12 Facts About Oswald West

Oswald West was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon.

Oswald West proved effective in his position, recovering almost 1 million acres of fraudulently held state land.

In 1907, Oswald West left his position as Land Agent and was appointed to the Oregon Railroad Commission, where he again found a great deal of success.

Oswald West established Oregon's beach highway law, proclaiming the entire Pacific coastline to the high tide line to be a public highway, thereby preserving scenery and beach access for future generations.

Oswald West is credited with establishing Oregon's highway system, when in 1913 the Oregon Highway Commission was created by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, levying a tax upon all property to fund the establishment of a state roadway system.

Oswald West addressed a national convention of governors in New Jersey in 1911, on the topic of prison labor.

Oswald West believed so strongly in the idea that he once declared martial law on New Year's Eve 1913 in order to shut down liquor-selling establishments in the town of Copperfield, Oregon.

Oswald West 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.

Oswald West served only one term, opting not to run for re-election in 1914.

Oswald West was the Democratic party's nominee for the United States Senate in 1918, but lost to Charles L McNary.

Oswald West retired from his law practice after suffering a heart attack in 1945.

Oswald West died in Portland on August 22,1960, and is buried in the Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum in Salem, Oregon.