George Washington Créol

Quick Facts

Significance:

Hudson's Bay Company employee

Place of Birth:

United States

Date of Birth:

Unknown

Place of Death:

Washington State

Date of Death:

Unknown

Place of Burial:

Unknown

Not much is known about George Washington Créol, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1830 to 1840, but a few historical records give us clues about his life and career in the fur trade. Hudson's Bay Company records indicate that he was originally from the United States; further descriptions of him suggest that he was African American.

Washington began his career with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1830, working as a "general charge," meaning that he was probably doing a variety of jobs, at Fort Vancouver. Fort Vancouver was the HBC's most prominent post in the Pacific Northwest. The fort served as a headquarters and supply depot for a network of fur trading forts and supply ships coming to and from the fort.

From 1831 to 1832, Washington worked as a cook aboard three Hudson's Bay Company ships that made frequent stops at Fort Vancouver: Vancouver, Lama, and Dryad. Vancouver was a schooner built at Fort Vancouver in 1826. It mainly traveled up and down the Northwest Coast, but also to the HBC's post in Honolulu, Hawai'i. During his time on the Vancouver in 1831, Washington may have been temporarily transferred to the Lama. Lama was an American brigantine that had also been trading on the Northwest Coast and Hawai'i. In 1832, the Lama was purchased by the HBC to replace the smaller Vancouver. Then, Washington cooked aboard the Dryad, an HBC brig traveling between Northwest Coast posts. From 1832 to 1833, Washington worked as a seaman based at Fort Simpson, then located at the mouth of British Columbia's Nass River.

In 1833, Washington's contract with the HBC expired. He renewed, and was posted to Fort Vancouver as a "middleman." The term "middleman" originally denoted a boatman paddling in the middle of a bateau, but came to refer to HBC employees who performed a wide variety of tasks, often manual labor. Washington remained in this position until 1840.

Records kept by the Catholic missionaries at Fort Vancouver show that Washington was a witness at the funeral of Marie, a Chehalis woman who died on February 13, 1840, at the age of 18. Marie was the wife of Charles Proulx, a Hudson's Bay Company engagé (a general term for employees on contract to, or "engaged by," the HBC). The Proulxs lived in Fort Vancouver's employee Village, a neighborhood of one- or two-bedroom homes located to the west of Fort Vancouver. It is likely that Washington lived there as well.

Shortly before his retirement from HBC service, Washington was given a special task by Fort Vancouver's Chief Factor Dr. John McLoughlin: to help guide the American ship Lausanne into the Columbia River. The Lausanne was a barkentine that carried American emigrants and missionaries from New York to the Northwest, arriving at the Columbia River bar in May 1840. The passengers aboard this ship were meant to "reinforce" the Methodist missionaries already living in the region, and assist in efforts to convert the Native population to Christianity. Washington was one of the river pilots sent by McLoughlin to help bring the Lausanne past the treacherous bar and up the Columbia River. American missionaries Daniel Lee and Joseph Frost wrote in their account of the journey:

"[On May 29] we were joined by a coloured man from Vancouver, bringing, as a foretaste of the kind reception which awaited us at that post, some excellent fresh bread and butter, from the larder of John Mc'Laughlin, Esq. The name of the coloured man was George Washington, who reported himself to be a good pilot, and that one part of his errand was to see the Lausanne safely up to Vancouver."

Unfortunately, the Lausanne collided with a sand bar shortly after this, and the piloting was taken over by a Chinook HBC employee, also named George, who explained to Lee and Frost that George Washington was a better cook than he was a pilot.

In 1841, Washington retired and settled in the HBC's Willamette Settlement, a privilege awarded to well-regarded HBC retirees. In 1844, the American Provisional Government of Oregon established the first Black Exclusion law, requiring Black residents living south of the Columbia River to leave or face severe consequences. Like many other Black individuals and families, Washington moved north, apparently settling in the area surrounding Chinook Point, near the mouth of the Columbia River, where the Hudson's Bay Company operated a store. Several other former HBC employees also settled in this area.

Washington - now also known by the name George Créol - married a Lower Chinook woman named Mary (1828-1877) with whom he had five children: Marthe, Joseph, two sons whose names are unknown, and Margaret. Marthe and Joseph were baptized at the Catholic Stella Maris Mission in Chinook, Washington. Their descendants still live throughout the state of Washington, and include Bessie Pickernell, a well-known Chinook basket maker.

Note: This George Washington was not the only African American George Washington living and working in the Northwest in the 19th century. George Washington Bush (ca. 1790-1863) spent the winter of 1844 at Fort Vancouver, and went on to found the city of Tumwater, Washington. Another George Washington (1817-1905) arrived in the Northwest in 1850 and founded the city of Centralia, Washington.

Bibliography

Holloway, Tom. George Washington worked for Hudson's Bay Company. Fur Fort Fun Facts. Posted February 7, 2013.

Lang, William L. Great Reinforcement (1840). The Oregon Encyclopedia. Updated May 21, 2018.

Lee, Daniel, and Frost, Joseph H. (1844). Ten Years in Oregon. New York: J. Collord, Printer.

McIntyre Watson, Bruce. (2010) Lives Lived West of the Divide: A Biographical Dictionary of Fur Traders Working West of the Rockies, 1793-1858. Kelowna, BC: The Centre for Social, Spatial, and Economic Justice, The University of British Columbia, Okanagan.

Nokes, Greg. Black Exclusion Laws in Oregon. The Oregon Encyclopedia. Updated March 17, 2018.

Oldham, Kit. George and Mary Jane Washington found the town of Centerville (now Centralia) on January 8, 1875. HistoryLink. Posted February 23, 2003.