State of Jefferson
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| State of Jefferson (proposed) | |||||||||
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| Official language(s) | English | ||||||||
| Capital | Yreka, California (proposed 1941) | ||||||||
| Largest city | Redding, California | ||||||||
| Area | Ranked 41st (hypothetical) in the US | ||||||||
| - Total | 67,472 sq mi (169,759 km²) |
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| - Width | 265 miles (467 km) | ||||||||
| - Length | 113 miles (182 km) | ||||||||
| - % water | ? | ||||||||
| - Latitude | 38°45'N to 43°57'N | ||||||||
| - Longitude | 119°18'W to 124°25'W | ||||||||
| Population | Ranked 51st (hypothetical) in the US | ||||||||
| - Total | 423,004 | ||||||||
| - Density | 6.27/sq mi (2.49/km²) Ranked N/A in the US |
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| Elevation | |||||||||
| - Highest point | Mount Shasta 14,179 ft (4316.58 m) |
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| - Mean | 7,081 ft (2158.29 m) | ||||||||
| - Lowest point | 0 ft (0 m) | ||||||||
| Admission to Union | (Not admitted) | ||||||||
| Governor | None as of 2009 | ||||||||
| Lieutenant Governor | None as of 2009 | ||||||||
| U.S. Senators | None as of 2009 | ||||||||
| U.S. House delegation | None as of 2009 (list) | ||||||||
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 | ||||||||
| Abbreviations | |||||||||
| Website | www.StateOfJefferson.com | ||||||||
The State of Jefferson is a proposed U.S. state that would span the contiguous and mostly rural area of Southern Oregon and Northern California, where several attempts to secede from Oregon and California, respectively, have taken place in order to gain own statehood.
This region on the Pacific Coast is the most famous of several that have sought to adopt the name of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States; the name was proposed in the 19th century for Jefferson Territory, as well as in 1915 in a bill in the Texas legislature for a proposed state that would be created from the Texas Panhandle region.[1]
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[edit] 19th century
Bisected by a trade and travel route which came to be known as the Siskiyou Trail, the region of the proposed State of Jefferson was one of the last areas of North America to be explored by Europeans and Americans, who did not enter the area until the 1820s, and it was not until the discovery of gold at present-day Yreka, California in 1851 that the first significant American settlement in the area occurred.[citation needed]
[edit] 20th century
In October 1941, the mayor of Port Orford, Oregon, Gilbert Gable, announced that the Oregon counties of Curry, Josephine, Jackson, and Klamath should join with the California counties of Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Modoc to form a new state, later named Jefferson.[2]
Gable proposed creating this new state to draw attention to the condition of the state roads along the Oregon-California border, which at the time were oiled dirt roads that became impassable in rain or snow, and handicapped economic development. As local historian Jim Rock explains, "It was more publicity stunt than serious secession movement at that point. After all, under the U.S. Constitution, they had to get the approval of Congress as well as the legislatures of both states."
Gable's act found sympathy throughout the region, who perceived their state legislatures as indifferent to their needs. Siskiyou County especially embraced the cause: the county seat Yreka became the provisional capital, where in November 1941, county representatives met and selected the name Jefferson for their state, in commemoration of Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president.
While inhabitants in Lassen and Shasta counties in northern California flirted with joining the secession movement, only the counties of Curry, Siskiyou, Trinity, and Del Norte actually endorsed the idea.
A naming contest held by the Siskiyou Daily News in November 1941 considered the possibilities for the would be state: Orofino, Bonanza, Discontent, Jefferson, Del Curiskiyou, and Siscurdelmo.
On November 27, 1941, a group of young men gained national media attention when, brandishing hunting rifles for dramatic effect, they stopped traffic on U.S. Route 99 south of Yreka, and handed out copies of a Proclamation of Independence, stating that the state of Jefferson was in "patriotic rebellion against the States of California and Oregon" and would continue to "secede every Thursday until further notice."
The secession movement came to an abrupt end, though not before John C. Childs of Yreka was inaugurated as the governor of the State of Jefferson.[3] The first blow was the death of Mayor Gable on December 2, followed five days later by the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7. Secessionists focused their efforts on the war effort, which crippled the movement. Coincidentally, the "state of Jefferson" was one of the few places in the continental USA to be the subject of an attack during World War II, when Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita dropped bombs on the Oregon Coast near Brookings on September 9, 1942.[4]
[edit] Today
As described in an April, 2003, American Journalism Review article:
| “ | The "state" is diverse politically, with a mixture of conservatives and liberals. Many share the Westerner's common disdain of government and politics. "Politicians and diapers need to be changed often for the same reason," reads one bumper sticker. And many also share a desire to hang on to the landscape that draws both residents and tourists to an area that stretches from the stunning Oregon coast to ethereal Crater Lake and down to California's towering Mt. Shasta.
The region retains this identity reinforced by institutions such as Jefferson Public Radio. |
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Jefferson is commemorated by the State of Jefferson Scenic Byway between Yreka and O'Brien, Oregon, which runs 109 miles along State Route 96 and U.S. Forest Service Primary Route 48. Near the California - Oregon border, a turnout provides scenic views of the Klamath River valley and three informative display signs about the republic.
As of July 2008, if the core Jefferson counties were a state, the state's population would be 453,000. A broader definition, including neighboring counties of similar cultural, economic and political mindsets, would give Jefferson a population of more than 1.3 million.
[edit] Flag
The field of the flag is green, and the charge is the Seal of the State of Jefferson: a gold mining pan with the words "The Great Seal Of State Of Jefferson" engraved into the lip, and two X's askew of each other. The two X's are known as the "Double Cross", and signifies the region's sense of abandonment from the state governments in both Salem, Oregon and Sacramento, California.
[edit] Further reading
- James T. Rock. The State of Jefferson: the Dream Lives on! Siskiyou County Museum, 1999.
[edit] See also
- Upstate California
- State of Franklin
- State of Absaroka
- State of Lincoln
- Cascadia (independence movement)
- Secession
- Northwest Territorial Imperative
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/mqd1.html
- ^ Hall, Christopher: "A Jefferson State of Mind," Via: AAA Traveler's Companion, Sept. 2003
- ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/17/IN81189.DTL
- ^ Oregon State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/ww2/threat/bombs.htm
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: State of Jefferson |
- The Jefferson Proposal Official Jefferson State Joint Committee website
- Jefferson Public Radio on the State of Jefferson
- State Of Jefferson Home Page Organizing the New Movement
- Museum of the Siskiyou Trail
- Jefferson State website
- Jefferson Public Radio
- State of Jefferson by Ian Jones
- The Mythical State of Jefferson by Megan Shaw at Bad Subjects
- A State of Mind:Exploring the untamed wonders of Jefferson by Glenn Garnett at CottageLink Magazine
- A Jefferson State of Mind by Christopher Hall at AAA's Via Magazine
- The State of Jefferson Images of America series (Google Books)
