George Bush,  PART  3

By   Chuck  Haviland

LIFE ON THE WAGON TRAIN

The first wagon train arrived in 1843. (Actually the very first arrivals that came thru the Oregon trail were in 1841- 36 men with their families).  They were joined by 1000 newcomers in 1843.  The number of new arrivals grew each year to a peak of 55,000 in 1850).  In 1843 there were 89 people living in the Oregon Territory.  This number grew substantially, to 145 in the Oregon census of 1849. Most of the settlers in the Oregon territory had settled around the Willamette valley, in what is now the state of Oregon. Other settlers moved on to California or Alaska.

Every year everyone waited for the time to start their long overland voyage.  Leaving too soon would result in undue hardship and possibly failure.  The path westward had to be somewhat free of snow and ice.  Once the decision to start the trip was made chaos and pandemonium resulted from everyone trying to start at once.  It did not take long for the wagon master to get control of the situation. Even then no one wanted to be the last wagon, eating nothing but dust for the entire trip, or sometimes being left behind. It was a perilous time.  Not just with nature, but with wolves, and mountain cats and occasionally some hostile Indians. At night the wagon train would form a circle to ward off the natural predators and the potential Indians.

The most common means of power were the oxen and the mules, never the horses.  They were kept to carry the sick or to scout out the upcoming route.  Oxen were the most favored means of power, they were somewhat obedient and could pull enormous weight.  Teams of two or four oxen per wagon were most often used. Goats and some other animals were often tethered behind the wagon.

Travelling by wagon train had its own problems, keeping the farm animals together and fed, yet at the same time continuing to move westward.  George often would spend the day with Michael Simmons scouting out the route to be taken on the next day or so of travel. This left his wife and sons to do most of the herding and driving the wagon. There was ample time for socializing at the end of the day, with  so many people thrust together for a common cause.  Campfires would often burn bright late into the night, while stories would be told to the youngsters, of days gone by. It was difficult travelling, the wagons would break down often, meaning that,  that wagon had to be pulled aside and repaired, while the rest of the people  continued their westward march.  Late in the day the remaining wagons would rejoin the group. Most of the people walked the whole journey beside their family’s wagon or a close friends. Neighbors would help neighbors.  It became a group effort with everyone doing their part. Yes some days tempers would flare, but all in all everyone worked together. This journey had a strong appeal to it, that of free land and a  new lifestyle in the western frontiers.  Along the way some families would decided to stay where they had travelled to so far, content with their efforts in travelling west. Thus making their home there.  Many towns sprang up along the route westward.

The trail was a hazardous one.  Many people died en route, Susan Hale’s newly wed husband walked all the way back to Missouri to have a tombstone made for her.  After the burial he continued his westward march. Major threats were overcome as they proceeded westward.  Rivers were the most dangerous, people drowned, wagons tipped over losing all of their goods, animals drowned or were swept downstream, and the crossings often resulted in broken bones. Being run over by a wagon wheel was the most common injury or death. The entire Oregon trail was littered with tombstones, often averaging 10 gravesites per mile.  Considering the entire trail was 2000 miles long that accounted for a conservative 20,000 deaths.  All in search of their dream to own land in the new frontier.

For the most part the Indians of the plains states took little notice of the white man’s actions in moving westward. But on occasion they would attack the wagon train.  Often the wagon train master would negotiate a payment to them to cross without reprisal.  Sometimes a cow or horse would appease the Indians.

In 1843 roughly 1000 people with 120 wagon trains and 1500 oxen went west during the first major migration along the Oregon trail. His friend Michael T. Simmons an Irish emigrant and three other families had finally decided to join them in the move to the Oregon Territory. The entire group led by Simmons and Bush consisted of five families numbering 32 people. Most of his friends that joined him were related to one another.  Bush was the wealthiest of these families traveling to Oregon.  It’s said that Bush supplied all of the provisions for the trip.  Rumor has it that the Bush’s wagon had a false floor wherein a layer of silver dollars (abt $2000.00) were stashed to make the trip. It was even rumored that George had melted down a large number of  50.oo dollar gold slugs.  Even tho this was not us currency, they were each a piece of gold that had universal acceptance.  The Bush party, often referred to as the Simmons party joined other families departing Missouri in 1844.

Bush and Simmons were the recognized leaders of the group heading West from Missouri. The Kentucky born Michael Simmons was a long time friend of George Bush. Simmons, McAllister, Jones and Kindred all endured the long hardships of moving westward. To say that one endured the most or was by himself the sole person, would be to forget that the others had joined all together to make the long trip. All five families made the same move together.   When they arrived in Oregon, all five families also went North to Puget Sound. Still staying a part of the total group.  Michael Simmons played an influential role with the first legislators in allowing Washington state to be non-discriminatory towards black people.  A lot of people put Simmons as the leader, but frankly the group was led by Bush and Simmons.

At Cables Landing the Bush group joined a larger group of nearly 800 people led by General Cornelius Gilliam.  Cornelius gave Michael Simmons the moniker of “Colonel” Simmons.  As a group, they walked beside their wagons in an effort to start a new life in the west.  They started at 4 am each day, to bring in the grazing animals and to eat breakfast.  The wagon train would be on the move at 6 am.  Each day at noon they would stop for an hour or so to eat lunch and rest a while. They made camp at sundown after making 20 to 35 miles per day.  Each day brought forth its own problems. Keeping the cattle and oxen in a herd, while crossing deep ravines and swift rivers. Day after day they plodded along, through the mud, rain or shine they kept going.  At some point the Bush group split from the main wagon train, probably near Fort Bridger, Wyoming. All told  they traveled for four months, crossing nearly 2000 miles, before arriving in the Oregon Territory. With the sole exception of George Bush and his family all of the new emigrants were welcomed by the settlers in Oregon. Bush was excluded for only one reason, the color of his skin. To be singled out of a group must have included name calling, and/or throwing rocks and sticks. George’s father was Mathew Bush, an African-American, who was born in India.  Matthew had married an Irish maid (probably white) named Stevenson.  To George being black and married to a white woman would seem natural since his parents were of mixed races. However labeling a person by their race was not uncommon at that time.  Being called a half-breed or mulatto was just a nasty statement of the fact.

Because Bush had some experience in the early frontier it made him a great asset to the group and a natural leader. However it was Simmons in the summer of 1845 that led an exploring party to the shores of Puget Sound. Later that year the five families and two single men, Samuel Crocket and Jesse Ferguson made the move northward. Upon Simmons arrival at the Deschutes River, he laid out the community of New Market, which later became known as Tumwater.