This region on the Pacific Coast is the most famous of several that have sought to adopt the name of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.
In 1941, the area became really close to becoming a state. They elected a governor, created a declaration of independence that they gave out to tourists and were making front covers in newspapers nation wide.
On December 8, 1941, a newsreel was scheduled to begin running nationwide describing the efforts. Most people think that Jefferson would've been successful in their statehood attempt. That is, until Japan attacked the US on December 7 of that same year.
If Japan had waited about a week to bomb Pearl Harbor, this state could’ve been born in the mountainous region of Northern California and Southern Oregon!
People in Jefferson and the nation focused their efforts on the war rather than the new state, and hence this crippled the movement.
