Molossia

From Vuldstein to Nevada

Molossia began in 1977 near Portland, Oregon, as the Grand Republic of Vuldstein, a game inspired by a film that Kevin Baugh and a childhood friend, James Spielman, had watched as teenagers. Spielman proclaimed himself King James I, with Baugh as prime minister.^[2][1]

When Spielman lost interest, Baugh carried on. The country went through several names and places until, in 1998, Baugh bought land near Dayton, Nevada, and named it Molossia. It claims a province in northern California and, at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, a marine sanctuary.^[1]

A republic in a back yard

Molossia has its own post office, bank, railroad, a navy of five inflatable boats, a national park service, a national instrument that sounds like a kazoo, and a tiki bar. It has been at “war” with East Germany since 1983, and says the war is still on because a small, uninhabited island off Cuba is technically still East German.^[1]

It does not pretend to be a true sovereign state: its citizens also hold US citizenship and pay their taxes, which Molossia calls foreign aid. “Foreign aid means gas, water, and electricity,” Baugh says. “Not to mention, our only exports to the U.S. are our children and trash.”^[2][1]

“I just thought, ‘Why not start my own country?’ It’s just fun.”^[2]

Crossing the border

Visitors can tour Molossia on set days, usually once a month from April to October, if they book first. They go through customs, where contraband includes firearms, tobacco, plastic shopping bags, onions, catfish and walruses, and can have their passports stamped.^[1]