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Book Review: A Journey Through the 51st State: The Elusive State of Jefferson by Peter Laufer

2022; Volume: 1; Issue: 36 Linguagem: Inglês

10.55671/0160-4341.1212

0160-4341

Connor Mullinix,

Legal and Constitutional Studies

T he State of Jefferson is not an uncommon response when the rural people of southern Oregon and northern California are asked where it is they consider home.To search for such a state in any atlas would be futile, as the lengthy ontogeny of Jefferson has never resulted in any official entity.Yet the imagined toponym can be found painted on the sides of barns, embroidered into flags and shirts, as well as emblazoned on posters, parade floats, cars, and even official road signs.In his 2013 book, A Journey Through the 51 st State: The Elusive State of Jefferson, Peter Laufer, professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, explores the bucolic landscape astride California and Oregon in search of those calling themselves Jeffersonians.In a bid to demystify the nature and character of what has often been dismissed as "myth," a "legend," or a "state of mind," Laufer takes his reader on a journey to discover the modern and historical hearths of the State of Jefferson.His penetrating interviews, personable commentary, and insightful historical research presciently illuminate the marrow of what has since matured into a rapidly expanding grassroots movement aimed at fulfilling the highly normative pursuits of justice, liberty, and happiness.Wishing to be left alone, at least from the grips of current governance arrangements, the provincial patriots in northern California and southern Oregon seek salvation from what they view as an insidious state by placing their hopes, their dreams, and their livelihoods into the long-held myth of a State of Jefferson.Although the region has seen mulitple calls for separation, most salient in the collective consciousness was a movement in 1941 that also sought to realize Jefferson as a new state, then what would have been the 49 th state of the United States.Having been jettisoned while on the brink of fruition after a dramatized campaign, the movement, its capital, and its symbols remain relevant and paradigmatic fables in the minds of many Jeffersonians, in spite of stark contradictions.Aiming to characterize the "elusive state," Laufer begins his journey in "the obvious place…Yreka, the once and perhaps present capital city of the presumptive state" (p. 1).Scouring multiple archives in the region, Laufer's inquiry into the 1941 movement reveals events that divulge not only the separatists' grievances and demands, differing greatly in nature from those of the contemporary movement (the 1941 movement was driven by the desire for an improvement, expanded road network, i.e. greater government involvement, while today's would-be separatists oftentimes echo the "government is bad" trope espoused by Tea Partiers throughout the US), but also the caricaturized nature of their campaign, evoking questions of the processes capable of so heavily altering a people's desires.The emphasis Laufer invests in the historical composite of the region is manna in understanding the worldview of the rugged individualists, painting a picture of the exposed reality of those who husband the dream of a State of Jefferson.In this facet, Laufer's lengthy, impressive background as a working journalist whose body of work transverses the globe, proffers a firm and panoptic insight that rewards the reader with a foundation that makes this book highly accessible.As a veteran journalist turned academic, Laufer is able to articulate broader understandings and perspectives.His previous work in such places as the US-Mexico border and the former Yugoslavia, as well as a lifetime of personal experience stateside, makes Laufer an ideal guide as he is able to characterize the Jefferson drama as a tale taking place in the rural frontier between two urbanized regions.While touching on more theoretical approaches to understanding Jefferson, Laufer makes evident his professionalism and tact as he grounds his