W. E. Smythe

Who is W. E. Smythe?

William Ellsworth Smythe, known as W.E. Smythe, 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, and in 1913 he joined in developing a similar venture in Tujunga, California. 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."