The Mythical State of Jefferson
History
The State of Jefferson is in the region of southern Oregon and northern
California, in the areas of the Siskiyou and Trinity mountain ranges, and
the Klamath and Rogue river valleys. As far back as the 1850s, people
living in that area were alienated from the distant regional authorities in
California. After Oregon was incorporated as a state in 1859, miners in
the area refused allegiance to either state government and declined to
pay taxes. Around the time of the Civil War some settlers were interested
in creating a northern haven for slavery, but separatist sentiments were
fueled most commonly by the poor quality of infrastructure. Residents of
both the California and the Oregon portions of the region felt that their
state governments in distant Sacramento and Salem did not fairly
represent them, and did not distribute infrastructure funding equitably
to the area. The poor road quality directly compromised the ability of
people in the region to earn a living off the lumber, fishing, and other
harvesting businesses that are available in the area. In the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, several waves of mounting frustration at the
region's isolation and wretched infrastructure culminated in a great push
toward the secession of 1941.
In 1941 the mayor of Port Orford, Oregon, Gilbert Gable, declared before
the Curry County court that the four southern Oregon border counties
(Klamath, Josephine, Jackson, and Curry) and the three northern
California border counties (Modoc, Siskiyou, and Del Norte) were
seceding from their respective states and forming the 49th state -Jefferson. He was strongly supported by local timber and mining
workers, whose work was stymied by impassable roads and bridges
leading to the timber and mining areas. The Yreka, California 20/30
Club issued a "Proclamation of Independence," and the group members
took action to block Highway 99 at the borders of the fledgling state,
handing out copies of their document to passing motorists. An election
was called, and John Childs, Superior Court Judge of Yreka, was elected
acting governor of Jefferson. These steps commanded national attention,
and the media were dispatched. Life magazine sent a reporter and
camera crew, as did Paramount News -- a major producer of newsreels -while the San Francisco Chronicle sent Stanton Delaplane, who later won
a Pulitzer award for his coverage of the movement. The New York Times
featured daily articles on the State of Jefferson, and by early December of
1941, a complete newsreel was assembled. It was scheduled for national
distribution December 8.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 abruptly interrupted the
secession movement. The newsreel was shelved and never distributed,
and suddenly the state governments of both Oregon and California were
inspired to fix the infrastructure of their distant counties because they
needed the timber and mining resources to fight the war. The inspiration
for the secession movement faded until the mid-1950s, when
disagreements with Sacramento over water rights and hunting policies
re-ignited it.
In the 1960s and '70s, separatist sentiment continued in the form of
locally published books and journals that promoted the region's distinct
identity and livability. Then in the 1980s and '90s, the secessionist
tradition settled into the cultural sphere and began to be expressed as a
theme of identity, rather than as a traditional political movement.
Megan Shaw
Bad Subjects, Issue # 48 , March 2000
http://eserver.org/bs/48/shaw.html