| Description |
1 online resource (xi, 270 pages) : illustrations, map |
| Summary |
"Few people in the nineteenth-century American West could boast the achievements of Peter Burnett. He helped organize the first major wagon train to the Oregon Country. He served on Oregon's first elected government and was Oregon's first supreme court judge. He opened a wagon road from Oregon to California. He worked with the young John Sutter to develop the new city of Sacramento. Within a year of arriving in California, voters overwhelmingly elected him as the first US governor. He also won appointment to the California Supreme Court.<BR /><BR /> It was one heck of a resume. Yet with the exception of the wagon road to California, in none of these roles was Burnett considered successful or well remembered. Indeed, he resigned from many of his most important positions, including the governorship, where he was widely perceived a failure.<BR /><BR /> Burnett's weakness was that he refused to take advice from others. He insisted on marching to his own drum, even when it led to some terrible decisions. A former slaveholder, he could never seem to get beyond his single-minded goal of banning blacks and other minorities from the West.<BR /><BR />The Troubled Life of Peter Burnett is the first full-length biography of this complicated character. Historians, scholars, and general readers with an interest in Western history will welcome R. Gregory Nokes' accessible and deeply researched account."-- Provided by publisher |
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"The biography of the first governor of California and early Oregon pioneer, who organized the first major wagon train to the Oregon Country, served on Oregon's first elected government, and was Oregon's first supreme court judge"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Machine generated contents note: pt. I TENNESSEE AND MISSOURI -- 1. Death of a Slave -- 2. Sinking into Debt -- 3. Burnett and the Mormons -- pt. II OREGON -- 4. Fleeing Debt on the Oregon Trail -- 5. Marcus and Narcissa: Dying for a Cause -- 6. Short Oregon History: Astor's Debacle -- 7. Burnett's Not-Going-to-Happen Big City -- 8. Rewriting Oregon -- 9. Lash Law: "Disgrace and Infamy" -- 10. Considering His Options -- 11. Those Darned Debts Again -- pt. III CALIFORNIA -- 12. Lusting for California Gold -- 13. Sutter: "They ... Ate My Good Indians!" -- 14. Samuel Brannan: The Midas Touch -- 15. Spoils of an Unwanted War -- 16. Selling Sacramento -- 17. Matching Wits with the General -- 18. Slavery and the Border -- pt. IV FIRST GOVERNOR -- 19. Stumbling Out of the Gate -- 20. Squatters Everywhere -- 21. Racing toward Statehood -- 22. Governor Resigns, but Why? -- 23. Rescue at Sea -- 24. On the Court with Archy Lee -- 25. Terry and Broderick at Ten Paces -- 26. Finally the Good Life -- 27. Retreating to Religion -- Epilogue. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
Burnett, Peter H. (Peter Hardeman), 1807-1895.
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Burnett, Peter H. (Peter Hardeman), 1807-1895 https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJjXk7Q7kDHbXXMtD3jwG3 |
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Governors -- California -- Biography.
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California -- History -- 1846-1850.
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California -- Politics and government -- 1850-1950.
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Legislators -- Oregon -- Biography.
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Frontier and pioneer life -- Oregon.
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Pioneers -- Oregon.
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Pioneers -- California.
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Historical. |
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Political. |
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HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, UT, WY) |
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HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- Pacific Northwest (OR, Wash.) |
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HISTORY -- United States -- State & Local -- General. |
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Frontier and pioneer life |
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Governors |
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Legislators |
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Pioneers |
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Politics and government |
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California https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJt8p3GDkhpJkC9y6FY3wC |
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Oregon https://id.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39QbtfRDY9Q8vrYX74W7HTxKM |
| Chronological Term |
1846-1950 |
| Genre/Form |
Biographies
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History
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Nokes, R. Gregory. Troubled life of Peter Burnett. Corvallis, OR : Oregon State University Press, 2018 9780870719325 (DLC) 2018002730 (OCoLC)1007036179 |
| ISBN |
9780870719332 (electronic bk.) |
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0870719335 (electronic bk.) |
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9780870719325 |
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0870719327 |
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