George Washington, his family, and four other families did their part in what is called Manifest Destiny. They joined a wagon train and headed to the northwest. Find out more in this episode of Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story."

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Born in Pennsylvania in 1790 to an African-American father and Irish-American mother, George Washington Bush became one of the earliest permanent settlers of Puget Sound in the Washington Territory. He was raised as a Quaker, educated in Philadelphia, a veteran of the War of 181 (evidence suggests that he participated in the Battle of New Orleans), and a former Hudson Bay Company fur trapper. Bush was a successful farmer in Missouri, but as a free African American in a slave state, he faced increasing discrimination and decided to move west. In 1844, 54-year-old Bush and his good friend Michael T. Simmons, a white Irish American, led their families and three others over the Oregon Trail. The group of five families came to be know the Simmons Party.

Bush was among the wealthier pioneers to follow the Oregon Trail. He was said to have supplied the Conestoga wagons and supplies that allowed some of the other families to make the trip. According to some accounts, a false floor in the Bush family wagon concealed a layer of silver dollars. The Simmons party joined a larger wagon train, which departed Missouri in May 1844. Bush’s frontier experience made him a valuable addition to the train, which he helped lead across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. They were the first U.S. citizens to settle on Puget Sound.

Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia, Washington on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby.

Having arrived so late in the year, the new settlers hurried to construct crude log cabins before the winter set in. For food that first year they depended largely on the generosity of their neighbors -- the Hudson’s Bay Company outpost at Fort Nisqually farther north on Puget Sound and the Nisqually Indians whose lands extended widely on both sides of the Nisqually River.

Dr. John McLoughlin, who as the chief factor in charge of Fort Vancouver, provided the party a generous letter of reference to Dr. William F. Tolmie, his counterpart at Fort Nisqually:

"They have all conducted themselves in a most neighborly, friendly manner, and I beg to recommend them to your kind assistance and friendly offices."

With this letter, the families were able to purchase wheat, peas, potatoes, and beef cattle at Fort Nisqually on credit. Of the five families, Bush’s name does not appear on the Fort’s credit list. The most likely explanation for this is that the Bush family had enough money to pay for the supplies they needed and, therefore, didn’t need credit.

Local Indians taught the newcomers to take advantage of the unfamiliar seafood with which the region abounded. They soon learned to find oysters, dig for clams, and harvest salmon, as well as to use many native plants.

All the members of the Bush family learned the Nisqually language. They became close to Chief Leschi and other Nisquallies who frequently visited their farm. George and Isabella Bush’s youngest son, who was born at Bush Prairie in December 1847, was named Lewis Nesqually Bush.
As Mr. Harvey pointed out, George Washington Bush was most likely named in honor of our first president. There is no known family connection between George Washington Bush and the two later presidents who share with him the name George Bush.

Let’s take a closer look at his name. His exact name is uncertain. The few census records listing him and news articles published during his lifetime refer to him only as "George Bush." However, early Washington historian Edmond Meany, who knew people who had known Bush, said his name was "George W. Bush" in publications dating at least from 1899, and other accounts published through the twentieth century do so as well. Since the early 1960s, most publications mentioning Bush, including eventually many state and other official websites, give his name as "George Washington Bush," with some stating he was so named in honor of the president in office when he was born. Unfortunately, there is no conclusive evidence that his middle name was Washington. That has no bearing on the importance of Bush’s place in history.
If you were to travel to the Capitol Campus in Olympia, Washington, you would find the George Bush Monument and the Bush Butternut Tree, seen here in the left rear of this photograph.

Had you ever heard of George Washing Bush?