George Washington Bush

February 9, 2009

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Profile America for the ninth day of Black History Month. One of the pioneers who moved West in 1844 was an African-American named George Washington Bush. His hope was to escape the discrimination of Missouri, but when he arrived in the Oregon territory, he found things were the same. So he moved north across the Columbia River into the British-controlled area in search of good land — into what is now the state of Washington. The success of his settlement drew other Americans and some historians say their presence was a factor that strengthened the successful U.S. claim to the area. In 1850, the area that is now Washington state had a population of 1,000. Now, the state is home to nearly 6.5 million people about 215,000 of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 36
U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en