Archaeological dig in Tumwater on site of first pioneer settlement in Washington

KING5 has a story about Evergreen College students on an archaeological dig in Tumwater on the site of the farm owned by George Washington Bush in 1845.

Bush and his party were the first Americans to settle north of the Columbia River, driven there by the racial discrimination in the laws of the provisional government of Oregon Territory. Bush was of African-American descent.

KING5 says, 

Archaeology students are taking a month-long field trip in an attempt to learn more about one of the state's founders. 

The Evergreen College students are looking for artifacts in Mark Clark's backyard. 

"It's a story that needs to be told," said Clark, property owner of the farm that was owned by George Washington Bush in 1845.

HistoryLink has an Essay 5645

In November 1845, George W. and Isabella James Bush and their five sons settle near Tumwater on a fertile plain that comes to be known as Bush Prairie. They and their party, which includes their good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867) are the first Americans to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. 

The Simmons party makes the historically significant decision to settle north of the Columbia primarily because the discriminatory laws of the provisional government of Oregon Territory prohibit George Bush, an African American who is a key leader of the group, from settling south of the river.