John McDougall

Infobox Governor
name = John McDougall


order = 2nd
office = Governor of California
term_start = January 9, 1851
term_end = January 8, 1852
lieutenant = David C. Broderick
predecessor = Peter Burnett
successor = John Bigler
order2 = 1st
office2 = Lieutenant Governor of California
term_start2 = December 20, 1849
term_end2 = January 9, 1851
predecessor2 = None
successor2 = David C. Broderick
birth_date = "ca." 1818
birth_place = Ross County, Ohio
death_date = death date|1866|3|30|mf=y
death_place = San Francisco, California
party = Independent Democrat
spouse =
profession = Miner, politician,
religion =
footnotes =

John McDougall ("ca." 1818ndash March 30, 1866) was the first lieutenant governor of California from 1849 to 1851, and later governor of California from January 9, 1851 until January 8, 1852.

Biography

McDougall was born in Ross County, Ohio ca. 1818, and would later settle in California as a gold miner during the gold rush. Shortly after his arrival, McDougall entered into the new territory's politics, present at the first Constitutional Convention in Monterey in 1849. McDougall was one of the original signers of the Constitution of California. During the convention, McDougall was nominated for lieutenant governor, where he remarked, “I reckon I'll take that. I don't believe anyone else will have it.”cite web |url=http://www.californiagovernors.ca.gov/h/biography/governor_2.html |title=Governor John McDougall of California |publisher=State of California |author=California State Library |accessdate=2007-05-09] Following a successful election over five other contenders to the office, McDougall was sworn in as the first state lieutenant governor in December 1849 with Peter Burnett, the state's first governor.

Governorship

Following Burnett's resignation from the governorship in early January 1851 due to widespread discontent of his administration from the California State Legislature and press, McDougall assumed the post, relatively inexperienced with any political office, on January 9. In one of his first acts, McDougall signed legislation sponsored by state senator and former Mexican general Mariano Vallejo on February 4 to remove the capitol from its cramped quarters in San Jose forty miles north to Vallejo. [cite paper |url=http://www.assembly.ca.gov/clerk/BILLSLEGISLATURE/documents/statecappdf.pdf |title=California's State Capitols | version=Second Edition |format=.PDF |publisher=State of California |author=The Office of the Assembly Chief Clerk |date=May 2000 |accessdate=2007-05-09]

In the first weeks of his governorship, McDougall was pressured by miners and residents in Mariposa County to intervene in a growing conflict later known as the Mariposa War, with the local Miwok, Chowchilla, and Yokut tribes opposing encroachment on their land. [cite web |url=http://www.militarymuseum.org/Mariposa1.html |title=California and the Indian Wars: The Mariposa War |publisher=The California State Military Museum Foundation |author=David A. Smith |accessdate=2007-05-09] In late January, he authorized the creation of the 200 man Mariposa Battalion, a state militia unit to tackle natives he believed were in open rebellion to the state government. In the ensuing conflict, which left over forty dead, the Mariposa Battalion became the first Whites to see Yosemite, while the local tribes ceased violent reprisals on the miner and trader population. [cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/education/glance/non-Indians/gold.htm |title=Yosemite at a Glance |publisher=National Park Service |author= |date=22 December 2004 |accessdate=2007-05-09]

While McDougall continued with the earlier policies of the Burnett administration with regard to taking violent action against California Native Americans, and exclusion laws prohibiting African-Americans from entering California, McDougall favoured Chinese immigration to meet the state's labor shortage and settle undeveloped lands. Declaring in his address to the State Legislature on January 7, 1852 that the Chinese "were one of the most worthy classes of our newly adopted citizens, to whom the climate and the character of California were peculiarly suited." [cite book |first=Gunther Paul |last=Barth |title=Bitter Strength: A History of the Chinese in the United States, 1850-1870 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1964 | oclc=242460 ]

McDougall's popularity peaked in the early days of his administration. Known for his earthy personality, McDougall's demeanor connected well with Sierra Nevada miners and Mexican-American War veterans. However, recurring drinking, gambling with assembly and senate members, and frequent quarrels over minor bureaucratic matters hurt his political career.cite journal |author=Judson A. Grenier |year=2003 |title='Officialdom': California State Government, 1849-1879 |journal=California History |volume=vol. 89 |issue=part 3 |pages=p. 137–168 |id=OCLC|108243065] McDougall's political mannerisms were also of popular amusement. McDougall issued so many proclamations beginning, “I, John McDougall,” that the Governor was soon known throughout the state as “I John.”

Towards the end of 1851, McDougall quarreled with the growing vigilante movement in San Francisco, openly condemning the movement's lynching of two criminals that year in a gubernatorial proclamation, citing its complete disregard of the city's municipal authorities. However due to the infancy of state law enforcement, the proclamation went ignored. Bureaucratic frustration with San Francisco's vigilante movement would return again during the administration of Governor J. Neely Johnson five years later in 1856.

During the 1851 state general elections, the Democratic Party refused to renominate McDougall as the party's choice for governor. Instead, state Democrats nominated Assembly Speaker John Bigler as their party's nominee.

Post political career

McDougall left office on January 8, 1852 after completing the single two-year term left vacant by previous Governor Burnett. At the time, California governors served two-year terms, a limit that would not change until the governorship of Leland Stanford in the early 1860s. Just four days after leaving the state's highest office, McDougall was involved in a pistol duel with A.C. Russell, editor of the "San Francisco Picayune". Russell's hand was injured in the duel. After attempting to start yet another duel with another individual who had insulted the ex-governor, McDougall was arrested by the San Francisco Police. As governor, McDougall had opposed state legislation that would have outlawed dueling, remarking duelers were not fit to live and would eventually kill each other off.

Never taken as a serious political candidate again, McDougall fell out of public view after 1852. The former governor increasingly turned to alcohol as he sank into deep depression. According to some accounts, McDougall attempted suicide on several occasions. [cite book |author=Theodore H. Hittell|title=History of California, Vol IV |location=San Francisco, CA |publisher=N.J. Stone & Company |year=1897 |origyear=1885 |isbn=]

McDougall died in San Francisco on March 30, 1866 at the age of 48. Along with J. Neely Johnson, McDougall is one of the youngest governors to die following the end of office.

References

External links

* [http://www.californiagovernors.ca.gov/h/biography/governor_2.html John McDougall biography] at the California State Library