John McDougall (California Politician) - Governorship

Governorship

Due to widespread discontent with his administration by the California State Legislature and press, Burnett resigned from the governorship in early January 1851. McDougall assumed the post on January 9. He was relatively inexperienced with any political office. 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.

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. 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 against 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.

While McDougall continued with the earlier policies of the Burnett administration in taking violent action against California Native Americans and supporting exclusion laws prohibiting African-Americans from entering California, he 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."

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. McDougall's political mannerisms were also a source 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. In a gubernatorial proclamation, he openly condemned the movement's lynching of two criminals that year, citing its complete disregard of the city's municipal authorities. State law enforcement was stll in its infancy, however, and his proclamation was ignored. Bureaucratic frustration with San Francisco's vigilante movement would return again during the administration of Governor J. Neely Johnson five years later.

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.