Joseph Nathan Teal (1858–1929) was a prominent attorney and civic leader in Portland, Oregon in the early 20th century. He was known as an advocate of waterway development in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. He served as the chair of the Oregon Conservation Commission under governors Frank Benson and

Oswald West Oswald West (May 20, 1873 – August 22, 1960) was an American politician, a Democrat, who served most notably as the 14th Governor of Oregon. He was called "Os West" by Oregon writer Stewart Holbrook, who described him as "by all odds the mo ...

. In 1909 he spoke at the first National Conservation Congress in Seattle. He served as the U.S. Shipping Commissioner in 1920-21. Teal was promoted as a candidate for

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

in 1913. He commissioned the statue " The Pioneer" in Eugene. His only child (as of 1919) was Ruth Josephine Teal, who married Carleton Walter Betts of Buffalo in 1919.

References

1858 births 1929 deaths Lawyers from Portland, Oregon Place of birth missing 19th-century American lawyers {{Oregon-bio-stub