The rural residents of Oregon’s vast southeast rangeland may not be too happy about out-of-state militants taking over a wildlife refuge, but it’s not the first time people have taken their unhappiness with government into their own hands.

In an article in the online edition of Time, UO history instructor Steven Beda chronicles a previous effort dating back to the 1940s, when residents of Southern Oregon and Northern California took over Highway 99 in an effort to carve out a new state of Jefferson. Although their attempt at succession was not successful, it showed that people in the region share a belief that they have been forgotten by government policymakers, at least until they do something drastic.

“The thing that’s troubling about events like the seizure of Highway 99 in 1941, or the occupation of Malheur today, is that rural people don’t get heard until there’s a spectacle,” Beda writes. “And then the story becomes the spectacle, and spectacle is easily dismissed. But beneath these past and present spectacles are some real issues that require attention.”

For the full story, see “This Isn’t the First Time Armed Ranchers Have Seized Government Land in Oregon” at Time.com.