1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of I Heart Radio. Hi Saron, 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: Hello Elizabeth Dutton right correct, Yeah, to see you again, 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: good to see how awesome? That's good to know? Happy? Yeah. 4 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: I love that for you, Thank you. I love it 5 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: for me too. Do you know it's ridiculous? Oh I 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: got this one. Yes, you know the Boy Scouts of America. 7 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: Yes they do. Okay, So there used to be a 8 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: competing organization called the American Boy Scouts, and this one 9 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: was started by William Randolph Hurst. The reason why he 10 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: started it was because there was a publisher in Chicago 11 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: named William Boyce and he had started the Boy Scouts 12 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: of America Scouts. Well, no, I just that was just 13 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: how I said that. They actually started in England and 14 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: English dude started the boy Scouts, and then they've transported 15 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: the idea to America. He starts the Boy Scouts of America. 16 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: No connection to his last name boys anyway. Hearst it's like, 17 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: you know what, I want my own army of boys. 18 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: So he then starts the American Boy Scouts. And this 19 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: is all part of his ongoing publisher rivalry with this 20 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: dude boys who's in Chicago right now. These two groups 21 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: were super similar because like they both were boy Scouts right, 22 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: and in fact there was a whole litigious thing about 23 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: who can call themselves boy scouts. The big difference between 24 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: the two of them. Herst group, the American Boy Scouts, 25 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: carried loaded firearms. A rifle was issued to every American 26 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: Boy Scouts, which surprisingly did not go well. Well armed 27 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: twelve year old. It was a standing boy army at 28 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: his own standard boy army. That's ridiculous, very William Hurst. 29 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: You know what else is ridiculous? No hit me with it? 30 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: Conning people into buying land in a fake country. Oh 31 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: I like that? Yeah, I know you would. I am 32 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Dutton. And that guy over there, Zaron Burnett, what 33 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: are you a cop? Yes? And this is ridicule. This 34 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: crime a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heists and cons. 35 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: It's always murder free. And guess what ridiculous? Like that? 36 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: I like that, about that, like that about everything. You 37 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: know what else? I like? I like to think of 38 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: myself as pretty skeptical and untrusting. I'd say that's mostly true. 39 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: It serves me. Well, Yeah, you know, I think a 40 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: lot of people feel like I do. Do you think 41 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: you're skeptical and untrusting. I think I am so skeptical. Interesting, 42 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: I need other words exactly see people people like you 43 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: and I so maybe not. You still fall victim to 44 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: confident schemes. Oh, I know what happens to some people 45 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: carry them out like you know that. I will pay 46 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: for a good like a three card Monty game. If 47 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: I see somebody doing a hustle, I'll go and drop. 48 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: Would mind being taken as long as I know I'm 49 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: being taken? Oh well that's a good point. Well, so 50 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: there's this woman, Maria Kinda Cova. She has a bachelor's 51 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: in psychology from Harvard. I've interviewed PhD in psychology from Columbia. 52 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: She great, she's got the bona fidus in. She wrote 53 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: a book called The Confidence Game. In The Confidence Game, 54 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: she profiles a bunch of con artists and analyzes the 55 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: psychology behind the con, the victim, their relationships. One of 56 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: the con men that she wrote about is a man 57 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: named Gregor McGregor, good name McGregor. Basically, she's wondering, why 58 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: do we believe this garbage? How can our sense of 59 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: truth be so manipulated? She says that there are two 60 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: kinds of persuasive tactics used by confidence tricksters. There's alpha, 61 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: which is more common, meaning that's the one where you 62 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: would just increase the appeal of what you're training, make 63 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: someone want it more and more. Yeah, exactly offers way tempting, 64 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: and she makes it seem like what is a want 65 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: is actually a need that you just have to have it. 66 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: Omega decreasing resistance to this, So you gotta do it. 67 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: You'd be such a fool if you didn't take advantage. Yeah, 68 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: why would you not? This is a rare opportunity, Like 69 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: all you have to do is X, right, so Knakova says, 70 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: and I co wote. Yes. They call the juxtaposition the 71 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: approach avoidance model of persuasion. You can convince me of 72 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 1: something by making me want to approach it and decreasing 73 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: any reasons I might have to avoid it. That's some 74 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: real core human psychologists. Yeah. So Gregor McGregor, Gregor, son 75 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: of Gregor who tread son of Hut. You know, I'm 76 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: over here, last Kingdom in the hell and Destiny. What 77 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: is it? That's right? So Gregor McGregor had the perfect 78 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,679 Speaker 1: blend of alpha and omega in his cons and that 79 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: is what I want to talk to you today about. 80 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: Sa So Gregor McGregor born Christmas Eve sevent six in Scotland, 81 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: you know as you do. His dad was an East 82 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: India Company sea captain. Yeah, great uncle, great great uncle 83 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: Rob Roy, the Scottish outlaw and full hero. His grandpapa 84 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: was Gregor the Beautiful. That's amazing, like plenty of the elder, 85 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: plenty of the younger Gregor the Beautiful. He was apparently 86 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: a stunner. Really turned heads when Gregor McGregor, gregor, son 87 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: of Gregor. This is gonna you know, when you have 88 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: to sing acting like that's what I'm pretty sure. But 89 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: guess what, I'm probably wrong. That happens a lot. I'm 90 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:43,239 Speaker 1: probably saying it wrong. Uh So, when he was sixteen, Gregor, 91 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: which I'm gonna say so often, is going to start 92 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: to not sound like a word. You know how that works. Um. 93 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: He joined the British Army and when he was nineteen 94 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: he married a gowl named Maria Bowater. Wow these names right. 95 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: So she was the daughter of a Navy admiral and 96 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,840 Speaker 1: she had a huge dowry because she had high profile, 97 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: wealthy family members. So he gets married and then he 98 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: buys his way from lieutenant or as they would say, lieutenant. Uh, 99 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: he'd already kind of fast tracked his way into that. 100 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: Somehow he buys his way into captain. It cost him 101 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: nine pounds, which is the equivalent of seventy thousand pounds today, 102 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: and he did that instead of serving for seven years 103 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: to reach captain. Now, I don't expect you to know 104 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: this answer, but do we have any idea who he 105 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 1: paid that money too? I guess like the Admiralty or 106 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: is it more of like the recruiters at the mall 107 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: I suppose I guess, yeah, it's like the brass at 108 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: the military Admiralty and slid it, slid it under their door, 109 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: and they slid the captain's medals or whatever in the 110 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: big hat under the door. They came and put it 111 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: on his head gently in the middle of the night. 112 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: That's how he woke up. I've so he served in 113 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: Gibraltar from eighteen o five to eighteen o nine under 114 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: the Duke of Wellington, and he was totally obsessed speaking 115 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: of those caps with military appearances, I know, the type 116 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: of spotted huge love of uniformsms. It's all the surface. 117 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: The yeah, the hoot and the hut. That makes no sense. 118 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: So he got he loves uniforms. He wouldn't let any 119 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: enlisted men or like n c O s noncommissioned officers 120 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: leave their housing unless they were in full dress uniform. 121 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: And that really wasn't convenient. So guess what the men 122 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: hated him. Shocker right. Ten, he starts mixing it up 123 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: with a superior officer and he gets forced out of 124 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: the military, retiring at the age of twenty three. More 125 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: like he got in a fist fight. Yeah, they just 126 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: they went. They had a little back and forth, a 127 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: little different they he was encouraged to leave, so he 128 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: and the misses they moved to London and that's when 129 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: he starts calling himself a baron, Sir Gregor McGregor. You know, 130 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: as one does, you just start giving yourself a title. 131 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: He was really leaning on that whole Clan McGregor thing, 132 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: talking about how he was a chieftain. He's he's upping this. 133 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 1: So granted, you know, Rob Roy is his great great uncle, 134 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: but that's you know, he might have some legitimate ancestral 135 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: claims kind of. Yeah, but it's around this time that 136 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: tragedy strikes I hate when that happened me too. His 137 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: wife Maria passed away. Now her family, this rich family, 138 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,559 Speaker 1: they didn't want anything to do with Gregor McGregor. I'm 139 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: not exactly sure why, like and I don't know how 140 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:39,319 Speaker 1: she died. It's sort of this it's a mystery, uh 141 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: to at least me. And so her family was just like, 142 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: get out of here, dude, we don't want to you know, 143 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: you don't you're the poor the old class warfare. Yeah, 144 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,959 Speaker 1: so his wife is dead. It's not gonna look good 145 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: if he picks up a new society, honey, and it's like, hey, 146 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: pay for everything. Um, he can't. It's just too soon, 147 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,079 Speaker 1: too soon, they keep telling him. Um, he is restricted 148 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: from social climbing in that way, he can't go back 149 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: into the military and kind of earn a higher level 150 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: of notoriety because well, he fought himself right out of 151 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: there and he didn't want to go back to Scotland 152 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: because it just wasn't fancy fun. He's like, I'm over there. 153 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,680 Speaker 1: So he does the next logical thing. He went to 154 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: South America. Wait, what went in doubt? Go to South America. 155 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: So at the time, there are all these revolutions happening 156 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 1: in South America. People are pushing back against the Spanish crown. 157 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: Um General Francisco Day Miranda. He was a revolutionary in 158 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: Venezuela and he visited London. Was a huge hit. Everybody 159 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: loved him. He got taken around all these parties and 160 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: introduced um. They gave him gifts and stuff. Gregor's like, 161 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: you know what I want in on that action. I 162 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: like that kind of that man's gym, and I want 163 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: what he has exactly. So five months after his wife 164 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: dies he sets footing Caracas. Okay, five months, it's not 165 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: too long. But he had to get out. I had 166 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: to move on. So he knew that the revolutionaries there 167 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: would not be keen on his whole. I'm a royal, 168 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: so he stopped pretending to be one for a while, 169 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: and instead he says that he's a Scottish Knight of 170 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:24,280 Speaker 1: the Portuguese Order of Christ. I've never heard of the Portuguese. 171 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: They're essentially the Portuguese Knights Templar. Okay, I've never heard of, 172 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: and I've read some books on the Temple. He was 173 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: kind of banking on people, not exactly. So he goes 174 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: to General Miranda volunteers He's like, hey, man, we met 175 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,679 Speaker 1: in London. I don't think they actually did. Gives them 176 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: a cavalry, makes him a colonel right there. It's not 177 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: like he was in a position to turn him down, Miranda. 178 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: You know he the revolution needed help. It wasn't going 179 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: so high. This guy's claiming to be military. I mean 180 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: he was military, but we don't. He wasn't a captain, 181 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: right So Gregor says he'll help, and he actually delivers. 182 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 1: He helps. Two months after he gets there, he marries 183 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: a woman named Dounia Yosefa Antonio Andrea Rista Guita. I 184 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: lo vera nice nailed it. She was rich. She also 185 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: had a very well known cousin. You mentioned him briefly, 186 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 1: Simon Boulivard. Man, things are looking up right, marries Bolivar's cousin, Um. 187 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: He gets promoted to brigadier general. Yeah, he married up again. 188 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: But the revolution is still not going so well. Gregor 189 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: and his wife Jsefa, they wind up fleeing to Curasao 190 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: and Bolivard meets up with them there. General Miranda, he 191 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 1: gets arrested and imprisoned in Spain. Yeah, so Gregor fights 192 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 1: for a while in New Granada, which today is Colombia 193 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: and Panama, a little bit of Costa Rica or Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, 194 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: little tastes of all those actually thrown into and he 195 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: manages to do some heroic things. Um, some people were 196 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: already onto him, though. An officer at the time wrote quote, Look, 197 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: I'm just quoting it up like you with here. I 198 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:12,280 Speaker 1: am sick and tired of this bluffer or keyhote or 199 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,559 Speaker 1: the devil knows what. This man can hardly serve us 200 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: in New Granada without keeping ten thousand embarrassments upon us. 201 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: Oh that's a lot of criticisms, because one you can 202 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: get the idea that he's not doing so well in 203 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: the field. Secondly, the whole kyote, like you know, tilting 204 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: at windmills, suggests he's not got a good read of reality. 205 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: And then the bluffer part means the student's got his number, 206 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: I mean completely. So Gregor starts fighting in various arenas 207 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 1: all around South America, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. He's seen 208 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: as someone with really great military skill, praised by General's 209 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: hero right. But he's so full of himself, and that's 210 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: continues to play a little bit in his favor far 211 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: away from home. But his luck starts to change. He 212 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: has a failed attempt to capture Florida. I mean, who 213 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: here hasn't at least tried one hand, if you haven't 214 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: tried to capture Florida in all these hands going up 215 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: across were a panhandle. So here's what happens. He goes, 216 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: He gets convinced to go and try and capture Florida 217 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: to use it as like a home base for all 218 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: these revolutions, which is what Andrew Jackson tried to. He 219 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: goes to Pennsylvania, goes to Philadelphia, raises some money, starts 220 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: going all around the southeast, gets a little army, goes 221 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: to Amelia Island first off the coast of Florida, right, 222 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,360 Speaker 1: and so he here's two pops. He goes out there 223 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: the fort on the island. There. You know they've got guns. 224 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: They got like fifty right. Here's the thing, Gregor, he's 225 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: got eighty men, but he's making it feel like there's 226 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: a whole lot more so. When he arrives on a ship, 227 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,199 Speaker 1: they just surrender at the fort because they think he's 228 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: got a ton of guys. No shots are fired. Con 229 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: man in the military. They disembark and then there's sort 230 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: of this moment, we're like, oh, And then Gregor is 231 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 1: playing this up like, you know what, I claim this 232 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 1: land for me. And then he says he's going to 233 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: start paying people in Amelia bucks and they all get 234 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: mad at him and spit on him, and he winds up. 235 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: Then the Spanish show up, like get out of here too, 236 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: so he leaves. He did once he got to a 237 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: million money or a million bucks whatever it was, stops over. 238 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: And he also tried to ban looting in his troops, 239 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: and that's when they got turned up. That's where they're 240 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,280 Speaker 1: in the army. So he also tried to steal a 241 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: naval commander's ship. The ship was called the Hero, and 242 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: he he renamed it El McGregor and then he scuttled it. 243 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: So he has all these failed liberation attempts in various 244 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: ports cities. Everything is starting to fall apart. Plus Simon 245 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: Boulivard now hated him. I'm kind of guessing that one yet. Yeah, 246 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: Boulivard said he was a trader for all his bumbling 247 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: military acts. Orders him hanged if he ever sets foot 248 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: in South America again. So he's just like hanging order 249 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: a death sentence for an entire continent, So you have 250 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: an appointment with the noose here in South America. His 251 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: wife and child went to Jamaica to sandals, going to 252 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: Jamaica to get their hair braided. Yeah, they had and 253 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: they were feeling hot. He couldn't go there because he 254 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: was wanted for gun running and piracy. I bet the 255 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: British also had a you know, a little line about him. Yeah, 256 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,200 Speaker 1: they weren't into him. So what is he like back home? 257 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,840 Speaker 1: What's going on in England? There's a book that gets 258 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: written about his exploits good and bad, but mostly the 259 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: bad that gets published. The author Michael Rafter. He writes 260 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: that Gregor was quote politically though not naturally dead, and 261 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: to suppose that any person could be induced again to 262 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: join him in his desperate projects would be to conceive 263 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: a degree of madness and folly, of which human nature, 264 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,960 Speaker 1: however fallen, is incapable. I'm gonna have to take issue 265 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: with Humchael Rafter. I've known humanity. They can go. I'm 266 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: here to tell you human nature is more than capable 267 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: of falling to that kind of degree of madnessine folly. 268 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: Thank you, Elizabeth. When we come back from this ad break, 269 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: I'll tell you just how mad and foolish people can be. 270 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: All Right, So Gregor McGregor he bungled up his mercenary 271 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: work in South America. Where is he going to go next? Jeez? 272 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: I don't even know Texas well, he couldn't. Okay, let's 273 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: start from where he came from. England. Can't go back 274 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: there because he doesn't have anything, and they're kind of 275 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: onto him after that biography, and I'm guessing he doesn't 276 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: speak other languages, so I'm thinking he has to go 277 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: somewhere Spanish or English. Don't forget where he's going. There 278 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: are no roads where he's going. People speak English for 279 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: the most part. And you know when he was raised. 280 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: Apparently he was raised speaking Gaelic and then had to 281 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 1: learn English when he was in the Navy. I don't 282 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: know if that's part of his methods. Yeah, maybe, So 283 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: he can't go to England. Keep in mind he's thirty 284 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,959 Speaker 1: four at this point, and um, so where does he go? 285 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: I want you to close your eyes and picture it. 286 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: The Mosquito Coast. It's not just a n Harrison Ford movie. 287 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: It's actually the coastal area of what is now Honduras 288 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:35,400 Speaker 1: and Nicaragua and it's not named for the insect. Did 289 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,919 Speaker 1: you know that? Did not know that? It's named for 290 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:43,360 Speaker 1: the Mesquitoo people, the indigenous for these people know, they're 291 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 1: named for different things because it's Musca. I can't remember 292 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: what the root is. Yeah, and so Mosquito is a 293 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 1: little fly and this is actually the miskito. Yeah, I 294 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: mean there are obviously a lot of mosquitoes. Uh. They 295 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,680 Speaker 1: the Mosquitoo people didn't have a notion of a king 296 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: until the English arrived in the seventeen hundreds. Bad introduction 297 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: to a king. Yeah. So the English get there and 298 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: they start assigning titles of chief. But like the title 299 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: doesn't mean anything, and it was just one way for 300 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: the Brits to kind of mark their territory from the Spanish. 301 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: You know, look, we got all these kings and chiefs 302 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 1: and all this and they report to us. So right now, 303 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: it's eight twenty in your mind on the Mosquito coast. 304 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: That's a big year in Spanish history. Gregor rolls up 305 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: to the sandy, swampy shores of the Mosquito Coast. It's 306 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: looking lush, but it's not fertile ground in the jungle, 307 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: super dense. He pokes around and all he can find 308 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: is an old graveyard, no structures, no remnants of the 309 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: English settlement that had once been there. So he goes 310 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,919 Speaker 1: a little further inland and he makes contact with the 311 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: people living there and he meets King George Frederick Augustus. 312 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: Remember it's just a king and Navally the Brits come 313 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: and they're like, look, I don't know how you say 314 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: your name. You're now King George Frederick Augustus. He's like great, 315 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 1: he has no control over anything, not even his name, apparently, 316 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,439 Speaker 1: so Gregor starts chatting him up. He's like, truly lovely 317 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: here man, So all thanks, dude, you're looking to sell 318 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: this land. You know, I'm a famous Royal war hero guy, 319 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: you know, one king to another. And the King's like, yeah, 320 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: you don't say what you got. Gregor's like, well, you know, 321 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: I've got some rum I've got this bag of jewelry. 322 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 1: There's got like fun bangles and a kicky necklace for 323 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 1: you in here. And the King's like you know what, Yeah, 324 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: let's see that'll get you carry one m about eight 325 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:48,360 Speaker 1: million acres. Eight million acres, Yes, good job, Gregor. He's 326 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: a master negotiator. So Gregor writes up this document and 327 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: it says that he and his heirs own now most 328 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: of the Misky Too territory. And then the king signs it. 329 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: What does he It's like if I signed a paper 330 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: granting you possession of Los Angeles in exchange for a 331 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: Target gift card, exactly. You know, I like to think 332 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: of myself as the Queen of California. But it doesn't 333 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: mean I can just sign it all the way. So Gregor, 334 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: you know, he looks around a bit. He's got this document, 335 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 1: he's got the deed to the place. Now he's kicking 336 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: the tires, surveying paperwork. I'm in good right. And the 337 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: people there they just look at him and shrug. They're like, 338 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 1: all right, yeah, you're the boss. So he names it 339 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: Poier p o y a i s Pier after the 340 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: indigenous people who live in the Highland area, like up 341 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: at the source of the river there, the Paia or 342 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 1: the Poyer they get called a lot. Now they're called 343 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: the Petch people. He heads back to London tells everyone 344 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: that the king not only gave him all the land, 345 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: but he also got a title, the Kazike of poiercause 346 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 1: being like a chief for a pass right. So officially 347 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: he said his full title is His Serene Highness Gregor, 348 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: the first Sovereign Prince of the State of Poier and 349 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: its Dependencies and cacique of the poor Nation. So he's 350 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: really hitting the royal I need somebody to have some 351 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: trill on this. He went through the entire inventory of 352 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: possible titles and was like, Aunt, that went a little 353 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,719 Speaker 1: bit here. Oh no, definitely some dependencies. So he starts 354 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: telling everybody, Yeah, the dependencies is great, Like you'll find 355 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: out this is even better. So he starts telling everyone 356 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: about beautiful Poier and he's just landed on thick. So 357 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: according to Gregor, the weather was perpetual summer and it 358 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: wore akin to an English summer, not a tropical summer. Yeah. 359 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: So then they have super cool exotic wildlife, like really 360 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: flashy stuff. The land so fertile stuff just grows itself. 361 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: No worries that there's rare wild fruit everywhere that's delicious 362 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: and refreshing. I mean he's not half wrong, but yeah 363 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: he's wrong. Endless herds of cattle. It's just like we 364 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,440 Speaker 1: got all these you know, we've got nine million head 365 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: of cattle and then abundant natural resources. He says, redwood, cedar, mahogany, 366 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: all of your fine hardwood, the tropical redwoods, pristine sandy beaches. 367 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: So you could open the sandals there if you really 368 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: wanted to. Chunks of goal just sitting in the river 369 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: right in part, precious gemstones littered all over the ground 370 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:38,360 Speaker 1: in the hillsides. That same story, and he also said, 371 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: there's like a well planned infrastructure of roads. Yeah, a palace, 372 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: a cathedral, an opera house, government buildings, mansions, a Roman auditorium, 373 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: A bustling port. He says, there's a huge bustling port. 374 00:22:55,160 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: There are plantations. They're cotton, coffee, sugar, indigo, a very 375 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: complex legislative system. Don't forget that. When he got there, 376 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: there's just an abandoned graveyard at this point and jungle. 377 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: He sees a lot in that. But yeah, he has 378 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: a vision. But he's telling him this already exists. So 379 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: he draws up leaflets and some artwork depicting his paradise, 380 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: starts passing them around in London, Edinburgh, the wealthy society 381 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: folks and the kind of like lesser royals, the also rans. 382 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: They're eating this up. The second sons of the Baron. Yes, 383 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 1: they're like, dude, let's do this. This is amazing. He 384 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: extends a royal invitation to King George. You can see 385 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: the con taking shape. Oh yeah, it's it's just like 386 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,240 Speaker 1: he just keeps throwing fuel to on the fire, and 387 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: it's too easy for you not to just go take 388 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: advantage of this. The gold is sitting there in the river. Yeah, 389 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: and so he says, he extends a royal invitation to 390 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: King George to come on over for a visit. King 391 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: to King, Yeah, just exactly. So he I'm sure figured 392 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:01,480 Speaker 1: the King's not going to take him up on this, 393 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 1: but the publicity is great and it's working. So the 394 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: news of this utopian society conquered by a descendant of 395 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: rob Roy starts spreading throughout the land. And Gregor had 396 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: this sidekick. Supposedly his official title captain in the Native 397 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 1: Poyer Regiment and aide de camp to his Highness. Very nice. 398 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:30,159 Speaker 1: His English name was Thomas Strange. Ways, oh wow, his 399 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: English name is and he was a native Mosquito. No, no, no, 400 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: he was. He was a brit He was an Englishman. 401 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: But that's he has all these titles. But his name's 402 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:42,439 Speaker 1: Thomas Strangeways. Brief note about Strange Ways. The prison in 403 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:47,120 Speaker 1: Manchesters is referred to as Strange Ways and famously referenced 404 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: in the title of the Smith's album Strange Ways. Here 405 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: we come look at Well. The opening track too is 406 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,159 Speaker 1: a Russian A push in the land is ours. And 407 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: the name though, doesn't come from like someone get naming 408 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: the prison after a person. It comes from the area 409 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: where the prison was built. So if you named yourself 410 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,199 Speaker 1: Strange Ways, you have to be naming yourself after the prison. No, 411 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: it would be like the area where it was built 412 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,200 Speaker 1: was called Strange Ways, and it means a place by 413 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: a stream with a strong current. So it's sort of 414 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,520 Speaker 1: like that's where his people must have come from if 415 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: that's their last name. Um, so we can only surmise 416 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: that that's where that name comes from. Manchester. I still 417 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,680 Speaker 1: more in the Smith's People you know too problematic, can't 418 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: listen anymore anyway, Tom's Strange Ways. He was said to 419 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: be a member of Gregor's entourage, someone who had presumably 420 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 1: seen the actual um Pier. He wrote a comprehensive guide 421 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,479 Speaker 1: book like a sales brochure for people looking to do 422 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,120 Speaker 1: some good old fashioned colonize like a Lonely Planet pamphlet, Yes, 423 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 1: a Lonely Planet, Rick Steve's Guide to Poier. The only 424 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 1: problem was that strange ways was actually Gregor knew it. 425 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: He John bar and the hell out of that totally did. 426 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: And so he keeps saying, look, I'm telling you this, 427 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 1: but here's this guy I just met that I brought 428 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 1: on board. He he'll tell you all about to read 429 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,959 Speaker 1: this book. You know it's in the book. Um. So 430 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,359 Speaker 1: Gregor then sets up sales offices all over England and 431 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: they offered people a chance to buy an acre of 432 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: land for just a little price of four shillings. That 433 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:24,720 Speaker 1: is really low, right, and that's like who knows. Shilling 434 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 1: is like it's basically coinage, and it's like the type 435 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,040 Speaker 1: of like I'm buying maybe a loaf of bread with shillings, right, 436 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,880 Speaker 1: I guess I don't know. I'm saying, like heypenny's halfpenny 437 00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 1: and then shilling is like one of theirs, like a 438 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 1: quarter or whatever, you know what. I have no idea. Okay, good, 439 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 1: I'm glad we had this talk. Thank you. So he 440 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,399 Speaker 1: hires balladeers to write songs and go on tour and 441 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: they're like crooning about the luxurious joys of Poier, like 442 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: his pook cook. I'm going to go back to Maria 443 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: Knakova for a second. Please, I want to quote from 444 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 1: her what she says about Gregor. He highlighted the bravery 445 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: and fortitude that such a gesture would demonstrate. You wouldn't 446 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: just be smart, you'd be a real man. The Scottish 447 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,560 Speaker 1: Highlanders were known for their heartiness and adventurous spirit. He wrote, 448 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: Poier would be the ultimate testing ground, a challenge and 449 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: a gift all in one. He pointed those who needed 450 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 1: more convincing to a book on the virtues of the 451 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: small island nation by the elusive Thomas Strangeways. Actually McGregor himself. 452 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: His prospectives enticed the public with their masterful promises, their 453 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: lure of opportunity, their appeal to scarcity, their admonitions not 454 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: to let this perfect moment pass by. So he buttons, 455 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, He's like, come on, you conquer things, 456 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: conquer this, be a man about it. Come on. At 457 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: this point, people are begging to go to Poier Paradise. 458 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 1: They want in. So the bulk of the first group 459 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,160 Speaker 1: selected where Scots seems like a betrayal to me well, 460 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: because he knows it's fake. And then he's bringing all 461 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: these Scots you know, at know have some hometown pride. 462 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 1: I feel that, but also don't think that that. Maybe 463 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,560 Speaker 1: that's kind of the shill nature is like, look, I 464 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:07,199 Speaker 1: gotta get some Scots because then if I get them, 465 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,919 Speaker 1: people will believe it well, and as he's appealing to 466 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 1: their party, he needs that ready Scottish. But here's the thing. 467 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: Most of the people that Scotts that he got were 468 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: older farm folk of lesser means looking to retire. Okay, yea, yeah. 469 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: There were young lads who wanted adventure, and he was 470 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: promising them positions in the POI A military educated professionals 471 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:34,160 Speaker 1: he you know, they would buy titles and cush government 472 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: gigs from him and set themselves up. There were tradesmen 473 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: artisans who traded in their English businesses for a chance 474 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:46,600 Speaker 1: at cornering the POI A market on I don't know, sandals, candles, 475 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:52,720 Speaker 1: sandals and candles, saddles, books, battles, whatever, um. All of 476 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,840 Speaker 1: them traded every pence that they had in pounds sterling 477 00:28:55,840 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 1: into POI A bucks that Gregor had printed up. So 478 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: all the people who are going to go. I'm just 479 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: blown away by this. I mean, like, there's got to 480 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: be they had to know other people. The English are 481 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: over there. They have English people in Jamaica, aren't they 482 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: aware of? Like no, there's so many shifting sands in 483 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: South America at this point with that, But I mean, 484 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,320 Speaker 1: couldn't couldn't there be somebody who's over in port Royals 485 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: Like No, I know a little bit about South America. 486 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: I don't even need to go to Poier to tell 487 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: you that doesn't exist. Well, maybe they wanted to believe 488 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: it too. I don't know. I'm yeah, they're just thinking, well, 489 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: they just haven't looked that far. He found a better place. 490 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: Maybe he saw something I didn't see. Yeah, So he 491 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: says he's got this great exchange rate. They'll give you 492 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,640 Speaker 1: Poi a bucks for your pounds sterling. And confidence is 493 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: very mesmerizing and people will go with it over rational 494 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: thought from the group mentality of all these other people, 495 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 1: and you think, oh, it's gonna be great. It's going 496 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: to be great, Gregor. He starts taking out loans on 497 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: behalf of the Poier government two thousand pounds. Do you 498 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: know how much that is today? Seven million? Pounds. London 499 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: should be ashamed, you know for US Yanks, that's thirty 500 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: five million dollars. Right September, fifty brave souls boarded the 501 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: vessel Honduras Packet in Leith, Scotland. This is interesting. Two 502 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: that's a year after the Spanish basically pull out of 503 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: the New World. So like there's gonna be a rush 504 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: of people. He ke time so well, totally did. They 505 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,440 Speaker 1: sailed the oceans blue and then they reached the Mosquito coast. 506 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: They were pumped, they were so fired up. The flag 507 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,280 Speaker 1: of POI was raised on the ship. It was a 508 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: white background in a green cross, and that was the 509 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: fake flag that Gregor used for all his other previous 510 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: land grabs. And he also said he had the Knights 511 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,960 Speaker 1: of the Green Cross, so he had this whole mythology 512 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: that he created. So the settlers they pile into the 513 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 1: tenders and they make their way from the Honduras Packet 514 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,240 Speaker 1: to shore. Absolutely, this is it. This is a moment 515 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: of truth man. They found it. Can you imagine what 516 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: it must have felt like for these people at that time, 517 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: like being excitement, the anxiety. I'm just wondering why they 518 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 1: didn't want to go to like America or somewhere a 519 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: little more proven. So I'm like, I'm a little curious 520 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:07,880 Speaker 1: about who these people are that they're so like, this 521 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: is my chance. I'm gonna go over here. I'm gonna 522 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: become like the future of Poia. I'm like, they seem 523 00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,360 Speaker 1: like they're already telling themselves stories, is what totally are 524 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,720 Speaker 1: so imagining this moment is just gonna be like eye opening, dazzling, 525 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: just like we finally here and then all of a 526 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: sudden they get stung by mosquito. Well, and they get 527 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: they get that feeling of being the first on the scene, 528 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: and so people are like, yeah, you know what us 529 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:33,320 Speaker 1: played out, kay, And it's trying to get really crowded, 530 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: and they want to go somewhere where the land is cheap, 531 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: and i mean, the way they've been told it is 532 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,560 Speaker 1: an absolute utopia. And I'm sure they're looking for the 533 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: new New America or the new Australia and they want 534 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: to get in Earlier he's telling him, getting on the 535 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: ground floor, get yourself a acres and have at it. 536 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: It's incredible, right. So I mean, I'm just imagining that 537 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 1: the people on these tenders, they're getting up to the 538 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: shore and they're just all a buzz. The conversation on 539 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: these little boats must have been incredible. Weeks across the 540 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: Atlantic all the time to build up this is it. 541 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: Don't forget there are other ships of fools right behind them, 542 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: crossing the ocean to find this false para. This is 543 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: just the first boat, but I mean there ones that 544 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 1: are like literally right on their tail. Let's take a break. 545 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,200 Speaker 1: When we come back, I'm going to paint you a 546 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: picture of that moment of contact between the pioneers in 547 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: the sandy shores of Pier. All right, Saron waves lap 548 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,040 Speaker 1: against the holes of the tenders ferrying the incomers to 549 00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: the shores of Poier, just the way I like a 550 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: wave lap. Laughing it up. These folks were about to 551 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: start their new lives in a South American paradise. I 552 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: love that for them, So long suckers in Scotland and England. 553 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: They're kidded out in their best clothes. Oh my god. Yeah, 554 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 1: so it's not like, you know, they're just in their 555 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: work pants, like in their easter hats, in their finest yes, 556 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 1: so many bonnets, so many pressed suits. Um, they think 557 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: they're just going to get out and stroll the streets 558 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: of POI remember there's an umber house to let's get 559 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: dazzled up. We'll rest a bit when we get in, 560 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: and then that night we can go out to dinner 561 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: and just stroll the streets perambulation. And I'm sure that 562 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: they think that, you know, a fine dinner is waiting 563 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 1: for them and cheap. They're like, oh, I'll have quail 564 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: legs and then I'll have a beauty well. And it's 565 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 1: like all sorts of people who either travel to other countries, 566 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: people from the west, to go to more impoverished nations 567 00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: and think they're going to retire there for pennies or 568 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,760 Speaker 1: whatever exploit. So there we have it. Um one of 569 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:00,160 Speaker 1: the origin stories. The tender anchors just off shore are 570 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: and they fired off a shot to alert the locals 571 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: of their arrival. Nothing happened, of course, there's no one there, 572 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,239 Speaker 1: so they're expecting like a cannon to respond right and that, 573 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: and that there would be all these little boats that 574 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,359 Speaker 1: would come out and a real long, awkward side it's 575 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,120 Speaker 1: a really long silence. The boats just then decided to 576 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: make their way to the sand. Well, I should say 577 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 1: they were piloted, they're not the boats sentiently. Um. So 578 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: they pull up, the people get off, they disembark, and 579 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 1: they stood on this desolate beach and wondered if maybe 580 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:38,080 Speaker 1: they navigated poorly that happened. Yeah, maybe we just got 581 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: I don't know, a few miles up the coast, and 582 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 1: Spanish wrote a lot about the Caribbean Curtain. So they're 583 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: standing there wondering what's going on. There's got to be 584 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: a booming metropolis around here somewhere, we just can't hear it. 585 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: Let be quiet, um, there's another ship full of a 586 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty people just pulling up behind it, and 587 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,480 Speaker 1: they're just as eager to start there the whole same thing. 588 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,839 Speaker 1: They're in fancy clothes too. Some of the group tried 589 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 1: to make their way inland to see if they could 590 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: pick up like the outskirts of this capital city, to 591 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,279 Speaker 1: find the gold Road or whatever. Yes, so the rest 592 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: of them they stay on the beach with all of 593 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: their earthly belongings. Don't forget. They just they up the left. 594 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:24,719 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna luve it. Furniture, the trunks, praying there 595 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,799 Speaker 1: was a piano in with all of this supplies. They 596 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: actually had a lot of supplies. Imagine some of them 597 00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:31,920 Speaker 1: brought stuff for their businesses. So there's like butcher blocks 598 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,799 Speaker 1: and stuff. That's exactly. There's like someone sharpening all the 599 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 1: knives form and stuff. Um. So they get about half 600 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: their stuff off of the main ships when the sky 601 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:47,120 Speaker 1: starts to dart in the winds, pick up. That's right, 602 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,839 Speaker 1: it's right, baby did the sailors not telling them because 603 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: they know they know whether they could kid off the hurricane. Here, 604 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:58,239 Speaker 1: take your stuff, we'll throw it. Don't worry, hurricane, you 605 00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:02,960 Speaker 1: could call it slurricane. Yeah. They basically were like Weather 606 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:06,359 Speaker 1: channel correspondence on the front lines of a hurricane. But 607 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 1: no windbreakers, no bellaguered camera. It was just them in 608 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:14,320 Speaker 1: the wind and the driving rain. The two large ships 609 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: lost at sea. Of Yeah, stuff scattered all up and 610 00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:23,799 Speaker 1: down the beach in pieces. It's terrible. They did their 611 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: best to sort of create some shelter on the beach 612 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: and in like the encroaching jungle imagine. They also brought 613 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:33,759 Speaker 1: with them children and animals. It's the rainy season. There 614 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: was high hurricane um and pretty soon everyone's sick yellow fever. 615 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: And because it is after all, the Mosquito Coast malaria 616 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,319 Speaker 1: and so as it happens Marshall Bennett, who was the 617 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:51,360 Speaker 1: Chief Magistrate of Belize. He was hopped on his schooner 618 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,680 Speaker 1: called the Mexican Eagle, and he went for a little 619 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:59,360 Speaker 1: visit to the Mosquitoo King totally unrelated. Right on the 620 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,640 Speaker 1: way there, he's like, what are all these people doing? 621 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:07,360 Speaker 1: What are these on the beach? So he's like, oh, 622 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,240 Speaker 1: what's going on over there? And they're like, where's Pier? 623 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,719 Speaker 1: I know y'all lost to what's going on? They say. 624 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,160 Speaker 1: He finds them and they're like, we're here to go 625 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: to point. He's like, what's Poier and they're like, no, no, No, 626 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: it's this wonderful city there's over here. He's like, guys, 627 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: there's no Poier. I know, I know this place. Hello, 628 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:28,800 Speaker 1: I'm the chief Magistrate of Belize and I speak English 629 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,000 Speaker 1: and I speaks I Do you understand what I'm saying? 630 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,359 Speaker 1: There's no Poier And they're like, well, we we bought 631 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,279 Speaker 1: passage from the Kazique of Poier. He's like, I'm the 632 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:40,880 Speaker 1: what now, there's no there's no Poier. So there's no 633 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:45,880 Speaker 1: causeque of Poie and the King of miss Key too. 634 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: He finds out about Gregor's scheme he's like, oh, yeah, 635 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 1: that guy, I got a couple of a couple of 636 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 1: pieces of jewelry off him and that rum. He's like, no, no, no, no, no, 637 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,400 Speaker 1: I revoke whatever it was that I signed. I don't remember, 638 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:00,640 Speaker 1: but it was like me, I don't know what I signed, 639 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:03,160 Speaker 1: but whatever, it doesn't mean anything. So he's like, you 640 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,799 Speaker 1: know this guy, this Gregor, son of Gregor, he has 641 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:10,600 Speaker 1: no right to anything here. And he tells the settlers, 642 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:13,720 Speaker 1: guess what, you're on my turf now, you either swear 643 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:19,560 Speaker 1: allegiance to me or g tfo. They're like thinking about it, 644 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: like yeah, can we catch a ride to Belize? So 645 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: it takes yeah. So it takes three trips on the 646 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: Mexican Eagle to ferry the survivors, and they're crammed in 647 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,800 Speaker 1: there because the ship's not big. They'd lost some folks 648 00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,799 Speaker 1: by this point, others were too sick to travel, and 649 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,520 Speaker 1: then I guess the ones who they just became subjects 650 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,279 Speaker 1: of the Mosquitoo King. All right, I guess, off to 651 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,359 Speaker 1: the jungle. But everyone else gets thrown into the boat 652 00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 1: and taken up to Belize. The Hondurans. They sent some 653 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:53,360 Speaker 1: clipper ships out to stop and reroute any further incoming ships. Yeah, 654 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 1: and how many ships of Brits made it out there? 655 00:38:56,239 --> 00:39:00,839 Speaker 1: In total, seven seven were on the seat, so they've 656 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 1: divert the rest of them. About two and fifty people 657 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:10,120 Speaker 1: set foot on the supposed um of those dred and 658 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:14,879 Speaker 1: eighty died. Whoa, Yeah, and less than fifty of them 659 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 1: made it back to Britain. The rest, you know, either 660 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,400 Speaker 1: stayed and believes or they went to the United States. Actually, 661 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:23,759 Speaker 1: I'm always blown away by these stories whenever you read 662 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,640 Speaker 1: about the especially the nineteenth century, is how many times 663 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:32,280 Speaker 1: like people went there seventeen came back. The world is brutal. 664 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:36,399 Speaker 1: Back home, people are a little outraged, a little bit 665 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:40,920 Speaker 1: um some of that. Gregor McGregor luck though, and cunning 666 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,840 Speaker 1: starts to kick in. So he says, you know what, 667 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: it's not my fault that things turned out the way 668 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,920 Speaker 1: they did, and how would that be exactly? He said that. 669 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:52,720 Speaker 1: He's still continue to say Poier exists. Al Right, guys, 670 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,200 Speaker 1: I was the one who was swindled and I was 671 00:39:56,280 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: conned out by my business associates. Yeah, they let everyone astray, 672 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:05,560 Speaker 1: and they're responsible for the poor navigation. They they dropped 673 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,640 Speaker 1: him off at the wrong place point. We're still waiting 674 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:12,480 Speaker 1: for everyone at Poi A like you, I'm in bamboo justice. 675 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 1: They're standing on those on the streets of Poi with 676 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:18,799 Speaker 1: bouquets of flowers for all these people that are wilted now. 677 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,759 Speaker 1: Their feelings are hurt that there's a lot of victims here. 678 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:26,080 Speaker 1: The feasts of exotic goat meat and and goose fat, 679 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: all the troops of actors preparing shows is welcoming. They 680 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:32,880 Speaker 1: would think they hear something out on the beach and 681 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: they're like man five six and then like, no, no, no, 682 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 1: that was just that was just a big pelican Oh, 683 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:43,560 Speaker 1: never mind, al right, places people first, positions everybody. So um, 684 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:45,719 Speaker 1: he says, yeah, it's not my fault. It wasn't me 685 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:51,040 Speaker 1: that and uh he says, you know what, if everyone 686 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:53,759 Speaker 1: would just have listened to me, those people would be 687 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,920 Speaker 1: alive right now. Yeah. And a lot of people believed, 688 00:40:57,920 --> 00:40:59,759 Speaker 1: and they're like, yeah, you know what, guys, you're right 689 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,879 Speaker 1: if you just listen to Gregor over there, he said, yep, confidence, yes, 690 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 1: and destiny is all so um. People are battling it 691 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,280 Speaker 1: out in the press mainly as to like who holds 692 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,560 Speaker 1: the blame Gregor and his family and some of his 693 00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:20,320 Speaker 1: associates slipped out of London. They said, Um, Josefa his wife, 694 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:24,120 Speaker 1: she's not well and she's under doctor's orders to um 695 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:28,200 Speaker 1: go to Italy to recover. I really need that doctor's No, 696 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,000 Speaker 1: you need to go Elizabeth must go to Italy for 697 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:34,319 Speaker 1: six weeks. This is an order. And also take me 698 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,760 Speaker 1: with her, Yeah, exactly. So instead he goes to France. 699 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:41,200 Speaker 1: So he didn't really go to Italy. He goes to France. Um. 700 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:44,759 Speaker 1: This was right before a small party of survivors, that 701 00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:48,279 Speaker 1: little group that made it home. Before they come home. Um. 702 00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:51,760 Speaker 1: But when they got to England, people really got pissed. 703 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,600 Speaker 1: They got so mad because here are these the first 704 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:58,359 Speaker 1: hand account of what happened and how just taken they were. 705 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,400 Speaker 1: And they're looking around like, well, where is well? I 706 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:05,919 Speaker 1: guess he's in Italy, right, Well, what's Gregor doing over 707 00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 1: in France? Setting up more offices in Paris to sell 708 00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:14,279 Speaker 1: land in fortune in Poe. He's like, they don't talk that, 709 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:19,040 Speaker 1: the English and the French, they don't talk. So for 710 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:26,799 Speaker 1: a time he tried to take the France. Like he 711 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:31,000 Speaker 1: tries to he tries to make per legitimate by going 712 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,880 Speaker 1: to the Spanish and asking them to annex it, and 713 00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:36,600 Speaker 1: he's giving them all you know, you can do this 714 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:38,439 Speaker 1: with it. They're just like, no, get out of here, dude, 715 00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:42,040 Speaker 1: So they don't fight. So he's winning the confidence of 716 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:44,880 Speaker 1: more and more French society folks, and he starts to 717 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,040 Speaker 1: make a new scheme where he's going to transfer huge 718 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:50,719 Speaker 1: swaths of land to investors and make them the de 719 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,160 Speaker 1: facto rulers. But that also makes them responsible for the 720 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:57,799 Speaker 1: fates of the people who go there. Oh, interesting kind 721 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,799 Speaker 1: of shifting Walter rallying them like, can go over there 722 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:04,360 Speaker 1: and we'll see what happens. Yes, the first ship leaves 723 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:12,080 Speaker 1: lahavre uh Um towards the luxuries of Poer and the dependencies, yeah, 724 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: and all of its dependencies, which is like the one 725 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:20,120 Speaker 1: king there um Gregor. He gets a second loan for 726 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:23,880 Speaker 1: this phantom country of Poier. This time it's three hundred 727 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:28,000 Speaker 1: thousand pounds. This is like millions and millions and millions 728 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:30,640 Speaker 1: for a steak in the Poyer gold mines. And what 729 00:43:30,719 --> 00:43:33,200 Speaker 1: about his previous loan. Did the bank just be like, 730 00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 1: well that guy, you know, well, he converting it to 731 00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:39,480 Speaker 1: stock and stuff and these people are buying in and yeah. 732 00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:43,000 Speaker 1: So he was able to run this con in France 733 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:46,720 Speaker 1: for two years, and then the French started asking questions. Finally, 734 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:50,239 Speaker 1: they're like, why why are people asking for passports to 735 00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,879 Speaker 1: go to this country that we've never heard of. This 736 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 1: is not a country on our approved not on any 737 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,880 Speaker 1: of the maps we have, And they start up this investigation, 738 00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:01,560 Speaker 1: and so in a twenty seven, Greggers like, I'm going 739 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,520 Speaker 1: back to England. I'll take my chances there. And then 740 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:08,799 Speaker 1: he lands and is immediately arrested. So the French are like, 741 00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:11,000 Speaker 1: you know, let let them take care of this. He's there, 742 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:15,840 Speaker 1: dude like, all right, he's arrested, Fine, we're done. Um. 743 00:44:15,880 --> 00:44:20,520 Speaker 1: But then the charges are mysteriously dropped. Yeah he's a freeman. 744 00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:23,240 Speaker 1: And then he decides he wants to be a freeman 745 00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:29,320 Speaker 1: in Paris. He goes so he's been in England and 746 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:31,960 Speaker 1: and so for whatever reason, the charges get dropped. I'm 747 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:33,600 Speaker 1: saying that the part that is really wild to me 748 00:44:33,719 --> 00:44:36,200 Speaker 1: is Okay, the charges get dropped, that's crazy. And he's like, 749 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,319 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go back to the place that also that's 750 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:42,000 Speaker 1: investigating you just got off. He goes back and he 751 00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:45,880 Speaker 1: gets arrested over there exactly but and he claimed again, 752 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:47,839 Speaker 1: you know what, I'm the one who's been con here. 753 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:52,160 Speaker 1: I'm the victim. And one of his associates fled to 754 00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:55,200 Speaker 1: the Netherlands, right, okay, want to get back into the Spanish. 755 00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:56,920 Speaker 1: So because that guy is running for it, he's like 756 00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:00,279 Speaker 1: it's him. He won't stand here in face you like 757 00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:03,520 Speaker 1: a man like I will. So Gregor just pins everything 758 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:06,279 Speaker 1: on dude in the Netherlands and he comes up with 759 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:10,759 Speaker 1: all these like fake documents and stories. His associates get 760 00:45:10,800 --> 00:45:15,480 Speaker 1: convicted and he's found not guilty on all charges. I mean, 761 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:19,279 Speaker 1: he wrote like this huge treatise that his lawyer reads out. 762 00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:21,160 Speaker 1: Did they not look at all of the books and 763 00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:24,360 Speaker 1: paperwork that he created and wouldn't that be entered into evidence? 764 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:26,839 Speaker 1: Like no, I be they lantered in They're like, well, 765 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,520 Speaker 1: I guess you know strange ways wrote another account of this, 766 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:33,000 Speaker 1: So yes, thank you, John Barron Um. So he planned 767 00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:34,920 Speaker 1: to live out the rest of his years in Paris, 768 00:45:35,719 --> 00:45:39,000 Speaker 1: you know, kind of like a questionable society lay about. 769 00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:42,000 Speaker 1: That's a good plan. But he blew through all the 770 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:46,280 Speaker 1: money and he did it quickly. He'd been living really 771 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 1: really large, and he spread the money around to a 772 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:51,520 Speaker 1: bunch of people he did like an mc hammer where 773 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:57,600 Speaker 1: he just yes. Uh. He also, it costs a lot 774 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:01,680 Speaker 1: of money to put these together and take people over there, 775 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:04,160 Speaker 1: so he's like, in order to keep that con looking 776 00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:06,640 Speaker 1: fresh and real, he's sinking cash. And the only reason 777 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:08,880 Speaker 1: we have corporations is because of how expensive it is 778 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:13,920 Speaker 1: to keep boats over there. Exactly. So in eight Hosfe 779 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,720 Speaker 1: died and at this point he had already lost two children, 780 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:22,279 Speaker 1: so he has nothing, nothing left but his memories and 781 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:27,040 Speaker 1: they're beautiful and the braid and his hair from sandals poer. Uh. 782 00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:29,160 Speaker 1: So the last time he had nothing, he made a choice, 783 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:33,680 Speaker 1: and he makes that choice again South America, going back 784 00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:37,000 Speaker 1: basically his version of fake my death, go to Cuba. 785 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:44,360 Speaker 1: That's so thirty nine old Gregor, son of Gregor. He 786 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,799 Speaker 1: makes his way to Venezuela and he just begs for 787 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:53,360 Speaker 1: citizenship's hair. He also he wanted his old military titles 788 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:57,560 Speaker 1: and honors, so yeah, he's that that's basically what he did. 789 00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:00,239 Speaker 1: So he goes there and instead of saying, please, can 790 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:02,000 Speaker 1: I be a citizen, he's like, can I be a 791 00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:06,840 Speaker 1: citizen and have a title and be well regarded and 792 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:09,319 Speaker 1: a pension and a big hat and made a big 793 00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:12,239 Speaker 1: hat throwing a pension in a big hat, and he 794 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:15,279 Speaker 1: gets it. He gets it all. He gets citizenship, he 795 00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:19,400 Speaker 1: gets a pension, He lives out his days as a normal, 796 00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:23,840 Speaker 1: respected citizen there. And then no one talked about Amelia 797 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:26,080 Speaker 1: Island when he thought he was going to capture Florida. 798 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:31,600 Speaker 1: That's gone. No one talks about poi a forget it. 799 00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:37,520 Speaker 1: He died in Caracas December, and he received a full 800 00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:41,440 Speaker 1: military funeral and burial and was just lauded by the people. 801 00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:47,439 Speaker 1: Rewrote history. That area known as Poier undeveloped to this day. 802 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:50,840 Speaker 1: So it really you can see that it wasn't just 803 00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:52,719 Speaker 1: oh they didn't know how it was like Florida eades. 804 00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:55,719 Speaker 1: This is never going to be turned into anything useful. Yeah, 805 00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:59,279 Speaker 1: So what's what's your ridiculous takeaway from this tale of 806 00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:03,919 Speaker 1: Gregor McGregor? If you fail the first time, just keep 807 00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:07,520 Speaker 1: conning over the exact same bigger, maybe even go bigger. 808 00:48:07,600 --> 00:48:11,239 Speaker 1: That's also and get a uniform. Uniform, go bigger and 809 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:13,120 Speaker 1: try moving around a lot to be like, oh, it 810 00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:15,440 Speaker 1: couldn't have been me. I'm the ki And that's perfect 811 00:48:15,560 --> 00:48:18,560 Speaker 1: life pro tip right there. I keep thinking about conna 812 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:22,520 Speaker 1: Cova's assessment of Gregor McGregor that like his con was 813 00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:25,359 Speaker 1: so intuitive and convincing that he was able to keep 814 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:28,719 Speaker 1: running the same con over and over. Oh yeah he was. 815 00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,360 Speaker 1: He had got it into the vein of humanity people. 816 00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:33,600 Speaker 1: They had hard evidence that he was full of it. 817 00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:37,480 Speaker 1: And yet nope, that right, there is true confidence, right, 818 00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:40,839 Speaker 1: confidence in himself and the confidence that people had in him. 819 00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:43,560 Speaker 1: And when is their confidence to him? I can't believe 820 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:45,759 Speaker 1: that people fell for it, but I'm guessing that they 821 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:48,359 Speaker 1: probably didn't think they'd fall for something so outrageous either. 822 00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:51,920 Speaker 1: That's how they fall for it. Yeah. So, Um. The 823 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:53,640 Speaker 1: other thing I wanted to bring up to you is 824 00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:59,160 Speaker 1: that I have some land on a special secret island. 825 00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:02,760 Speaker 1: Really yeah? Does it have a good farmland? It's amazing. 826 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:07,279 Speaker 1: Are there already existing roads and infratecture infrastructure law? Yes, 827 00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:11,520 Speaker 1: there are carbon neutral trains. Perfect. Let me go get 828 00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:16,320 Speaker 1: my check book. I'll be right back. That's it for today. Um. 829 00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:19,520 Speaker 1: You can find us online at Ridiculous Crime on both 830 00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:23,000 Speaker 1: Twitter and Instagram. Do you have a tip for us 831 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:25,320 Speaker 1: about a ridiculous crime that you'd like to hear about? 832 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:27,760 Speaker 1: You want to just chat, you want to confess Twitter 833 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:32,360 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime. I like those emails, Email us at ridiculous 834 00:49:32,360 --> 00:49:35,640 Speaker 1: Crime at gmail dot com and after that, just tune 835 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:44,959 Speaker 1: in next time. My rude dudes, stay skeptical. Ridiculous Crime 836 00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:47,840 Speaker 1: is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zarin Burnett, produced and 837 00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:51,719 Speaker 1: edited by His Royal Flyness David Couston. Research is by 838 00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:55,360 Speaker 1: Poor Princess Merissa Brown. 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