| Scott Leavitt | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Montana's 2nd district |
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| In office 1923-1933 |
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| Preceded by | Carl W. Riddick |
| Succeeded by | Roy E. Ayers |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 June 1879 Elk Rapids, Michigan |
| Died | 19 October 1966 (aged 87) Newberg, Oregon |
| Political party | Republican |
| Profession | school principal, Forest Service ranger |
| Religion | Protestant |
Scott Leavitt (16 June 1879 – 19 October 1966) was a U.S. Representative from Montana. He served as chairman of the House Committee on Indian Affairs.
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Scott Leavitt was born in Elk Rapids, Michigan in 1879 to Roswell Leavitt, an attorney, member of the Maine House of Representatives and later Michigan State Senator, a native of Turner, Maine, where he enlisted in the 17th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and his wife Anna C. (Lawrence) Leavitt.[1] Scott Leavitt moved with his parents in 1881 to Bellaire, Michigan, where his father Roswell served as prosecuting attorney and circuit court commissioner.[2]
Scott Leavitt attended the public schools and while in high school enlisted in the Thirty-third Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish-American War. Leavitt served in the campaign at Santiago, Cuba during the war. After the war he attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He subsequently moved to Oregon in 1901 and began homesteading in the Coast Range Mountains near Falls City. There he worked as a school principal in the communities of Falls City, North Yamhill, Dayton, and Lakeview, Oregon from 1901 to 1907. In 1907 Leavitt entered the United States Forest Service as a ranger at the Fremont National Forest in Oregon. He later served in Minnesota and Montana until 1917.
Leavitt was elected as a Republican from Montana to the Sixty-eighth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1923-March 3, 1933). He served as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs (Sixty-ninth through Seventy-first Congresses).
On March 5, 1932, Leavitt took to the floor of the House to deliver a eulogy to Indian Chief Plenty Coups. "I have chosen to announce the passing of one who has graced the history of my state of Montana," said Leavitt on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Leavitt was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1932 to the Seventy-third Congress and for election in 1934 to the United States Senate. In 1932, Leavitt served as delegate to the Republican National Convention. He again became connected with the Forest Service at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1935. Then from 1936 to 1937, he was Commander-in-chief of the United Spanish War Veterans.
He retired from the Forest Service in 1941 and moved to Newberg, Oregon, where Scott Leavitt died on October 19, 1966. He was interred in Willamette National Cemetery near Portland, Oregon. Scott Leavitt Park in Newberg is named for the Congressman and Forest Ranger.
| United States House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by Carl W. Riddick |
United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Montana 1923–1933 |
Succeeded by Roy E. Ayers |
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