New monument honoring Black pioneer George Bush and his family unveiled on Capitol Campus
A new monument honoring the legacy of Black pioneer George Bush and his family has been installed on the Capitol Campus in Olympia. George Bush was the first Black pioneer in the Washington Territory and helped establish one of the area’s first non-Indigenous American settlements. His son, William Owen, was the state’s first Black legislator and was key in founding Washington State University.
More than 70 people, including Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, former State Rep. Eric Pettigrew, State Rep. Debra Entenman and the George Bush Middle School journalism class, braved the chilly weather on Nov. 19 to attend the official unveiling event.
The monument’s location on the capitol grounds is near a living feature that also marks the family’s heritage. When the Bush party left Missouri to migrate west, they brought root stock to establish trees in their new home. From one of those trees, now more than a century old, a nut was cultivated and was planted on the Capitol Campus in 2010. The Bush monument is located on the lawn south of the General Administration and Helen Sommers buildings in view of the Bush Butternut Tree.
A duplicate of the Bush monument will also be dedicated on the Washington State University Tri-Cities campus in Richland, honoring William Owen Bush’s role in founding the college that grew into WSU.
Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, a member of the advisory committee and president of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, commented, “The monument is a visual reminder of the significant contributions by Black pioneer George Bush and the exceptional milestones we can attribute to his role in our state history. Beyond this honorary placement at our state capitol, this recognition champions true history and signals to people of all backgrounds that Black people were notably instrumental in building Washington State.”
Creation of the monument was endorsed by the Washington State Historical Society (WSHS) and State Capitol Committee and installed by the Department of Enterprise Services (DES). The Bush monuments were developed as part of a project to celebrate and share the history of Black Washingtonians. In 2020, in response to an initiative led by Rep. Eric Pettigrew and the Black Members Caucus of the Washington State Legislature, WSHS was allocated $100,000 in the capital budget to lead a celebration of Black History Month. WSHS convened an advisory committee, which set project goals including the Bush monument, production of digital materials, and development of Black history curriculum for grades K-12. The committee’s aim is to build resources that will connect Washingtonians to Black history across our state.
Jennifer Kilmer, director of the Washington State Historical Society, added, “We are honored to have facilitated the Bush monument, and proud to see this physical marker at the seat of our state’s governance, recognizing the significance of George Bush and his family. The stories of Black Washingtonians have been underrepresented in our history, and this is one step in moving toward an inclusive telling of our state’s past.”
About George Bush and his family
George Bush was born in the late 1700s in Pennsylvania. He eventually settled in Missouri where he met and married his wife Isabella James, a German American woman. Together, the couple had six sons: William Owen, Joseph Talbot, Rial Bailey, Henry Sanford, Jackson January, and Lewis Nisqually.
In 1844, the Bush family began their journey from Missouri to Oregon across the Oregon Trail in hopes of escaping prejudice and discrimination. Bush was a primary financier of the party and co-led the expedition with white Irish American pioneer Michael Simmons. Simmons is credited with founding Tumwater, though the Bush-Simmons party arrived together, and Bush was also key in its establishment. Simmons is already recognized on the Capitol Campus in the Territorial Sundial.
When Bush’s wagon train arrived, they were hopeful to begin their new lives in a slave-free state. However, in 1844, the Oregon provisional legislature passed exclusionary laws that created a hostile environment for freed slaves and Black pioneers attempting to settle in the area. The party decided to head north of the Columbia River and, in 1845, Bush and his family finally established their farm, called Bush Prairie, in the area that is now Tumwater. It was one of the first non-Indigenous American settlements in what became Washington state.
The Bush family found success and prosperity in their new home. They worked the land as farmers and raised award-winning wheat, traded with local Indigenous people, built sawmill and began a small logging operation. The Bush family were known for their generosity and have been credited with saving their neighbors during the famine of 1852.
In 1850, Congress passed the Donation Land Act which excluded people of African descent from owning property. However, because George Bush and his family were widely respected, the Washington Territorial legislature successfully petitioned Congress to allow the Bush family to retain ownership of their farm. Still, Bush was not allowed to vote.
George Bush died in 1863 at 73 years old. Isabella died just three years later, in 1866.
In 1889, George’s oldest son William Owen Bush became the first Black American to serve in the inaugural Washington State Legislature, where he played a significant role in passing one of Washington’s first civil rights acts. William is also credited with helping found Washington State University.
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