Birth of a Nation

Monaco on the Rio Grande? That's what Colonel Herbert Williams, 68, a fifth-generation Texan of Cherokee blood, envisions for himself. Says he: "Hell, I'm going to start my own country, make my own laws, run a country like God intended a country to be run."

Williams' plot is a 400-acre island that was created when Hurricane Beulah changed the course of the Rio Grande in 1967. Because the island is south of the main river channel, the U.S. decided that the land was Mexican territory. Mexico, however, refused to accept ownership. So Williams bought the island from Mexican citizens for $400,000. By his reckoning, the 19th century Mexican treaties of Iguala and Guadalupe pave the warpath for him: they give Cherokee Indians the right to establish a nation.

Williams has no vision of deer and antelope, however. "We'll have ambassadors and citizenship," says he. "We'll put in a gambling casino and a TV station, and we'll register ships." He also hints at tax-free companies and Swiss-style secret bank accounts. What if the U.S. and Mexico interfere, as they surely will? "I'll take it right to the World Court," says Williams. "It takes them 20 years to rule on anything, and if worst comes to worst, I'll have my country for 20 years."

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