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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
Enrolled
House Resolution 1
Sponsored by Representative GOMBERG; Representative NELSON
Whereas Louis Southworth was born into slavery in Tennessee on July 4, 1830; and
Whereas Louis Southworth and his mother, Pauline, were brought to Oregon in 1853 by their
owner, James Southworth, during a time in the state’s history when Black people were not allowed
to settle on their own; and
Whereas Louis Southworth was an avid hunter and a skilled marksman who built his own rifle,
which he used to hunt deer, elk and bear, and later employed in the service of Colonel John Kelsay’s
Second Regiment volunteers in the Rogue River Wars around 1856; and
Whereas Louis Southworth was a man of tremendous spirit and industriousness, an accom-
plished gold prospector and a talented fiddler; and
Whereas by 1858, Louis Southworth had earned the $1,000 (nearly $38,500 in 2024) necessary to
purchase his freedom by prospecting in southern Oregon and northern California and playing the
fiddle at dance schools in Yreka, California; and
Whereas by 1870, Louis Southworth, as a free man, returned to Oregon and took up residence
in Buena Vista, purchasing land and opening a blacksmith shop and livery stable; and
Whereas on June 16, 1873, Louis Southworth married Mary Cooper in Salem, and became the
stepfather to her adopted son, Alvin McCleary, soon learning to read and write at the same school
that Alvin attended; and
Whereas in 1879, Louis Southworth built a homestead on the upper Alsea Bay just outside of
Waldport, where he quickly became an integral and beloved part of the community, operating a ferry
on the Alsea River and playing his fiddle at civic events; and
Whereas from 1880 to 1885, Louis Southworth worked tirelessly to improve his family home-
stead, utilizing animal power and a wooden plough to cultivate the land at the indefatigable pace
of 10 to 12 acres per year; and
Whereas Louis Southworth had tremendous respect for education, generously donating half an
acre of his family homestead for Waldport’s first school and serving on the school’s board; and
Whereas Louis Southworth proudly and infamously rowed across Alsea Bay in a storm to cast
his vote in the election of 1880; and
Whereas Louis Southworth lived in Oregon during a period in which the state’s exclusion laws
made it nearly impossible for Black Oregonians to thrive, but after achieving his freedom, he built
a life of prosperity for his family that would not have been possible during his days of servitude;
and
Whereas after Louis Southworth passed away on June 28, 1917, he was buried at the Crystal
Lake Cemetery in Corvallis, where the epitaph on his gravestone read: “A bit of heaven’s music here
below”; and
Whereas on November 19, 2022, the city of Waldport dedicated to Louis Southworth’s memory
a bronze statue depicting him playing his beloved fiddle, and in 2023 it was put on display at the
Historic Alsea Bay Interpretive Center, where it will remain until it can be moved to its final home
in Louis Southworth Park, further celebrating his joyful spirit and cementing his unique importance
to the community of Waldport and the history of the State of Oregon; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Oregon:
Enrolled House Resolution 1 (HR 1-INTRO)Page 1
That we, the members of the House of Representatives of the Eighty-third Legislative Assembly,
recognize and honor Louis Southworth for his industriousness, his perseverance in the face of ad-
versity and his remarkable contributions to the State of Oregon.
Adopted by House March 13, 2025
Timothy G. Sekerak, Chief Clerk of House
Julie Fahey, Speaker of House
Enrolled House Resolution 1 (HR 1-INTRO) Page 2