Secession

[W. Gray]

With all the sesesh talk on the forum lately, I cut and pasted from an old thread I posted a couple years ago.


Does anyone remember the last act of secession to occur in the United States? In the overall scheme of things, it happened only recently 150 miles from Elk County.

On April 9, 1961, McDonald County in southwest Missouri notified the capitol at Jefferson City the county was seceding from the state.  At first, citizens in the sparsely settled area drafted a petition to the state government asking McDonald County be given back to the Indians.  But then they determined secession was their best recourse.

Residents of McDonald County (which incidentally has an Elk River) were hopping mad at the state believing they were in danger of losing their livelihood.  These people were not militia types but were dedicated in what they were doing.  Most everyone, however, believed they were joking. That is, until the situation got out of hand and the federal government decided to step in.

About fifty agitators met in Noel, Missouri, and created a provisional entity out of the county land area renaming it McDonald Territory.  They elected Z.L. McGowan president of the provisional territorial government.

The provisional government discussed asking Arkansas to annex the territory.  An idea seemingly welcomed by Orval Faubus, Arkansas governor.  However, no one could tell if Faubus was serious or only wanted to rankle the Missouri government.  Also discussed was joining with next door Delaware County, Oklahoma, to ask for admission to the union as the 51st state. Delaware County apparently went along for the publicity.

By April 11, 1961, McDonald Territory began issuing passports and national identity cards to its citizens.

Quickly after that, the provisional government set up a process to issue visas to non-citizens. They then made visas a requirement for getting into the new Territory.

A 300-man territorial border patrol was set up checking motorists coming into the territory.  People who were not Territorial citizens or did not have the necessary visas were provided with one.  This made big news and I recall watching the story on the NBC nightly news.  A news clip showed a highway into McDonald Territory with a typical border guard house and an up and down movable barrier to stop traffic.  Cars were backed up at highway entrances.  I also recall shotguns were carried by the guards.   These events caused a sensation and the secession became international news.

Next the provisional government began printing its own 2 cent postage stamps [US postage was 2 cents at the time].  They also started minting their own wooden coins.

Next the provisional government asked the United Nations for $4 billion in aid.

At this point the federal government stepped in and advised the foolishness had to stop.  The state of Missouri followed by issuing a proclamation rejecting the secession.

********

So why were these folks so agitated?

Trouble began when McDonald County with its principal but tiny towns of Noel, Pineville, and Southwest City were left off a family vacation guide printed on the back of the official 1961 Missouri state highway map.  The area had very little population but was an Ozark mountain resort area with river rafting a popular attraction.

After McDonald County complained to the Missouri highway department about the omission, the department refused to apologize for any error.  The department then added insult to injury by saying the omission was actually intentional because the area was just not developed enough to justify inclusion on an official map.  Inhabitants became outraged at this intentional slight since tourism was their principal income.  Additionally, Pineville thought itself important enough in its own right because it had been the shooting location for the 20th Century Fox 1938 motion picture, Jesse James, starring Henry Fonda and Randolph Scott.  It still uses that event in advertising.

Wheels were set in motion for secession and the events that were to follow.

McDonald County and its main towns were back on the map the following year.

[Diane Amberg]

Believe it or not, the only reason I remember anything about that was because it was on a current events pop quiz given by my history teacher, Earl Knorr. He demanded that we see the news and read the newspaper every day and he was known for his pop quizzes.

[W. Gray]

For some reason, the even has always stuck in my mind.

I wonder if they still have teachers like that?

[Jo McDonald]

We would hope so, but I doubt it, don't you?  I remember having to have a current event to recite every Friday morning, in grade school and we would scan the Wichita Beacon ( as it was known then) for something really interesting.

  I still love to read the newspapers.

[pamsback]

  I found this interesting! I live in McDonald County LOL Guess that is part of what people meant when we said we were buyin here and people said "those people in McDonald county are kind of different" lol. I'm gonna have to research this some more

Pineville still has Jesse James Days every summer and they show the movie as part of the celebration and campgrounds and canoe trips are still big business although the drought two years ago bout put everybody under cause the rivers were drying up before it finally rained.

[W. Gray]

Carol (aka Nana02) also mentioned she had lived in McDonald County at Pineville for the past 25 years. She spent her childhood in Longton.

[redcliffsw]

Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie is buried nearby Southwest City in a cemetery on the Oklahoma side.
General Watie was the highest ranking Cherokee to serve the CSA.

[W. Gray]

He was not only the highest ranking Cherokee; he was the highest ranking Indian to serve for the South.

He is buried in Delaware County, Oklahoma, which was named after the Delaware Tribe.

Indians fighting on both sides during the Civil War does not seem to be a familiar topic to many people.

[redcliffsw]

There's a Robert Divine buried in Howard Cemetery who served
in the Cherokee Regiment I.T., CSA commanded by General Stand Watie.
This info was from a Devine in Tennessee.

[Diane Amberg]

Were they recruited to fight in similar ways that the blacks were? I know in some cases slaves went because the black owner/soldier took them with them, and some were told they could earn their freedom if they fought for the south. I'm not being judgemental, I just find the history interesting.