Remembering the first female mayor of Troutdale, Oregon

110 years ago, voters elected part-Indigenous community activist Clara Latourell Larsson as Oregon’s second female mayor — just one year after women achieved the right to vote statewide.
Troutdale is known today as the gateway to the Columbia River Gorge, a quaint city marking for passersby where the Portland metro ends and the great outdoors begin.

Stop at Mayors Square in its historic downtown, however, and Troutdale’s little-known feminist past is plainly and proudly visible. Gazing across the city is a life-size bronze monument in honor of former mayor Clara Latourell Larsson.