Travis McHenry

Travis McHenry is the founder and ruler of several micronations which have not been recognized by any world government.

In either 2001 or 2004, while a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, McHenry appointed himself ruler of Westarctica, which was located in the Marie Byrd Land region of Antarctica. He has said that this took advantage in a loophole in the Antarctic Treaty. In 2006, after learning that McHenry had been communicating with foreign governments asking them to recognize the nation, the Navy required him to abdicate.

In 2009, after McHenry left the military, he acquired a few acres of rural desert land in Southern California from family, and founded Calsahara. McHenry later expanded it to cover 117 acres. A 2015 profile in Los Angeles magazine described the project as good-natured, but said "It's hard to discern whether Calsahara is a serious endeavor or an absurdly long-term joke."

In 2014, McHenry made Westarctica into a non-profit organization which advocates for protection of antarctic wildlife and for the study of climate change.