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Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. They say a story changes with the storyteller, and few tales have had more revisions than that of James Jesse Strang, the self declared king of Beaver Island. Depending on who you ask, James was either a prophet, a tyrant, a genius, or a madman. But what's certain is that he carved out one of the strangest footnotes in American history. Life for James started out conventionally enough. Born in upstate New York in 1813, he spent time as a lawyer, a newspaper editor, and even as a Baptist minister. But in 1844, he found something calling him in the words of a brand new religion. Following the words of founder Joseph Smith, he converted to Mormonism, a faith that was just 14 years old at the time. Later that year, on June 27th of 1844, Joseph Smith was killed by an angry mob, leaving the Church of Latter Day Saints leaderless. Many members threw their hat into the ring to lead the religion, including James Jesse Strang. James actually claimed that Smith had named him his successor in a letter. Of course, this was a letter that he only revealed the existence of after Smith was gone. So most Mormons decided decided to follow a different leader, a guy named Brigham Young. While Brigham Young led the majority of the church west to Salt Lake City, Utah, James split off with his own faction. He claimed an angel came to him in the night, showing him what he called a land amidst wide waters and covered with large timber. In 1848, he led his followers to Beaver Island, a remote forest covered outpost in northern Lake Michigan. And there, in an audacious mix of prophecy and pageantry, and he donned a crown, a scepter and robes and declared himself king of the Kingdom of God and the earth. The island quickly became a stronghold of James particular sect of Mormonism. He banned alcohol enforced religious laws and punished dissent. He declared all the Anishinaabeg Native Americans and Irish settlers who were living there to convert or flee. And by 1852 most of them were gone. James quickly found that as a newly minted king, his crown was already starting to gain enemies, and locals accused the Mormons of theft and threats of violence. Many claimed the Mormons were pirates, luring merchant vessels crossing Lake Michigan to shore before plundering their cargo. Whether this was true or merely a result of anti Mormon rumors isn't even clear today. But what was clear was that James was not a beloved monarch. US President Millard Fillmore, alarmed by the stories about the Beaver island king, dispatched his Attorney General to investigate James sect. In 1853, James successfully defended himself in court against federal charges of counterfeiting, theft and treason, gaining himself a lot of positive name recognition. After he won his trial, he parlayed this good press into political power, gaining a seat in the Michigan state legislature. And still this wasn't enough to keep James in the public's good graces. Tensions grew especially high after James embraced polygamy after years of denouncing it. In fact, James support of monogamous marriage had been one of the original reasons why so many of his congregation had chosen to follow him over Brigham young, who had 50 wives. There were other rumors about why James was unpopular, from firing a cannon into a crowd of Irish settlers to animal sacrifices and stealing followers wives. In many of these tales, the legend may be taller than the man, but there was no evidence that he did any of these things. But the rumors spread nonetheless, and some of his followers began to push back. James rule unraveled. In 1856, after ordering the public flogging of two dissenters, one of them, a man named Thomas Bedford, plotted his revenge. On June 20, Bedford and two accomplices ambushed James on a dock as he was preparing to board a ship. They shot him in the back. While the ship's captain and crew stood by. The assassins fled to nearby Mackinac island, where they were celebrated rather than jailed. Strang lingered for weeks, paralyzed and in pain, before dying on July 9th. Without their king, his followers had no protection. Within days, a mob from the mainland invaded Beaver island, burning homes and forcibly evicting every last Mormon. Today, Beaver island is a peaceful tourist spot. Few visitors realize that it was once the seat of an American monarchy. As for James Jesse Strang, his story remains a slippery one. Half legend, half history, shaped by those who loved him and by those who didn't. Looking back, the legend of the Mormon King of Beaver island has some truth to it, but there's no denying that it's definitely a little straying.