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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 17, 1972)
Page 2 Poi tland/Observer Thursday February 17, 1972 ■ Blacks pioneered in Oregon Although black people w eiv mona Inter became a legisla few in numbei in the Oregon tor and in 184b introduced leg C ountiy, th e y made a great islation that exempted Bush impact on the political and so fro m the la w prohibiting cial atmosphere of Oregon. blacks f r o m living in Oiegon. T h e ir very presence on t he Bush ami Simmons opened up fro n tie i disturbed the indivi the area north ol the Colum dualism and independence of bia River to American settle the settlers, and r e a c t io n ment. P rio r to th is itw as held against them was swift artd by the Hudsons' Hay Company strong. ami as such would have become The ( lis t known black to part of Canada. c o m e to the Oregon Country G e o rg e Washington was was Y ork, the servant of Cap adopt«! by a white couple ami tain C la rk. He travelled with lived in Ohio and latei in M is the Lewis and C la ik expedi souri. He was granted citizen tion of 1805-b. York was re ship by the le g is la tu re o fM is - spected by th e Indians along souri in 1842. He ami h lsto s- the tra il because of his color te r fattier came to Oiegon ui and his huge size. He served 1850. Since he could not hold as an in terpreter. W hen the land, his fostei fa there la lined expedition ended, he returned land fo r him. In 1853 he moved to the east. A Her. E r* in Flowei s, Louisa N .(Thatcher) Flowers, and their tour sons, Lloyd ( ft ont i ow), Ralph, to W ashington Ten lto ry. George W in s lo w was a E lm er and E rw in, (photo Courtesy of Oregon H istorical Society) He w a s involved in (arming member of the Ewing Young and lumbering. He laid out tha AI len E rwin Flowei s came to Oregon in June ol 180S. He was bom in Columbus, Ohio on March Expedition to yiiegon in 1834. C ity of Centralia ami sold the 29, 1847. Hisfathe: went toC alifoim a to mine for goid, and later sent (or his fam ily. Al en ship W mslow m arried an Indian property to white settlei s. ped aboard the Brother Jonathan as a cabin boy . On its third voyage, the Brother Jonathan sunk woman and raised a fa m ily, Duimg a period of crop fa ilu re off the coast of Crescent C ity, C alifornia. Allen came to Portland as a Captain's boy. living n e a r Oregon C ity .In he led the e n tiie population. He was employed as a w aiter in the Lincoln Hotel. He worked on The Dalles boat and later on 1844 we became involved w ith a By 1889, when Washington 1«*- boats to Umatilla and Lew iston. He was a bull d riv e r for pack teams taking mining supplies to W asco Indian, whom he kille d . came a state, Centralia had a Walla Walla and Lewiston. He moved to near Astoria and population ot nearly 1,000. He was employed by the government at theCustom House fo r several years. In 1885 he became lived there until he was or P orter in Charge on the Northern P acific train to Seattle, the firs t black to hold this position. He Although the laws of tlie pro dered by a Judge to leave Ore visional government ami of the was on the Portland, Seattle run until 1900. gon. Blacks were not legally T e rrito ry of tuegun pi ohib- He married Louisa Thatcher in V ic to ria , B.C, in 1882. The Flowers firs t lived on Mead Street, allowed to live in O r e g o n at ited slavery, and even the 1 es in Northwest Portland, then built four small cottages on N.E. F u s t near Schyle., living in one. that tim e. sence ot blacks in Oregon, Flowers had a road built to connect the houses with Union Avenue. They latet moved to a ranch Wallace, a d eseiter from on M t. Scott. The Flowers had four sons, Lloyd, Ralph, Elm er and Erw in. th e ship Maryland, settled on slaves were bi oughiwithwhite fam ilies. In 1853, slave c h il Louisa Thatcher was born in Puerto Rico on Decembei 20, 1849 and went to Boston as a child. Clatsop Plains in 1840. The She late, moved to V icto ria , B ritis h Columbia. sloop Peacock was wrecked on dren weie released by Judge George W illiam s, who said a sand sp itn o rth o l theColum- that without some positive leg bia R iver in 1841. A black cook islation establishing slaveiy, n a m e d Saul, later called it dal not amt could not exist James D. Saul, deserted. He in Oregon. One of the children, ran a fe rry between Astoria Mary Jane Holmes, s ta y e d and Cathlamet fo r many yeai s. with thedaughtei ol her owner. G e o r g e Washington Bush She m arrieda black man, Rue- was lesponsible fo r the open ben, and they had six children. ing of the te rrito ry north of the T h e y lived in Benton County Columbia River to Americans. and w eie highly regarded and He came west on the wagon accepted in the social life of tram of 1844. Bush was black the community. and had a white wife and five Robin and P olly bought 40 Children. He intended to goto acres near Salem and a block Oregon and to see how blacks of land in North Salem. W hen were treated. If he could not their daughter m arried the live as a free man with a free wedding was attended by sev man's rights, he would s e e k eral dignitaries, who were the protection of the Mexican severely c ritic iz e d . Rachel Government. Bush financed Beldon was brought to O'egon the migration of Colonel M .T. tn 1843. She did not know she Simmons and his relatives. could be tree, so she stayed W hei they learned upon reach with her master until after the ing . he Dalles that black peo C iv il W ar. She m arried and ple were not allowed to live hi lived in Marion County. O ie g o n , he and Simmons moved north to what is nuu These are only a tew of the Iam water, Washington, black people who lived on the coming the firs t Americans tu Oregon fro n tie r. They num move into te rrito ry north of bered 54 in the T e n itor ial the Columbia that was con Census ot 1850. trolled by the B ritis h . S iA - General Rutus Ingallswho seived m the I n itevi States Arm y during the C iv il War, poses with Hie children of Hen Holladay, railroad builder. Standing behind tlw children is their black governess. I he p le u re was taken m Poi ti and in sepieniiwi , IM 7. ( Photo Course ty of < Iregoi 111 SI.. 1 ciety ) Blazer Look - F la p P o c k e t - B e lte d Back 100% T e x tu riz e d P o ly e s te r 4 - Sizes 3 8 - 4 6 Navy & B row n Dining car waiters make ready tor passengers on the Seattle, Portland and Spokane Railroad. ( Photo Courtesy of Oregon H istorical Society ) SPECIAL $24.88 He saw the Kian parade The Ku Klux Kian paraded in downtown Vancouver, W ashington. (Photo courtesy of Oregon H istorical Society) KKK tv ’ »y e w 1 rr £ (continued from page I) candidate, Governor W alter including the county judge, a Pierce. It controlled a m ajor form er county judge, a form er ja ilo r, took a black man from ity of both houses of the legis his car in Medford, placed a lature and of the adm m lstra- t i v e branch of government. rope around his n e c k and They claimed 25,000members threatened him. The police in 1922, with one half in P o it- chief of that city was a member of th e Kian. Klansmendrove land. The Legislature passed a law forbidding p r i v a t e Sam Johnson, a boot black, from Roseburg. schools, of which 9Q£ were Catholic, and which was later M ayor George B a k e r of declared unconstitutional by Portland supported the Kian and attended its functions, al the U.S. Supreme C ourt. They though he may not have been a were not able to pass the pro member. He actively opposed posed legislation excluding the mixing of the races in pub Japanese from the state. The lic places and attempted to get Kian began to loose its power a I a w passed to prevent such and by 1923 was not a m a jo r activity. political force in the state.An The CityCommission stated attempted r e v i v a l in 1926 it would stand behind any po failed. lice action taken to prevent The K ia n came e a rlie r to "ra c e m ixing” . The Portland Oregon than to other states Police Vigilantes were started outside the South. Oregon was In 1922. one hundred strong, a rural state, with only one armed, and carrying police population center, which was commissions, they were re itself not an urban area. T h e sponsible to the leader of the Kian promised to solve prob Kian and were approved by lems, which It blamed on th e Mayor Baker. The Black Pat few Catholics and racial min rol was a bo d y of n in e men, oritie s, who were an unknown c o m m issio n e d and arm ed by quantity to most Oregonians. the c i t y , and use d to compel loyalty of Klansmen. James G riffin saw the Kian march in Portland in 1922. He was standing on the coiner of Washington Street and Broad way when the hooded Klansmen marched down Washington, 400 to 500 strong. M r.G riffin s a id he was not afraid, j u s t amazed that such a thing would be allowed in the city o fP o rt- land. Everyone knew the pa rade was planned, but th e y thought the police would stop it. M r. G riffin came to P o rt land in 1916. He was in the din ing c a r service in the Union Pacific Railroad b e tw e e n Portland and Gieen R iv e r , W yoming. He later worked for the Knight shoe Company, and in 1923-24 (or the Regal Shoe Company in Portland. W hen to w a s in Pot tian J, black people were not served in downtown restaurants. The only places they could eat were in Chinese, Japanese01 Greek restaurants in the Skidroad area. W hen there were con frontations or Insults th e y usually were reported to M rs . E X ’. Cannady, publisher of the Advocate. Blacks were few in number and had little support Flare Leg Double Knits 100% T e x tu riz e d P o ly e s te r d o u b le k n it - F la re le g / w i d e B elt Loop W a is t 3 0 - 4 0 - C olors: O liv e , N a v y , B ro w n , Lite B lue SPECIAL $9.99 from whites so they were pow erless to make charges. M i. G riffin belonged to the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) headed by Marcus Carney. He sawGar- ney when he spoke InPortland and admired him as a leader. He s a id he had no inclination to go to A f r le a , him self, but respected those who did. M r. G riffin is now a resident of D e tro it. He Is in Portland visitin g his brothers Lloyd and Leo. JCPenney The values are here every day KILLINGSWORTH AT UNION. PORTLAND Open Sundays 12 to 5 p m , Monday thru Friday till 8. Saturday till 6 f I