User:HarvardGrandpa/Jefferson (proposed Pacific state)

Article Draft
19th Century:

The State of Jefferson has historical precedent in the 19th century. In 1851, gold discovered in the Klamath river basin of Northwest California extended California's gold rush further North to the Klamath river basin and into the Rogue River valley of Southern Oregon. This led to the first large influx of white settlers in the area, causing conflict with local Native populations that eventually culminated in the Rogue River War of 1855-1856. Furthermore, this influx of American settlers coupled with the wealth they were able to accumulate from the natural resources of the region caused several political movements to separate this region from the rest of California and Oregon in the 1850's. Local politicians proposed an independent State of Shasta to the California legislature in 1852, but the bill died in committee. The State of Shasta was revived again in 1855, and various other configurations of an independent State in the same region as the State of Jefferson were proposed throughout the decade (such as the State of Klamath in 1853 and 1854). The settlers of the region believed that they were distinct from the rest of California and Oregon both culturally and economically, and that because of the large distance separating them from the capitals of California and Oregon, their needs would be better addressed at the local and federal levels by their own State government than by petitioning the California government. In 1860, Congress passed legislation that would allow the region to vote on whether they wanted to be independent from California and Oregon, but the Civil War interrupted this process and quelled independence movements for the rest of the 19th century.