Admission to Union (Not admitted) Time zone Mountain: UTC-7/-6 Capital Sheridan | U.S. House delegation List Area 162,651 km² | |
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Largest city Rapid City, South Dakota Population Ranked 51st of 51 (hypothetical) | ||
Absaroka, (pronounced ab-SOR-o-ka), from the Crow word meaning “children of the large-beaked bird", named after the Absaroka Range, was an area in the United States, comprising parts of the states of Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming, that contemplated secession and statehood in 1939. The region's complaints came from ranchers and independent farmers in remote parts of the three states, who resented the New Deal and Democratic control of state governments, especially the government of Wyoming. One of the leaders of the secessionist movement was A. R. Swickard, the street commissioner of Sheridan, Wyoming, who appointed himself "governor" and started hearing grievances in the "capital" of Sheridan.
In a craze for state secession felt by the public, state automobile license plates bearing the name were distributed, as well as pictures of "Miss Absaroka 1939".
The movement was unsuccessful and fairly short-lived. The chief record of its existence comes from the Federal Writers' Project, which included a story about the plan as an example of Western eccentricity.