George Washington

George Washington (August 15, 1817 – August 26, 1905) was the founder of the town of Centralia, Washington. He is remembered as a leading African American pioneer of the Pacific Northwest. Early life Born in 1817 within 10 miles of Winchester, Virginia, he was the son of a former slave and a woman of English descent. His father was sold soon thereafter to another plantation and his mother gave George to Anna and James Cochran, a white couple who adopted and raised him. When he was four, the Cochrans moved west to Delaware County, Ohio. This region contained several stops on the underground railroad. They later left for Missouri. Washington became a skilled rifleman and taught himself to read. He was given full rights as a citizen, except the right to vote, after the Cochrans petitioned the state of Missouri. Move to the Pacific Northwest Fearing he might lose his freedom after the passage of the Compromise of 1850, Washington moved the Cochrans and himself over the Oregon Trail. Arriving in the Oregon Territory in 1852, they found he could not establish a claim for any land due to the exclusion laws passed by the Oregon Territorial Legislature in 1849. Upon arrival, because of these exclusion laws, Washington and his family were forced to settle nearby in Milwaukie. Washington started working as a logger, cutting timber for $90 a month plus board. About three months after his arrival in Milwaukie, Washington became very ill. The ailment was unknown but he was in serious condition. The closest hospital at this time in pioneer country was the Columbia Barracks military fort (later Fort Vancouver) on the north side of the Columbia River. When the Cochrans took him there for treatment, they were told it was just for soldiers, though when the doctor came and saw Washington's condition he had a change of heart. He performed surgery on Washington, ultimately saving his life, but in the process poisoned him with calomel. The poison caused him to lose all of his hair permanently. In later pictures, he is shown wearing wigs. He recovered at the Columbia Barracks for 3–4 months. When he recovered, he and the Cochrans moved back to the Milwaukie area, where eventually Washington settled his parents into a cabin close to Cowlitz Landing.