Profile America for this 27th day of Black History Month.

"One of the pioneers who set out by wagon train to the West in 1844 was an African-American named George Washington Bush. His hope was to escape the discrimination of Missouri; but when he arrived in the Oregon Territory, he found the same attitudes flourishing there. This caused Bush to move north across the Columbia River into the British controlled area, in search of good land — into what is now the state of Washington. One of Bush's sons, William Owen Bush, was elected to the first Washington state legislature, where he introduced the bill that established Washington State University. In 1850, the area that is now Washington state had a population of 1-thousand. Now, the state is home to more than 6-million people. "

This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.