PAST EXHIBIT • PACCAR GALLERY
Oregon Black Pioneers
The history and migration of Black Communities in the Pacific Northwest in the newly founded Oregon territories.
George Washington was one of the early Black settlers in the Pacific Northwest who overcame prejudice and discrimination in order to play a crucial role in settling the Washington Territory.
About the Exhibit
During the 1840s and 1850s, tens of thousands of American settlers traveled west across North America towards the vast Oregon Country and its fertile Willamette Valley. The 2000-mile route these pioneers followed became the fabled “Oregon Trail”. But prosperity in Oregon existed only for white people. Black Americans were ineligible to claim free land as white Americans could. Oregon’s provisional and territorial governments went so far as to pass laws banning Black emigration. Despite this, a small number of Black men and women did settle in Oregon between 1840–1870. Some were enslaved and were brought to Oregon by their owners. Others were free and chose to make the overland journey in search of a better life. Together, these early Black pioneers challenged Oregon’s discriminatory laws and laid the foundation for Oregon’s future Black communities. We share a few of their stories.