Oswald West
Encyclopedia
Oswald West was an American politician, a Democrat
, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon
. Called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook
, who described him as "by all odds the most brilliant governor Oregon ever had."
, Canada but moved to Salem, Oregon
with his family at the age of four where he attended school and eventually went into banking. After several years as a banker in Salem and Astoria
and a six month stint searching for gold in Alaska
, West gained an appointment as the State Land Agent
. He proved effective in his position, recovering almost 1 million acres (4,000 km²) of fraudulently held state land. In 1907 he left his position as Land Agent and was appointed to the Oregon Railroad Commission, where he again found a great deal of success.
, and take the office in 1911. While in office West defended what he called the Oregon System which included initiative
and referendum
systems still in use in many western American states today. Through these processes women's suffrage
, various workers rights laws and most infamously prohibition
all came into effect during West's administration. West established Oregon's beach highway law, which was intended to keep beaches undeveloped while allowing motor vehicles to use Oregon beaches between low and high tide. The law remains in effect on Oregon beaches, which were formally protected by Governor Tom McCall
in 1967. West is also credited with establishing Oregon's highway system.
He addressed a national convention of governors in New Jersey
in 1911, on the topic of prison labor.
In response to a "vice scandal
" that broke out in Portland in November 1912 surrounding the city's gay male subculture, West urged the state legislature to pass a sterilization law to penalize "sexual perverts" and "moral degenerates,"
which were defined as "those addicted to the practice of sodomy or the crime against nature, or to other gross, bestial and perverted sexual habits and practices prohibited by statute."
The legislation was subjected to a referendum and repealed by a vote of 56 percent to 44 in November 1913. However, the legislature passed a similar law in 1917, which West's successor, James Withycombe
, signed.
on New Year's Eve 1913 in order to shut down liquor-selling establishments in the town of Copperfield, Oregon
. He then dispatched National Guard
troops, chaperoned by his own personal secretary Fern Hobbs
on January 2, 1914 to enforce the order and shut down the saloons. The move made headlines across the country. When his "invasion" of the small town in Baker County
failed to garner local support he sought, (but failed) to void the town's incorporation citing that it was "in the hands of a lawless element." He also once declared that he wanted to "shoot a bartender."
Mayor George Palmer Putnam
criticized West in a New York Times interview shortly after the Copperfield affair. Putnam asserted that the Governor's theatrical methods, and his inordinate attention to the affairs of local communities, detracted from the governance and national image of the state as a whole.
West's time as governor is still felt in Oregon today because of his work to protect the state's natural resources. It was under his administration the beaches bordering the Pacific Ocean were protected for public use; the office of State Forester and the Bureau of Forestry
were established; and the Fish Commission and Game Commission
were created.
West served only one term, opting not to run for re-election in 1914. He instead moved his family to Portland
where he practiced law. He was the Democratic party's nominee for the United States Senate
in 1918, but lost to Charles L. McNary
. After the run he largely limited his involvement in politics to spirited letters to the editor but was an influential adviser to Governor Charles H. Martin in the 1930s. He retired from his law practice after suffering a heart attack in 1945. He died in Portland on August 22, 1960.
Oswald West State Park
on the Oregon Coast
is named in his honor.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon
Governor of Oregon
The Governor of Oregon is the top executive of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. territorial governments....
. Called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook
Stewart Holbrook
Stewart Hall Holbrook was an American lumberjack, writer, and popular historian. His writings focused on what he called the "Far Corner": Washington, Oregon, and Idaho...
, who described him as "by all odds the most brilliant governor Oregon ever had."
Early life and career
West was born in OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada but moved to Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
with his family at the age of four where he attended school and eventually went into banking. After several years as a banker in Salem and Astoria
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
and a six month stint searching for gold in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, West gained an appointment as the State Land Agent
Oregon Department of State Lands
The Department of State Lands , one of the oldest agencies of government of the U.S. state of Oregon, is principally responsible for the management of lands under state ownership, as its name implies. Unlike most other department-level state agencies, it is not headed by a sole elected official,...
. He proved effective in his position, recovering almost 1 million acres (4,000 km²) of fraudulently held state land. In 1907 he left his position as Land Agent and was appointed to the Oregon Railroad Commission, where he again found a great deal of success.
Governor of Oregon
In 1910 he gained the Democratic nomination for Governor and went on to defeat his opponent, Jay BowermanJay Bowerman
Jay Bowerman was an American politician, a Republican, who served most notably as the 13th Governor of Oregon.-Early life:Bowerman was born in Hesper, Iowa, the son of Daniel and Lydia Bowerman...
, and take the office in 1911. While in office West defended what he called the Oregon System which included initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
and referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
systems still in use in many western American states today. Through these processes women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
, various workers rights laws and most infamously prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
all came into effect during West's administration. West established Oregon's beach highway law, which was intended to keep beaches undeveloped while allowing motor vehicles to use Oregon beaches between low and high tide. The law remains in effect on Oregon beaches, which were formally protected by Governor Tom McCall
Tom McCall
Thomas Lawson McCall was an American politician and journalist in the state of Oregon. A Republican, he was the 30th Governor of Oregon from 1967 to 1975. A native of Massachusetts, he grew up there and in Central Oregon before attending the University of Oregon...
in 1967. West is also credited with establishing Oregon's highway system.
He addressed a national convention of governors in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1911, on the topic of prison labor.
In response to a "vice scandal
Portland vice scandal
The Portland vice scandal refers to the discovery in November 1912 of a gay male subculture in the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, following the arrest and interrogation of nineteen-year-old Benjamin Trout for shoplifting...
" that broke out in Portland in November 1912 surrounding the city's gay male subculture, West urged the state legislature to pass a sterilization law to penalize "sexual perverts" and "moral degenerates,"
which were defined as "those addicted to the practice of sodomy or the crime against nature, or to other gross, bestial and perverted sexual habits and practices prohibited by statute."
The legislation was subjected to a referendum and repealed by a vote of 56 percent to 44 in November 1913. However, the legislature passed a similar law in 1917, which West's successor, James Withycombe
James Withycombe
James Withycombe was a British-born American politician, a Republican, and the 15th Governor of Oregon. Prior to entering politics he was farmer and sheep rancher in the Tualatin Valley, leading to appointment as the state's veterinarian and then as head of what became the Oregon State University...
, signed.
Prohibition advocate
West was a fervent prohibitionist. He believed so strongly in the idea that he once declared martial lawMartial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
on New Year's Eve 1913 in order to shut down liquor-selling establishments in the town of Copperfield, Oregon
Copperfield, Oregon
Copperfield is a former town in Baker County, Oregon, United States, located on the west bank of the Snake River, near a place called The Oxbow.-Early history:...
. He then dispatched National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
troops, chaperoned by his own personal secretary Fern Hobbs
Fern Hobbs
Fern Hobbs was an American attorney in the U.S. state of Oregon, and a private secretary to Oregon Governor Oswald West...
on January 2, 1914 to enforce the order and shut down the saloons. The move made headlines across the country. When his "invasion" of the small town in Baker County
Baker County, Oregon
Baker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the 8 county definition of Eastern Oregon. It is named for Edward Dickinson Baker, a senator from Oregon who was killed at Ball's Bluff, a battle of the Civil War in Virginia in 1861. It was split from the eastern part...
failed to garner local support he sought, (but failed) to void the town's incorporation citing that it was "in the hands of a lawless element." He also once declared that he wanted to "shoot a bartender."
Reputation and legacy
BendBend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...
Mayor George Palmer Putnam
George Palmer Putnam
George Palmer Putnam was an important American book publisher.-Biography:Putnam was born in Brunswick, Maine. On moving to New York City, Putnam was given his first job by Jonathan Leavitt, who subsequently published Putnam's first book...
criticized West in a New York Times interview shortly after the Copperfield affair. Putnam asserted that the Governor's theatrical methods, and his inordinate attention to the affairs of local communities, detracted from the governance and national image of the state as a whole.
West's time as governor is still felt in Oregon today because of his work to protect the state's natural resources. It was under his administration the beaches bordering the Pacific Ocean were protected for public use; the office of State Forester and the Bureau of Forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
were established; and the Fish Commission and Game Commission
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats....
were created.
West served only one term, opting not to run for re-election in 1914. He instead moved his family to Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
where he practiced law. He was the Democratic party's nominee for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1918, but lost to Charles L. McNary
Charles L. McNary
Charles Linza McNary was a United States Republican politician from Oregon. He served in the Senate from 1917 to 1944, and was Senate Minority Leader from 1933 to 1944. In the Senate, McNary helped to pass legislation that led to the construction of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, and worked...
. After the run he largely limited his involvement in politics to spirited letters to the editor but was an influential adviser to Governor Charles H. Martin in the 1930s. He retired from his law practice after suffering a heart attack in 1945. He died in Portland on August 22, 1960.
Oswald West State Park
Oswald West State Park
Oswald West State Park is part of the state park system of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located about south of the city of Cannon Beach, on the Pacific Ocean. Oswald West has unique walk-in access, with wheelbarrows provided by the parks system for transporting gear from the parking area to the...
on the Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast
The Oregon Coast is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It runs generally north-south along the Pacific Ocean, forming the western border of the state; the region is bounded to the east by the Oregon Coast Range. The Oregon Coast stretches approximately from the Columbia River in the north to...
is named in his honor.