The State That Never Was...!

Starting shortly after the Civil War, there were many folks that wanted to start their own states. Even today, there are many that toy with the idea of doing that very thing!

Today we are going to look at only one such place. Probably one of the most interesting of the "wanna be states"!

Absaroka

Often called the “state that never was,” Absaroka grew out of the political discontent of the Great Depression. The statehood movement first began in 1939 in Sheridan, Wyoming. Frustrated with the U.S. government—and in particular the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt—a group of politicians and businessmen led by a former baseball player named A.R. Swickard hatched a plan to create a new state they called Absaroka. The would-be state included large swaths of Wyoming, *-++++Montana and South Dakota, and encompassed famous landmarks such as the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. Swickard soon appointed himself governor and began hearing grievances from the “citizens” of his state. To garner support, he distributed Absaroka license plates and photos of the first (and last) Miss Absaroka.

Despite its initial popularity, the statehood movement’s novelty quickly wore off, and an official proposal for secession was never drafted. The story survives today largely thanks to the Federal Writers’ Project—ironically, one of FDR’s New Deal programs—which chronicled the Absaroka phenomenon while compiling travel guides to the American West.

There were another 4 "would be" states on this list! You can read about them right here!

Let's have our coffee on the patio this morning. Weather isn't too bad yet!