McGowan's War
Encyclopedia
McGowan's War was a bloodless war
that took place in Yale
, British Columbia
in the fall of 1858. The conflict posed a threat to the newly-minted British authority on the British Columbia mainland, which had only just been declared a colony the previous summer, at the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
. It was called Ned McGowan's War after one of the conflict's main protagonists.
McGowan
was one of a group of associated miners at Hill's Bar, the richest and first gold-bearing bar of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
at which a ramshackle "town" had sprung up 5 miles below Yale. Hill's Bar was under the control of McGowan's party of former San Franciscans, who had flourished from the claim they had named "The Boatmen of San Francisco". All had been firemen in San Francisco, and had been associated with the Law and Order Party. Yale, on the other hand, had fallen into the sway of members of the notorious San Francisco Vigilance Committee
which had ruled San Francisco through summary execution of suspected criminals, and were also the arch-enemies of the Law and Order Party - and of Ned McGowan especially.
This comedy of errors took on great importance to colonial authorities as soon as it was known that Ned McGowan was a part of it, as his reputation in the San Francisco papers had preceded him to British Columbia - so much so that when he first arrived in Victoria he was summoned by Governor Douglas and instructed to conduct himself accordingly in the Queen's domains. It seems that Mr. McGowan, a US miner, had fled California
in somewhat of a hurry . After a respectable career as Philadelphia lawyer and erstwhile state politician in Pennsylvania
, which ended in a scandal from which he was later absolved, he moved to California and became a judge of the Barbary Court, an Associate of the Court of Sessions, and other juridical positions, but California being the way it was in those days his associates there were gamblers, thugs and worse. McGowan and his friends became involved with the Law and Order Party and ran afoul of the powerful and even more dangerous Vigilance Committee
.
gold fields in what was then called New Caledonia
. They were among the first San Franciscan parties to reach the river, and their claim at Hill's Bar proved to be one of the richest. But also in the great mass movement of men to the Fraser from California were many members of the Vigilance Committee, including the individual McGowan had had the violent personal conflict with in San Francisco (a Danish doctor and dentist, Dr. Fifer). For their part, the Vigilance Committee did what they could to subvert civil authority in Yale and had come to own the corrupt local officials who ran the place, just as the Law and Order Party had brought under their sway the town's magistrate Perrier, Governor Douglas'
appointee to the bench in Hill's Bar.
to comment: "the gaol at Yale, which, being circumscribed in its limits, must when thus containing prosecutor, witnesses, and constable--everybody but the accused persons--have been rather inconveniently crowded."
The angry Hill’s Bar miners, headed by McGowan, set out with a warrant issued by the Hill's Bar magistrate Perrier to arrest the Yale magistrate Whannell for contempt of court for constable Hickson's imprisonment. McGowan, given the status of special constable by Perrier, threw open the jail and set all the prisoners free and brought magistrate Whannell back to Hill's Bar by boat. On the flotilla sent up from Hill's Bar flew the American flag, causing Whannell to remark that it seemed as if McGowan was going to make a national affair of the matter. The unpopular Whannell was convicted of contempt of court by Perrier, and released after the $50 fine was paid.
and declare the gold fields to be part of the United States.
Governor Douglas
mobilized what few troops he had, sending a party of Royal Engineers to Yale under the recently arrived Colonel Richard Moody
, (an able administrator handpicked by the Colonial Office in London to transform British Columbia into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west") while another group of Marines remained stationed at Fort Langley in case of any action by the nearby troops of the US Border Commission, then stationed in nearby Whatcom County. Accompanying the Royal Engineers to Yale was Justice Matthew Baillie Begbie
. After an arduous slog up the river by canoe, and across wet, half-frozen snow the twenty miles from Fort Hope to Yale, where Begbie convened court to hear the tangled web of cases and charges that had sprung up, thanks to the misconduct of both justices Perrier and Whannell, and thereby ending the war without a shot being fired.
McGowan was fined for assault and the magistrates were dismissed from their posts. The bloodless war
became well-known as Ned McGowan's War.
Bloodless war
A bloodless war is generally a small conflict, crisis, or dispute between rival groups that is resolved without death or injury, although the threat of violence usually seems very likely at the time. Typically, these events are recorded in history as wars even though the term "war" generally...
that took place in Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
in the fall of 1858. The conflict posed a threat to the newly-minted British authority on the British Columbia mainland, which had only just been declared a colony the previous summer, at the onset of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
. It was called Ned McGowan's War after one of the conflict's main protagonists.
McGowan
Ned McGowan (lawyer)
right|300px|thumb|Ned McGowan Edward McGowan was an American lawyer, Pennsylvania assemblyman, Judge of the California Court of Quarter Sessions, poet, Fraser Canyon gold seeker, adventurer, assistant sergeant-at-arms in the United States Congress, newspaper publisher and bon vivant instigator of...
was one of a group of associated miners at Hill's Bar, the richest and first gold-bearing bar of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
at which a ramshackle "town" had sprung up 5 miles below Yale. Hill's Bar was under the control of McGowan's party of former San Franciscans, who had flourished from the claim they had named "The Boatmen of San Francisco". All had been firemen in San Francisco, and had been associated with the Law and Order Party. Yale, on the other hand, had fallen into the sway of members of the notorious San Francisco Vigilance Committee
San Francisco Vigilance Movement
The San Francisco Committee of Vigilance was a popular ad hoc organization formed in 1851 and revived in 1856. Their purpose was to rein in rampant crime and government corruption. They were among the most successful organizations in the vigilante tradition of the American Old West.These militias...
which had ruled San Francisco through summary execution of suspected criminals, and were also the arch-enemies of the Law and Order Party - and of Ned McGowan especially.
This comedy of errors took on great importance to colonial authorities as soon as it was known that Ned McGowan was a part of it, as his reputation in the San Francisco papers had preceded him to British Columbia - so much so that when he first arrived in Victoria he was summoned by Governor Douglas and instructed to conduct himself accordingly in the Queen's domains. It seems that Mr. McGowan, a US miner, had fled California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in somewhat of a hurry . After a respectable career as Philadelphia lawyer and erstwhile state politician in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, which ended in a scandal from which he was later absolved, he moved to California and became a judge of the Barbary Court, an Associate of the Court of Sessions, and other juridical positions, but California being the way it was in those days his associates there were gamblers, thugs and worse. McGowan and his friends became involved with the Law and Order Party and ran afoul of the powerful and even more dangerous Vigilance Committee
Vigilance committee
A vigilance committee was a group formed of private citizens to administer law and order where they considered governmental structures to be inadequate. The term is commonly associated with the frontier areas of the American West in the mid-19th century, where groups attacked cattle rustlers and...
.
McGowan Stirs Up the Lower Fraser
A violent personal quarrel with a member of the Vigilance Committee in San Francisco precipitated a meeting in the fire hall which was the Law and Order group's headquarters, at which they chose to make their sudden departure to the newly-found Fraser RiverFraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
gold fields in what was then called New Caledonia
New Caledonia (Canada)
New Caledonia was the name given to a district of the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the territory largely coterminous with the present-day province of British Columbia, Canada. Though not a British colony, New Caledonia was part of the British claim to North America. Its administrative...
. They were among the first San Franciscan parties to reach the river, and their claim at Hill's Bar proved to be one of the richest. But also in the great mass movement of men to the Fraser from California were many members of the Vigilance Committee, including the individual McGowan had had the violent personal conflict with in San Francisco (a Danish doctor and dentist, Dr. Fifer). For their part, the Vigilance Committee did what they could to subvert civil authority in Yale and had come to own the corrupt local officials who ran the place, just as the Law and Order Party had brought under their sway the town's magistrate Perrier, Governor Douglas'
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
appointee to the bench in Hill's Bar.
Yuletide Fracas
The incident that provoked the war took place when one of the men from Hill’s Bar assaulted Isaac "Ikey" Dixon, Yale's American black barber, at the Christmas Dance, 1858. Some of the American miners took exception to the fact that the Christmas Dance was open to persons of all races.; Dixon was a voluble wag and wit, and in time would become a familiar newspaper columnist in the British Columbia newspapers.. Dixon, from Yale, laid a complaint before Peter Brunton Whannell, the Yale Justice of the Peace, and was promptly placed in "protective custody" at Yale, p. 137. In the meantime, the matter was also being investigated by George Perrier, Justice of the Peace for Hill's Bar. Perrier, with the assistance of Ned McGowan, a friend of the two suspects, was of the opinion that in the interests of a fair hearing he needed to hear evidence from the victim Dixon, before proceeding to deal with the persons who had committed the assault. Perrier accordingly sent his constable, Henry Hickson, with an order to pick up Dixon and bring him back to Hill's Bar.Duelling Magistrates
Meanwhile Whannell, induced by the men of the Vigilance Committee, issued a warrant for the arrest of the Hill's Bar man and ordered that it be served in Hill’s Bar. Perrier, the magistrate of Hill’s Bar took exception to this and issued a warrant for the arrest of Isaac Dixon in Yale. The constable Hickson who served the warrant on the barber interrupted Whannell’s court and was promptly thrown in the Yale jail for contempt of court when he refused to acknowledge Whannell as his superior. The jail at Yale was already full as a result of Whannell's 'law and order' agenda, a condition which prompted British Columbia's first judge, Matthew BegbieMatthew Baillie Begbie
Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie was born on the island of Mauritius, thereafter raised and educated in the United Kingdom...
to comment: "the gaol at Yale, which, being circumscribed in its limits, must when thus containing prosecutor, witnesses, and constable--everybody but the accused persons--have been rather inconveniently crowded."
The angry Hill’s Bar miners, headed by McGowan, set out with a warrant issued by the Hill's Bar magistrate Perrier to arrest the Yale magistrate Whannell for contempt of court for constable Hickson's imprisonment. McGowan, given the status of special constable by Perrier, threw open the jail and set all the prisoners free and brought magistrate Whannell back to Hill's Bar by boat. On the flotilla sent up from Hill's Bar flew the American flag, causing Whannell to remark that it seemed as if McGowan was going to make a national affair of the matter. The unpopular Whannell was convicted of contempt of court by Perrier, and released after the $50 fine was paid.
Reaction in Victoria: Moody's Royal Engineers to the Rescue
Whannell penned a hasty note to governor James Douglas, playing on Douglas' fears of the intentions of the Americans: "The town and district are in a state bordering on anarchy. My own and the lives of the citizens are in imminent peril...An effective blow must at once be struck on the operations of these outlaws, else I tremble for the welfare of the colony." Due to McGowan’s unsavoury reputation, the importance of the incident, which had the two communities up in arms, caused alarm in the colonial capital of Victoria. The story as relayed to Victoria by Vigilance Committee messengers was that Ned McGowan had launched an attempt to overthrow the British authority in the new colonyColony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
and declare the gold fields to be part of the United States.
Governor Douglas
James Douglas (Governor)
Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...
mobilized what few troops he had, sending a party of Royal Engineers to Yale under the recently arrived Colonel Richard Moody
Richard Moody
Major-General Richard Clement Moody was a Lieutenant-Governor, and later Governor, of the Falkland Islands, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of British Columbia. While serving under this post, he selected the site of the new capital, New Westminster...
, (an able administrator handpicked by the Colonial Office in London to transform British Columbia into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west") while another group of Marines remained stationed at Fort Langley in case of any action by the nearby troops of the US Border Commission, then stationed in nearby Whatcom County. Accompanying the Royal Engineers to Yale was Justice Matthew Baillie Begbie
Matthew Baillie Begbie
Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie was born on the island of Mauritius, thereafter raised and educated in the United Kingdom...
. After an arduous slog up the river by canoe, and across wet, half-frozen snow the twenty miles from Fort Hope to Yale, where Begbie convened court to hear the tangled web of cases and charges that had sprung up, thanks to the misconduct of both justices Perrier and Whannell, and thereby ending the war without a shot being fired.
McGowan was fined for assault and the magistrates were dismissed from their posts. The bloodless war
Bloodless war
A bloodless war is generally a small conflict, crisis, or dispute between rival groups that is resolved without death or injury, although the threat of violence usually seems very likely at the time. Typically, these events are recorded in history as wars even though the term "war" generally...
became well-known as Ned McGowan's War.