Posted on 03/17/2008 7:43:42 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
YREKA, Calif. - In extreme Northern California, far from the bright lights of Hollywood and the foggy charms of San Francisco, is a place unknown to most people: a handful of counties that once sought to make themselves into a separate state called Jefferson.
The idea lasted only a few days in 1941 before it was quashed by the attack on Pearl Harbor. But for a few who remember its history, the movement embodies the mindset of this sparsely populated country that still longs for more autonomy.
"We've always fostered an independent streak up here," said Pete LaFortune, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce in Yreka (pronounced why-REEK-ah), about 270 miles north of San Francisco.
More than six decades later, many residents of the mountainous region along the California-Oregon border continue to complain that their concerns are overlooked and undervalued by decision makers in more populated areas.
The State of Jefferson began as part publicity stunt, part political gesture. Even today, the movement is made up of tourist-friendly whimsy intertwined with more serious themes of discontent.
In the Palace Barber Shop on Yreka's main drag hangs an animal skull decorated with the XX brand adopted by the Jeffersonians of 1941 to signify their disgust with being "double-crossed" by authorities.
"A lot of the laws and different things that affect us are voted on by people who've never been here and don't know anything about us," said John Lisle, a barber at the shop, which stands on a site that is said to have offered haircuts since Yreka was a Gold Rush town.
Another barber, Richard Pease, agreed: "When we vote on something, it doesn't make much difference at all because one precinct down there outnumbers the whole county here. You vote, but you feel like your vote is going down the tube."
Siskiyou County, home to Yreka, has about 46,000 residents spread over 6,400 square miles. Although registered Republicans have only a modest edge over registered Democrats, residents are often at odds with more liberal parts of the state.
The 1941 secessionists were angry about the region's poor roads, which became useless in winter.
"Our Roads are Not Passable, Hardly Jackassable," went the rallying cry.
These days, it's not hard to get to Yreka. Interstate 5, which runs the length of California, is a long, smooth route through fir-covered hills and Mount Shasta, a popular recreation spot.
But there is plenty of resentment simmering over long-standing government limits on logging and fishing, and a proposal to rip out a series of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to help struggling salmon runs.
Bill Overman, chairman of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, is among those concerned that removing the dams will hurt property values for people living along the reservoirs. Like previous leaders, he chafes at the feeling that outside forces are calling the shots.
"We would like to be able to take care of our resources and be able to manage them properly, and we can do that if we're just allowed to," Overman said.
The idea of forming a separate state out of the counties in far Northern California and southern Oregon has come up several times in the past.
"It's really a very, very old historical tradition in America that people sort of removed from the center of power resent the center of power," said Jay Mullen, professor of history at Southern Oregon University.
The 1941 movement got started when Gilbert Gable, mayor of Port Orford, Ore., announced that a number of Oregon counties should join with California neighbors to form a new state. His idea was to draw attention to the region's rotten roads.
The idea caught fire, especially in Siskiyou County, and Yreka became the nascent state's temporary capital.
Jefferson's attempt to secede got national attention. San Francisco Chronicle reporter Stanton Delaplane won the Pulitzer Prize in 1942 for his articles about the rebellious movement.
But with the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, the movement was shelved.
Today, the brief chapter is memorialized on a Web site, jeffersonstate.com, and a barn south of Yreka painted with the name "State of Jefferson." It's also recalled in the name of Jefferson Public Radio, based in Ashland, Ore. License plate holders reading "resident of the State of Jefferson" are a popular item.
Still, the Chamber of Commerce's LaFortune doesn't expect to see citizens marching on Sacramento anytime soon.
"It's more mythical than anything else," he said. "The State of Jefferson is that state of independence. It's that state of being able to take care of yourself — the Jeffersonian ideals that the government is not the answer. People are the answer."
Something worth dreaming about.
I’ve always thought there should be a North California and a South California.
Isn’t San Francisco a Communist State?
Can see the bumper stickers now:
“I didn’t leave California, California left me”
Betcha money if this were tried today, it would be a People’s Commune filled with nothign but hippy-dippies?
BTTT
I always get a kick out of seeing the barn sign on my way up to Seattle from Sacramento. I never knew the history behind it though. Beautiful countryside out there!
"Franklin", lasted four years and later became part on TN.
Ya let one of these rabble-rousing groups form their own State and pretty soon there will be more. My guess is there are 3 potential new States in Colorado alone all being pretty much ignored by Denver (way South, way East and the Western slope).
Can’t say that I blame them one bit. But, for each new States we’d have two more Congress-critters. The old state would lose Reps while the new States would pick them up. Odds are these new States, most in relatively remote areas, would be considerably more conservative and well.... we just can have THAT now can we!
California should be three states:
(seriously: all three would still be in the upper tier for population)
Norte California: The Southern third of current California. Los Angeles, Hollywood, and the Metropolis surrounding LA. In reality, quickly merging with “Baja California” to the south - thus the new moniker.
Urban Northern California. This new City/State should have a new age name of some sort. Perhaps it could be named Starchild.
Rural California: Central Coast from Santa Barbara, to Monterey, and inland to Nevada.
That would turn things around.
Way things are now, the state will implode soon.
We in Northern California would love that. We'd settle for taking the City of Sacramento since the rest of our state would make up for it.
But the question would be who gets stuck with the Bay Area, which is neither Northern or Southern California. Which is why there's always been a discussion of three states.
I wish my state could split. The east side is far more conservative than the west although the west is generally dominated by King County, electorally speaking anyway.
Isn’t there a well-established procedure for creating a new state?
Can liberals in Sacramento force people to stay, if they don’t want to?
Build a legal “Berlin Wall”, to keep people from escaping?...
Except in California east/west is now a bigger divide than north/south.
California needs to be broken up and those states that comprise Greater Massachusetts should be consolidated.
Three may not be enough pieces to break California up into. Besides, there are decent, civil parts of Oregon that make up part of the Klamath basin and should be part of the “Jefferson” - Arguably everything south of Lesser Portland. It would be cruel to leave the Inland Empire in the malicious hands of Greater LA.
80% of California is a great place. The problem is, Greater LA, SF/SJ and Sac have enough population to dominate the good parts.
Yes. I spent some of the best moments of my life there in the wilderness. Now...that I’m far away...I relive it in my dreams.
That’s a cliche, but it’s at the root of what’s wrong with California - and why people are leaving.
Liberals have enough votes, to not only dominate the lives of everyone in a massive state from a couple looped-out leftist enclaves, but they also can throw national elections.
They run Hollywood, Sacramento and San Francisco, and as everyone knows, they simply know what’s best for all of us.
Sanctimonious dweebs.
Seriously. I bet it would work. I really do.
I remember reading about a proposal to carve California into 3 states some years ago (late 1980s or early 1990s?). I think the line dividing the northernmost state from the central state would have run a little bit north of Sacramento. It never got to the voters for their Yes or No.
Be sure to stop at The Olive Pit on the way—that’s a must. Then at Mount Shasta, take time to soak yourself in Indian Hot Springs...a natural outdoor jacuzzi, far out in the wilderness...or spend a day or two absorbing the sunlight at Squaw Meadow on The Mountain... And tell everybody I miss ‘em...!
40 years ago, the Flower children flocked to Northern Kalifornia. They began their communes, smoked their pot and talked to the sea lions to communicate.
NOW, the flower fogies have evolved. They tend their communes. They smoke their pot and they mumble to the sea lions to communicate.
So much progress.
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