He story of George Washington Bush might have ended with the rebuke he received by the laws of the Oregon Territory, but Bush ha
d friends who exemplified the spirit of the West. Thankful for the gifts and assistance rendered by Bush during their western trek, the entire Simmons group decided not to settle anywhere Bush could not. As a result, the Simmons-Bush group spent their first winter at Washougal on the north bank of the Columbia River, about twenty miles east of present-day Portland, Oregon. It was an area the British Hudson’s Bay Company had heretofore refused to allow American overlanders to settle, so the Oregon government's code was not enforced there. Some said that Dr. McLoughlin, the British agent at Fort Vancouver, permitted this incursion because he was sympathetic to the plight of the party's women and children during that winter. Others said it was because he was sympathetic to Bush’s problem, because McLoughlin and his Native American wife understood prejudice. What happened after George Washington Bush was unable to settle in Oregon Territory due to his African American heritage?
Bush separated from his group and settled outside of Oregon.
The entire group decided to take the Oregon Trail to return to the East.
The entire group settled in an area that was not controlled by the United States.
Bush created a settlement in Oregon Territory in defiance of the area's laws.
