William Ellsworth Smythe, known as W. E. Smythe (1861–1922), was a journalist, writer and founder of the Little Landers movement, which aimed to settle small suburban lots with people who would farm their own properties, live off the land and sell or trade the surplus for needed income. In 1908 he set up such a colony in the Tijuana River valley (now San Ysidro, California), and in 1913 he joined in developing a similar venture in Tujunga, California.[1] Smythe described the basic structure of the Little Land philosophy as colonies that "would provide low priced land, a public irrigation system and a cooperative market for the colony's products."[2][need quotation to verify]
- ^ Joe Stone, in a 1959 San Diego Tribune article cited in "William Ellsworth Smythe (1861–1922)", San Diego History Center website
- ^ Brown, Dona (2011). Back to the Land: The Enduring Dream of Self-Sufficiency in Modern America. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0299250744.