Legend: Klamath County was once part of an effort to form a new state
taking in parts of Oregon and California.

Status: True, although the effort was typically more a form of protest than a serious call for secession.

Discussion: A number of Klamath County residents have over the years participated in an effort to form the State of Jefferson, taking in several counties in Southwestern Oregon and Northern California. Most people have considered the effort to be something less than serious, though many still claim the idea has merit.

According to a 1985 publication reprinted in 1999 by the Siskiyou County Museum, numerous proposals to form a state in Northern California and Southern Oregon have been put forward since the 1850s.

The most noteworthy initiative to form the State of Jefferson came in the fall of 1941, when various parties contacted officials in both states regarding the matter. At that time a state seal was adopted, featuring a gold pan with two Xs to symbolize how residents of the region had been double-crossed by politicians in Salem and Sacramento.

A citizens committee of the State of Jefferson, meeting in Yreka, Calif., adopted a "Proclamation of Independence" on Nov. 27, 1941. The proclamation claimed the states of Oregon and California had failed to provide adequate funding for roads in the region, and that the new State of Jefferson would "rebel" each Thursday and "act as a separate state."

Later in the day on Nov. 27, a group of men from the "citizens committee" stopped traffic on Highway 99 and distributed handbills proclaiming the independence of the State of Jefferson.

Serious efforts to promote the State of Jefferson were immediately abandoned when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, but after the war the concept was occasionally brought back to life -- usually in a more light-hearted vein. Among those to be named "governor" of the State of Jefferson over the years was Herald and News publisher Frank Jenkins in 1959, and state Rep. Harry Boivin in 1971.

The "Mythical State of Jefferson" lives on even today. Numerous businesses in the region use the name Jefferson. Perhaps most notably, the public radio station operated at Southern Oregon University calls itself "Jefferson Public Radio."

Numerous Web sites are devoted to the State of Jefferson. Jeffersonstate.com, operated by Brian Peterson of Yreka, offers a variety of products promoting the State of Jefferson.

Click here to see a television news report on the State of Jefferson.