Doug Bartelme, age 13, of El Paso, Texas, for his question:

DID SOME TRY TO ESTABLISH THE STATE OF JEFFERSON?

In 1915, it was proposed by a group of people in the Texas legislature that a separate state be made of the Panhandle, or northwestern part of the state. This new state was to be known as the State of Jefferson.

The proposal was discussed but did not become law.

Discussion of this State of Jefferson proposal disclosed that the law which admitted Texas to the Union gave the state the right to divide itself.

At one time there was also a Jefferson Territory. This covered the present state of Colorado and parts of Kansas, Nebraska, Utah and New Mexico. Thousands of Americans rushed into this area in 1858 and 1859 because of rumors of gold discoveries.

In 1858, a group of miners established a provisional government, elected Robert Steele as governor, wrote a constitution and sent a delegate to Congress requesting recognition of the Jefferson Territory.

Congress failed to grant the request, but the provisional government continued to operate until 1861, when Congress created the Colorado Territory.