W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 28, 2022
2022 H ISTORY E DITION
S PECIAL S ECTION
4 P AGES
African American Pioneer
Columbus Sewell defi ed exclusion
laws to make a life in Grant County
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
C
ANYON CITY — Columbus
Sewell, who settled in Grant
County in the mid-19th century,
was a pioneer in more ways than
one.
An African American resident of the area
in the 1860s, Sewell was able to carve out a
life for himself and his family despite Ore-
gon’s history of exclusion laws that discour-
aged or outright prohibited Blacks from set-
tling in the state.
The exclusion laws were superseded
by the 14th
Amendment to
ON THE MAP
the Constitu-
tion in 1868,
Columbus Sewell’s name
although the
could soon be attached to a
laws wouldn’t
Grant County landmark.
be repealed by
The Oregon Black Pioneers
Oregon
vot-
have proposed that Negro
ers until 1926.
Knob, a 4,800-foot moun-
Furthermore,
tain about seven miles
language that
north of Kimberly within
can be inter-
the Umatilla National For-
preted as rac-
est, be renamed Columbus
ist
wasn’t
Sewell Knob.
removed from
Oregon landmarks with the
Oregon’s Con-
word “negro” are in their
stitution until
second phase of renaming
2002.
following an eff ort in the
Informa-
1960s to replace an even
tion obtained
more off ensive term with
from
the
the word “negro.”
Grant County
The Oregon Geographic
M u s e u m
Names Board voted unan-
with the help
imously to forward the
of
Zachary
name change recommen-
Stocks of Ore-
dation to the U.S. Board
gon Black Pio-
on Geographic Names on
neers
states
Saturday, Aug. 20.
that
Sewell
was born in
1820 in Vir-
ginia
and
served in the Black Hawk War, fighting under
Gen. Winfield Scott in the conflict between
the United States and Native Americans
headed by Sauk tribal leader Black Hawk.
Sewell came out West following the dis-
covery of gold in California in the late 1840s.
In either 1862 or 1863 Sewell made his
way to Canyon City, operating a gold claim
with other individuals a few miles outside
town. Sewell worked the claim for a time
before moving into the freight business.
Stocks believes that Sewell started his
freight business sometime around 1865,
although he still had his gold mining claim at
that time. By 1870, the census listed Sewell’s
occupation as teamster (wagon driver).
Sewell operated a single wagon with
12 horses during his time running freight
between Canyon City and The Dalles, a
round-trip journey that took six weeks in the
mid- to late 1860s.
One of Sewell’s earliest recorded exploits
from his hauling days is a story from Oregon
Inn-Side News that recounts an 1864 winter
storm that rendered the roads in and around
The Dalles impassable.
E.C. Pease, a merchant in The Dalles
around that time, recalled Sewell being stuck
in The Dalles in the early winter of 1884 due
to a severe storm.
The storm left The Dalles with no way to
get horses into town, so a number of V-type
wooden plows were constructed with the
intention of clearing the snow-covered roads.
Pease recalls that Sewell “saved our lives”
through the use of those plows with his team,
which allowed other horses to be brought into
The Dalles. “Columbus Sewell with his twelve
horses became our street cleaning department,
making them passable,” Pease said.
See Sewell, Page 4
Used with the permission of the Grant County Museum
Columbus Sewell came to Grant County in the early 1860s and carved out a life for himself and his family despite Oregon exclusion laws designed
to keep African Americans out of the state.
Used with the permission of the Grant County Museum
Used with the permission of the Grant County Museum
Group of people standing in front of the original Elkhorn Hotel, circa
1894. The building burned in 1898.
Columbus Sewell, prospector. Sewell operated a gold claim in Canyon
City starting in the early 1860s.
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