Why would Oregon residents voting with wheels join the rush to the Snake River Valley in Idaho? Quite simply, the seat of power in the Willamette Valley has increasingly disenfranchised those east of the Cascade Mountains. This isn’t anything new because they have long looked down on over-the-mountain folks.

In the early 1840s they made it clear that Blacks and other minorities were prohibited from settling in the Oregon territory, which was governed from the valley.

When Oregon statehood was applied for they emphatically stated that they didn’t want anything east of the Cascades, for it was fit only for “coyotes, rattlesnakes and hostile Indians.”

A hundred and sixty years later, we still have coyotes and rattlesnakes. As for hostile Indians, I couldn’t say, because the Native Americans I know all are peaceful.

The Greater Idaho movement is symptomatic of the growing rift between rural, urban, red and black states. As the disgruntled flee it’s of concern to us natives that they are bringing their issues with them.

Michael F. Hanley IV

Jordan Valley, Ore.