Absaroka was a proposed state in the United States that would have comprised parts of the states of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming, which contemplated secession in 1939. The movement began in 1935, during the Great Depression, as a form of protest against their respective state governments, who were criticized for failing to provide New Deal federal aid to rural ranchers and farmers.
A. R. Swickard, a local street commissioner, served as a leader of the movement and later declared himself governor. Swickard hosted a series of public hearings regarding grievances levied against the Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming state governments, receiving substantial media coverage and prompting the respective governments to act. This led to broader distribution of federal aid to rural regions, resulting in the secessionist movement dying out by the start of World War II. It has been debated whether the movement was a serious attempt to form a new state.
Background
In 1933, the New Deal was signed into law during the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency. This legislation was designed to alleviate the economic downturn resultant from the Great Depression. This legislation was generally considered favorable amongst the citizens of southern Wyoming, resulting in Joseph C. O'Mahoney and other Democrats winning elections in the State and Federal elections, ultimately resulting in Wyoming's legislature being controlled by the Democratic Party. Residents of rural Northern Wyoming, as well as Southern Montana and Western South Dakota, felt discontent with the lack of federal aid they were receiving, believing that the more urban parts of their respective states were being prioritized by the New Deal. In these meetings, complainants from Wyoming would claim "All of the state money and attention goes to the southern part of the state",
Residents of Wyoming were particularly upset by the Democratic control of the state legislature, believing that their needs were being ignored, and the state was too focused on the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. Indeed, historian Watson Parker has linked the Absaroka movement, in terms of economic and geographic identity, back to an 1870s attempt to form a Black Hills-based territory out of three adjacent existing territories.
The name "Absaroka" is derived from the Hidatsa name for the Crow people, meaning "children of the large-beaked bird" and shares a similar name to the nearby Absaroka Range. Swickard also met with the Governor of Wyoming, Nels H. Smith, on May 12, 1939, to discuss the formation of a new state.
Around this time, Samuel W. King, a congressional representative for the Hawaii territory, stated during a session of Congress, "Hawaii is entitled by prior claim to be the 49th state. Let Absaroka be the 50th but Hawaii has claim to the 49th!" These hearings led to increased media attention on the secessionist movement and its criticisms of the state government, prompting Wyoming, South Dakota, and Montana to spread state revenues more broadly to rural communities. This effort, ultimately, rendered the secessionist movement largely defunct by the end of 1939. The secessionists' activities ceased entirely following the onset of World War II and were largely considered forgotten by the time of the Eisenhower presidency. and at one point contained 10 Wyoming counties, 4 Montana counties, and 12 South Dakota counties. It has also been proposed that the movement was a "fun way for cowboys to distract themselves during tough economic times".
Gallery
<gallery class="center" widths="200" heights="200">
File:Miss Absaroka contestants.jpg|Miss Absaroka contestants holding the 1939 license plates.
File:King of Norway with A.R. Swickard.jpg|Postcard of the King of Norway with A. R. Swickard.
File:Dorothy Fellows, Miss Absaroka.webp|Dorothy Fellows, Miss Absaroka (left), A. R. Swickard (middle), and Esther Aspaas (right), holding the proposed Absaroka state flag.
File:Absarokan Declaration of Statehood.png|alt=Absarokan Decleration of Statehood from A. R. Swickard to Tom Davis of Rotary International|A. R. Swickard inviting Tom Davis of Rotary International to host their annual convention in Sheridan.
</gallery>
See also
- List of U.S. state partition proposals
- Historical regions of the United States