[2] He was the son of George Bush, a celebrated settler and veteran of the War of 1812 who inherited a portion of the substantial fortune of his father, Matthew, and Isabella James.

[1] By the time the family had reached the territory, the Provisional Government of Oregon had enacted legislation prohibiting land ownership by blacks.

Undeterred, the elder Bush moved his family north, across the Columbia River, into what would eventually become the Territory of Washington; although at the time this was contested land.

In 1872, Bush helped found the Western Washington Industrial Association, which organized agricultural expositions, and served as the group's inaugural president.

[4] In 1893 he was appointed to represent the United States on the Advisory Council of the World's Congress Auxiliary on Farm Culture and Cereal Industry.