The Journal of Negro History, Volume 8, 1923Various
History
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 8, 1923
Various
African Americans -- Periodicals
The character that made him face the privations of immigration
ingratiated him with his companions. There was an unwritten law
in Oregon at that time that no colored people should be allowed
to settle in that territory. When the group of which Bush was a
member approached the Columbia river country and learned of the
rule it was decided that if any one attempted to molest Bush all
of the members of the company would fight to protect him.
The practice in Oregon was to whip the colored man and if he left
after the whipping it was all right and nothing further was done,
but if he did not take advantage of the opportunity to escape he
was whipped again and again until he either left or died.
There is not any record of an attempt being made to molest Bush,
who, with his companions, stayed at the Dalles for several months
and later at Washougal at the mouth of the Cowlitz. The following
year--1845--they came on to Puget Sound and settled at the head of
Budds Inlet at the falls of the DesChutes and founded the town of
New Market, now Tumwater.
Those who made up this party were Michael T. Simmons, James
McAllister, David Kindred, Gabriel Jones and Bush. The latter
decided not to settle right in Tumwater and went back onto the
prairie land about four miles and took up a donation claim of 640
acres. It was on that claim that the prize wheat was grown by his
oldest son thirty-two years later. There on that claim Bush died
in 1863, while the great war for the freedom of his race was being
waged. His widow followed him two years later.
Of their six sons, the state has heard a great deal. The eldest,
W. O. Bush, was born before the couple left Missouri on their
way west, and got the hard training of the pioneer. He took to
farming and that he worked the prairie land where his father
had settled for all it was worth is shown by the crop he took to
Philadelphia. The soil of that section is a black sandy loam on
a gravel base. The soil is not too thick in some parts and has a
tendency to drain, particularly during the hot, dry summer.
Shortly after the formation of the state Bush was elected a member
of the legislature and served two terms during 1890 and 1892. His
record in the law-making body was an honorable one and that he was
highly respected by the people of Thurston county was shown when
they sent him to the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 to look after
the county's agricultural exhibit.
CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF WILBERFORCE
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