Peter Burnett was an important figure in the early history of Oregon and California. A lawyer, businessman, farmer and speculator, Burnett gained his greatest fame in government. He was in Oregon’s territorial legislature before moving to California, where he became that state’s first elected governor in late 1849.
But his legacy is mixed because he wanted blacks to be excluded from both places. He also proposed heavy taxation on foreign immigrants and worked to remove Native American

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows