that year, citing its complete disregard of the city's municipal authorities. State law enforcement was still 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 McDougal as the party's choice for governor. Instead, state Democrats nominated Assembly Speaker John Bigler as their party's nominee. Post-political career McDougal left office on January 8, 1852, after completing the single two-year term left vacant by previous Governor Burnett. At the time, California governors served two-year terms, a limit that would not change until the governorship of Leland Stanford in the early 1860s. Just four days after leaving the state's highest office, McDougal was involved in a pistol duel with A. C. Russell, editor of The San Francisco Picayune. Russell's hand was injured in the duel. After attempting to start yet another duel with another individual who had insulted the ex-governor, McDougal was arrested by the San Francisco Police. As governor, McDougal had opposed state legislation that would have outlawed dueling, remarking duelers were not fit to live and would eventually kill each other off. Never taken as a serious political candidate again, McDougal fell out of public view after 1852. The former governor increasingly turned to alcohol as he sank into deep depression. According to some accounts, McDougal attempted suicide on several occasions. McDougal died in San Francisco on March 30, 1866, at the age of 48. Along with J. Neely Johnson, McDougal is one of the youngest governors to die after leaving office. He was buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery in San Francisco, sharing a plot with his brother David McDougal. When this cemetery was removed from San Francisco, his remains were moved to the Laurel Hill Mound of the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. The actor John Eldredge was cast as Governor McDougal in the 1959 episode, "The Blonde King", on the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. In the story line, James D. Savage (Lane Bradford) has made many friends among Indians of the Yosemite region. When John Trask (Brad Johnson) threatens to disrupt the peace, Savage must stop him. Robert Brubaker played Major Warren. References External links John McDougall biography at the California State Library 1818 births 1866 deaths Democratic