Letter from John Heard to Peter H. Burnett, 1850.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Letter from John Heard to Peter H. Burnett, 1850.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84657012

The item is a facsimile of a letter from John Heard to Peter H. Burnett, Governor of California, recounting the events of the Sacramento Squatter Riots of August 14, 1850, a dispute, in which several men died, over rights to settle on John Sutter's land grant. Heard gives a detailed account of the shootout at 4th and J Streets and of the thwarted attack on a prison ship docked on the Sacramento waterfront. He names several of the dead and wounded on both sides, including Mayor Harkin Bigelow and Dr. Charles Robinson (one of the leaders of the squatters). Heard also discusses the non-violent clashes and litigation that led up to the gunfight, and assures the Governor that the squatters will be "brought to justice."

1 piece.3 pages.

Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8325292

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6794cnp (person)

Charles Robinson was born at Hardwick, Mass., July 21, 1818. He was educated at Hadley Academy, Amherst Academy, and Amherst College. For 8 years he studied medicine and in 1843 opened his own practice in Belchertown, Mass. He married Sarah Adams the same year, but she died in 1846. In 1849 he went to California for his health, and while there became a newspaper editor, was indicted for murder but acquitted, and was elected to the Legislature. He returned to Massachusetts in 1851, r...

California. Governor (1849-1851 : Burnett)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6ms7r1j (corporateBody)

Burnett, Peter H. (Peter Hardeman), 1807-1895

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m61td5 (person)

Burnett was Governor when California was admitted into the U.S. in 1850. From the description of ALS, 1851 January 3 : San Jose, to Thomas Fox Taylor. (Copley Press, J S Copley Library). WorldCat record id: 16951352 Peter Hardeman Burnett, the first American Governor of the state of California, was born in Tennessee in 1807. He was admitted to the bar in 1839. In 1843, he and his family moved to Oregon where he helped form the territorial government. In 1848, Burnett moved t...

Heard, John, fl. 1850.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62c69t0 (person)

John Heard was a resident of Sacramento in 1850. He sent a report on the August 14 Squatter Riots to the California governor immediately following the events. He may also have been an early Superior Court Judge in Sacramento. From the description of Letter from John Heard to Peter H. Burnett, 1850. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 84657012 ...

Bigelow, Hardin, 1809-1850.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fn8jzm (person)