Glenn County Becomes 4th California Jurisdiction to Opt to Join “State of Jefferson”

Glenn County became the fourth county in northern California in the past year to opt for cutting ties with Sacramento and help form a new “State of Jefferson,” a movement born in 1941 to unite disaffected parts of southern Oregon and northern California into a 49th—by now it would be 51st—state.  The resolution, by Glenn County’s board of supervisors, was approved on January 21st, with a vote of 5 to 0.  (Jefferson was listed in this blog as one of “10 Separatist Movements to Watch in 2014.”)

Glenn County, one of California’s smallest and least populous counties, with just over 28,000 people, joins Siskiyou County (whose seat, Yreka, is considered the nerve center of the movement) and Tehama County, which have decided to put Jefferson statehood on the ballot before voters this year.  The far-northeastern Modoc County, like Siskiyou, declared an intent to secede but has not prepared a referendum as yet.  In Siskiyou, there is also a rival proposal on the ballot, for a vaguely-defined, autonomous “Republic of Jefferson” within Siskiyou County’s boundaries (as reported this month in this blog).

One projection for the boundaries of a future “State of Jefferson.”
Counties that have made formal moves to secession in recent months are circled in red.

The same day as the Glenn County resolution, Del Norte County rebuffed the advances of Mark Baird, the Yreka pilot who has been heading up the Jefferson Declaration Committee (pictured at the top of this article, addressing Glenn County voters earlier this month), and decided to do more analysis before deciding to hop on board with the State of Jefferson.

Yreka barber-shop still life

In Glenn County, Mike Murray, chairman of the county’s board of supervisors, told media, “This is sending notice to the state that we’re tired of being their victim.  We are a byproduct of whatever the urban areas want—the L.A. basin, San Francisco.  They have more representatives.”

Mark Baird

[For those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with my forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Litwin Books under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements and Aspirant Nations, from Abkhazia to Zanzibar.  (That is shorter than the previous working title.)  The book, which contains 46 maps and 554 flags (or, more accurately, 554 flag images), will be on shelves and available on Amazon on March 1, 2015.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.  Meanwhile, please “like” the book (even though you haven’t read it yet) on Facebook and see this special announcement for more information on the book.]