatload of settlers arrived at Mosquito Shore. The settlers were very confused as to why there was nobody there. They assumed that they had gotten lost and sent the captain to find Poyais. While the first boatload was waiting to hear back from their captain, the second boatload arrived. The captain came back saying that they couldn’t find Poyais. Soon after, a hurricane came down on Mosquito Shore. Following that storm, everyone and everything was wet causing mosquitoes with yellow fever and malaria to come out. They bit and infected settlers and it's estimated that two thirds of the 200 settlers died from this. The rest of the settlers were saved by a passing ship from British Honduras. The British Navy stopped five more boats heading for Poyais after hearing what had happened to the first two from survivors.

News of this broke in October of 1832, but MacGregor had already left England. MacGregor continued to con people by saying he was the King of Poyais for another 15 years and never faced any repercussions.

MacGregor’s wife Josefa died in 1838 and he decided to return to Venezuela. Bolívar had died in 1830 so his decree to kill MacGregor on sight was let go. MacGregor was not only allowed to live but was rewarded when he arrived in Venezuela. One of the men MacGregor had led out of royalist territory had become General Carlos Soublette. Soublette was a part of the Venezuelan government and had the power to reinstate MacGregor into his army. MacGregor lived out his life happy and wealthy without ever having been taken accountable for the deaths caused by him.

This story goes to show that good does not always triumph, but that doesn’t have to be taken as a bad thing. It reminds us that our actions should not be based in hopes that the universe will reward us for our good deeds because the universe is sometimes unfair. We should rather focus on being good for the sake of being selfless.