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iv An Abstract of the Dissertation of Jeffrey Max LaLande for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History to be taken June 1993 Title: "IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE" IN OREGON: THE JACKSON COUNTY REBELLION, 1932-1933, AND ITS 1890s-1920s BACKGROUND Approved: Dr. Richard Maxwell Brown During the Great Depression, economic distress and social unrest gave rise to various populist political movements in the United States. In Jackson County, Oregon, discontented citizens, many of them from rural areas, joined an insurgent movement known as the "Good Government Congress." Under the charismatic leadership of a wealthy orchardist and newspaper publisher named Llewellyn Banks, who intended the Congress eventually to spread to state and national levels, the movement challenged the local urban elite for control of county government. The Good Government Congress used demagogic and inflammatory newspaper rhetoric, mass demonstrations, and economic boycott to
v mobilize support and to effect political change. The resulting turmoil during 1932-33, dubbed the "Jackson County Rebellion" by the besieged elite's most prominent spokesman, Pulitzer Prizewinning editor Robert Ruhl, included electoral fraud, personal intimidation, and violence. The rebellion, which gained pointed state, regional, and national attention, ended with the defeat of the insurgents. The outbreak may have helped inspire Sinclair Lewis's 1935 novel, It Can't Happen Here. During the height of the episode, opponents stressed the movement's "radical, 'Bolshevik'" nature; after its defeat, they emphasized its allegedly fascistic character. This study traces the Jackson County Rebellion by examining newspaper accounts, personal interviews, papers of major participants, official correspondence, criminal investigatory files, and trial transcripts. It demonstrates that the rebellion's roots actually lay in a forty-year-long local tradition of agrarian insurgency, which began with the People's party of the 1890s. The local Populists' powerful rural-based movement helped establish an enduring endemic tradition of "backcountry" resentment and political action directed at the local urban elite. Jackson County's powerful Ku Klux Klan movement of the early 1920s, which thrived on very similar populist and localist sentiments, was another major outbreak in this long-term tradition. The tumultuous Jackson County Rebellion of the 1930s was the insurgency's final and most dramatic episode.
Page 1 and 2: "IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE" IN OREGON: T
Page 3: Copyright 1993 Jeffrey Max LaLande
Page 7 and 8: vii AWARDS AND HONORS: Several Cert
Page 9 and 10: ix Baril, John Billings, Todd Carne
Page 11 and 12: xi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I
Page 13 and 14: xiii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.
Page 15 and 16: observer of American politics, woul
Page 17 and 18: 4 Dorothy Thompson, returned from h
Page 19 and 20: 6 establishment. This insurgent cru
Page 21 and 22: 8 CHAPTER II INSURGENT DECADE, 1890
Page 23 and 24: 10 political primacy to Jackson Cou
Page 25 and 26: 12 Jackson County on the Eve of the
Page 27 and 28: 14 norm; wheat dominated the annual
Page 29 and 30: 16 Democratic Times, dominated the
Page 31 and 32: the railroad in 1887 was a potentia
Page 33 and 34: caught in a web of mortgage debt, h
Page 35 and 36: During the late 1880s and early 189
Page 37 and 38: 24 January. Subsequent flooding bro
Page 39 and 40: 26 Six "sub-alliances" or local cha
Page 41 and 42: 28 rings." The Demands, admitting t
Page 43 and 44: 30 Who were Jackson County's leadin
Page 45 and 46: 32 very common among local Alliance
Page 47 and 48: 34 local People's party activities
Page 49 and 50: after wagon load" of expectant peop
Page 51 and 52: 38 at Jacksonville will be exposed
Page 53 and 54: 40 courthouse to a number of Populi
Page 55 and 56:
42 limited and contradictory. When,
Page 57 and 58:
44 rates for most county positions.
Page 59 and 60:
46 Populism in 1894. Not obtaining
Page 61 and 62:
48 Association, a national anti-Cat
Page 63 and 64:
50 With the Regular Populists field
Page 65 and 66:
52 volatile situation that reached
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dependence on wheat cultivation beg
Page 69 and 70:
56 years later. Boasting sixteen fr
Page 71 and 72:
58 By 1915, Jackson County exhibite
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60 led to a sudden drop in values.
Page 75 and 76:
62 competing political groups, and
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64 Jackson County voters focused on
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66 added strength to anti-alcohol f
Page 81 and 82:
68 history professor Joseph Schafer
Page 83 and 84:
70 Coming from the pen of a close o
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civil servants--burgeoned in Medfor
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74 inducted at the first meeting.29
Page 89 and 90:
76 the stage was set for a rigorous
Page 91 and 92:
78 Although rarely mentioned in the
Page 93 and 94:
80 The county experienced further n
Page 95 and 96:
82 the ultra-mountain [sic] element
Page 97 and 98:
84 Phipps, Evan Reames, and E. E. K
Page 99 and 100:
86 The I.A.V.L. lost badly to the "
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88 venerable courthouse.50 Assistan
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90 After attempting to boost declin
Page 105 and 106:
Workers of the World, had drifted i
Page 107 and 108:
94 CHAPTER IV THE DEPRESSION AND NE
Page 109 and 110:
96 a "good trip... [in the] aeropla
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98 wrote to her prospective daughte
Page 113 and 114:
100 Valley orchardists faced a simi
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102 Jackson County's long-time repr
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104 mid-July of 1931, the Medford P
Page 119 and 120:
106 newspaperman when beginning the
Page 121 and 122:
108 mired in other debts, signed hi
Page 123 and 124:
ecalled, "He was a good fellow, we
Page 125 and 126:
112 farmers' marketing cooperatives
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It is probable that, as a young sal
Page 129 and 130:
116 Like many commentators during t
Page 131 and 132:
our free America, in defense of our
Page 133 and 134:
120 had hurled at Medford elite sin
Page 135 and 136:
122 way of Llewellyn Banks' flare a
Page 137 and 138:
124 rampant corruption, Fehl often
Page 139 and 140:
sponsorship of "parity" (in the for
Page 141 and 142:
128 Earl Fehl very nearly won the r
Page 143 and 144:
130 warning of a Bar Association co
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132 financially by 1931. He inflate
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134 courthouse's formal dedication
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13 6 green and orchard blooms color
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up in [the penitentiary at] Salem i
Page 153 and 154:
140 Robert Ruhl, alarmed by the res
Page 155 and 156:
142 Although Ruhl feared Jackson Co
Page 157 and 158:
144 and the editor would soon becom
Page 159 and 160:
146 advantage from the crowded fiel
Page 161 and 162:
148 To the Trenches: Courthouse Sta
Page 163 and 164:
150 receiving wages. Banks occasion
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152 night during the height of the
Page 167 and 168:
154 records," which new Sheriff Sch
Page 169 and 170:
156 reportedly shouted "hang them..
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158 4,000 for Jennings belied the g
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160 of our great Democracy." 4 1 A
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huge cannery, and state-run banks p
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164 them let me alone and stand bac
Page 179 and 180:
166 CHAPTER VI MEN AND WOMEN OF THE
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168 "A Bunch of Bolsheviks and Hill
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170 only if one considers old Popul
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172 and of the Ashland Gang, becaus
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174 with anti-G.G.C. associations)
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176 lumberman) tallied at 7 percent
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178 astonishment) the fact that one
Page 193 and 194:
180 the... County Gang which has co
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182 mid-January. When they challeng
Page 197 and 198:
184 "which brought a great many peo
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186 dominated intermediate-zone's "
Page 201 and 202:
188 L. M. Sweet lived in the area o
Page 203 and 204:
190 George Obenchain resided on a s
Page 205 and 206:
192 uncertain. The couple lived bri
Page 207 and 208:
194 hinterland participated openly,
Page 209 and 210:
196 CHAPTER VII "I WILL TAKE THE FI
Page 211 and 212:
198 loyalty of followers. Banks pra
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200 extralegal measures as necessar
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amount of trips made back and forth
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204 ballots. 14 The February 20 Goo
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"hauling away those damn ballots so
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without any word of support from hi
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210 themselves visibly at the jail.
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212 Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, sta
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214 the publisher with additional w
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216 Prescott expressed to O'Brien h
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218 and another to the head of the
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220 teargas assault of the house wh
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investigation of the Jackson County
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224 experienced a "stormy career,"
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226 Oregonian blamed Llewellyn Bank
Page 241 and 242:
228 Dave Gould of Medford, complain
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230 man," told Ruhl that he was "fo
Page 245 and 246:
232 character witness against realt
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encouragement and, on Good Friday,
Page 249 and 250:
236 the Banks trial, was a veteran
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poor, and opened windows meant that
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witness to the morning of March 16
Page 255 and 256:
242 conduct"; Martin's horsewhip wa
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244 are lying!" at one pro-G.G.C. d
Page 259 and 260:
246 other participants penalties ra
Page 261 and 262:
248 freely." The Johnston family, w
Page 263 and 264:
250 possibly Victor Birdseye." 5 1
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252 received word about the content
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254 into factions, shared a consens
Page 269 and 270:
256 in southern Oregon with the Tri
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the contrary, the Pulitzer jury reg
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localistic pique that the often inf
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262 Rebellion. Ruhl chastised his c
Page 277 and 278:
264 CHAPTER IX THE NEW DEAL AND AFT
Page 279 and 280:
and secured government loans for th
Page 281 and 282:
268 First as Tragedy, And Then as F
Page 283 and 284:
agricultural policies, Banks asked
Page 285 and 286:
272 forever. 18 Meier indicated som
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274 Pomeroy's pardon effort evident
Page 289 and 290:
During 1935, Banks attracted furthe
Page 291 and 292:
Pomeroy remained Banks' steadfast l
Page 293 and 294:
attorney's office of forcing perjur
Page 295 and 296:
282 wrote to his parole officer in
Page 297 and 298:
consistently unsuccessful legal pro
Page 299 and 300:
286 anger among many of the region'
Page 301 and 302:
288 missed beating Roosevelt by onl
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free herself from its deadly coils"
Page 305 and 306:
292 CHAPTER X "IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE
Page 307 and 308:
The core concept underlying the cat
Page 309 and 310:
296 Fascism, Populism, and Demagogy
Page 311 and 312:
298 contemporary American figures,
Page 313 and 314:
300 like an old People's party man,
Page 315 and 316:
302 intimidation. Banks sincerely e
Page 317 and 318:
304 disturbances in places such as
Page 319 and 320:
306 defense of local community and
Page 321 and 322:
308 citizens, a powerful anti-elite
Page 323 and 324:
310 to the Populist crusade. Willia
Page 325 and 326:
312 People's party clubs, building
Page 327 and 328:
314 spanned by a few bridges betwee
Page 329 and 330:
316 example, historian Robert Dykst
Page 331 and 332:
318 of the Jackson County Insurgenc
Page 333 and 334:
320 the authoritarian theme should
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322 EPILOGUE Following the defeat o
Page 337 and 338:
324 commissioner, who had been one
Page 339 and 340:
326 variety of officials, from scho
Page 341 and 342:
328 orchardist's son interviewed in
Page 343 and 344:
330 Rogue River National Forest. Hi
Page 345 and 346:
332 Secondary Sources: Books. Artic
Page 347 and 348:
334 . The Populist Moment: A Short
Page 349 and 350:
Lowitt, Richard. The New Deal and t
Page 351 and 352:
Schorer, Mark. Sinclair Lewis: An A
Page 353 and 354:
340 Clark, Malcolm, Jr. "The Bigot
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