Background
Watson was previously an MP with the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. He had increasing difficulty making a living on his 1,200-acre (4.9 km2) tobacco farm in rural Nash County, North Carolina, which had been in his family for five generations. Watson blamed federal tobacco policies for his difficulties, and was said to have engaged in hour-long harangues on this issue at such places as the local grocery store. In 1999, Watson reportedly made his first protest visit to D.C. with his tractor, but left after driving around the city for a while without incident. Following a drought in his state and the cutting of his crop quota by half, Watson finally decided that he was incapable of affording the farm and again drove to D.C. the second weekend of March 2003.
Read more about this topic: Dwight Watson
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