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
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