State of Jefferson

On November 27, 1941, young men with rifles stopped traffic on U.S. Route 99 south of Yreka, California, and handed drivers a proclamation. The counties of far northern California and southern Oregon, it announced, were in 'patriotic rebellion' against both states and would 'secede every Thursday until further notice.' The main grievance was neglect, above all bad roads into a remote country of timber and mines, and the would-be state was named Jefferson.

The stunt made national news, but the attack on Pearl Harbor ten days later ended it. The idea was older, going back to proposals for a State of Shasta and a State of Klamath in the 1850s, and it never fully died. In the 2010s, about 20 rural California counties passed declarations or votes backing a split from California, though no new state has been created. The movement's seal, a gold pan marked with two Xs for the 'double cross' by Salem and Sacramento, still turns up on signs and bumper stickers across the region.

• California
  The most populous U.S. state, admitted 1850 proposed from
• Oregon
  The Beaver State, from rainforest coast to high desert proposed from