"No more fatuous chimera has ever infested the brain than that you can control opinions by law or direct belief by statute, and no more pernicious sentiment ever tormented the heart than the barbarous desire to do so. The field of inquiry should remain open, and the right of debate must be regarded as a sacred right."
-William E. Borah
The Governors were in agreement and on the 20th of July they declared their independence from Washington. In the bitterly contested election in August William Edgar Borah, the Lion of Idaho, beat popular Colorado Governor by 200, 000 votes. Borah's experience in Washington was widely viewed as a major factor in his victory over the younger Governor.
Voters weren't the only ones who wanted Borah. During his time in the Senate, Borah had argued often for neutrality and friendship towards the Soviet State. While some modern historians contend that Borah was a “useful idiot” for Stalin, many viewed his stances as principled at the time. The Soviet Union was so impressed with Borah that American citizens could get permission to travel within the USSR with only a letter from Borah.
These early contacts between the old world and the new were not enough to bring the great Liberal to throw his lot in with Stalin. Instead this was brought about by a strange series of border skirmishes between the South Dakotan militia and the Intermountain Federation coupled with the mysterious assassination of foreign minister Nels H. Smith after an unsuccessful boundary commission meeting with his counterparts from Desert . Beset on both sides by countries with claims on his new Federation, Borah began looking for friends.
The Canadian Government, possibly the best option had things gone a little differently, was unable to help. The Government had to flee Ottawa for Regina after members of the Silver Legion, a fascist paramilitary organization with links to the Great Lakes Republic, seized parliament. With Quebec and Ontario gone and its position in the west shaky, Canada had no desire to come into on behalf of the Intermountain Federation. The United States, of course, didn't recognize Borah's government and couldn't offer any assistance even if it did. Borah turned his eyes towards gaining assistance from the Soviets.
The Government of the Intermountain Federation in 1938
Though the Soviet Union was too consumed by its African campaign to send troops, it did arrange for the transfer of captured French and British armaments to Borah. This was only enough to further radicalize internal opposition and embolden the foreign opponents of Borah's government. The Militia of South Dakota, composed of many adherents of the Silver Legion, launched a full scale offensive into Montana. Whether this was part of an attempt by Ford to reunify the United States under his rulership or the actions of a few patriots who saw Borah as a Bolshevik is not clear. But the threat was very real.
Borah pleaded with the Soviets to send more substantial military aid and advisors. While the Soviet Union didn't wish to get bogged down in the politics of North America it also didn't want to see Ford gain more territory at the expense of Borah. In a clandestine meeting in Winnipeg Borah was offered a deal. If he would allow communists loyal to Moscow into his cabinet and appoint a socialist Prime Minister, the Soviets would move heaven and earth to preserve a “free rockies.”
While Borah's choice is still controversial, especially to those who lost family members in the purges that Boyle would initiate or the victims of Trumbo's prison system, it was not irrational. Declassified archives of the state of Desert reveal that the Mormon state was in secret talks to divide the rockies with Cascadia and “other parties.” Borah chose to keep the Federation alive but at the cost of its soul. It was a Faustian bargain that Borah would live to regret.
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A Lion Among the Liberals: Senator William Edgar Borah and the rise of the Intermountain Federation Kevin C. Murphy