Ned McGowan’s War

The greatest war that never was!

They say the nicest thing about Ned McGowan was his horse. At times in his life he had been a member of the Philadelphia Legislature and Captain of Police, Commissioner of Immigrants and an Associate Judge in San Francisco as well as the editor of a scandalous newspaper. Throughout the summer of 1858, a wave of vigilantism swept through San Francisco and Ned was forced to flee with his life.

Header Image: Fort Yale and gold hunter's camp, Frazer's River (1858)

*Courtesy of BC Provincial Archives (PDP01885)

1858 was a pivotal time in British Columbia’s history. The new colony replaced the Hudson’s Bay fur reserve (then known as “New Caledonia”) and when gold was discovered in great abundance along Frazer’s River, it triggered an exodus of rough-and-tumble miners from California.

November 25, 1858 This John Innes painting of the inauguration of the Crown Colony of British Columbia, resides at Fort Langley National Historic Site. Among those pictured are Judge Matthew Begbie, appointed governor James Douglas, and Colonel Richard Clements Moody of the Royal Engineers. Within weeks, these men were called to the Fraser Canyon to deal with the threat of annexation.

*Photograph by Erik Prosser

When Ned McGowan arrived in the Fraser Canyon that winter, he was among 30,000 Americans laying claim to the richest gold diggings at Hill’s Bar near Yale. An act of British Parliament had created The Crown Colony of British Columbia only weeks before and British claim to the gold region was still somewhat precarious. When violence irrupted in Yale on Christmas Day 1858 Ned McGowan saw his opportunity to raise a little fuss.

McGowan saw an opportunity; with Americans at the time greatly outnumbering British subjects in the area, he believed that possession of the new gold fields could easily be annexed to the United States. Ned never counted on Governor James Douglas who, with his decisive manor and stiff poker face, quelled the would-be rebellion. The incident would come to be known as “Ned McGowan’s War.”

Edward ‘Ned’ McGowan (left) Signed "Your friend, Edward Gowan”, pictured is from an autographed copy of his self-published work; The Narrative of Ned McGowan, Including the Full Account of the Author’s Adventures and Perils While Persecuted by the San Francisco Vigilance Committee in 1856.

*Courtesy of BC Provincial Archives (B-04076)

Sir James Douglas (left) The first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia was born at Demerara, British Guiana, in 1803. James Douglas was the son of Scottish merchant and a “free coloured woman”, who entered the fur trade at the age of 16. Douglas resigned as Chief Factor for Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Victoria, to accept the governorship.

*Courtesy of City of Surrey Archive

Ned McGowan's War

Tiller's Folly

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All songs, music & lyrics by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN) except: The Ballad of John Rae by Bruce Coughlan & Jim Smith (SOCAN) All tracks produced by Laurence Knight except: Laurence Knight & Steven Drake (15, 23) Read more

Ned McGowan’s War

Ned McGowan was a crooked judge from San Francisco way
As vigilantes purged the town, McGowan slipped away
To the goldfields of the Fraser where he quickly drew acclaim
With the wave of Forty-niners from Californ-i-ay
In the year of '58

As winter came, the gravel froze, so they couldn't pan for gold
Bravado mixed with whiskey, as they tried to beat the cold
Up pipes Ned McGowan "boys, are ya feeling very bold?
What say we all kick up a fuss and start ourselves a war?

If you lived to be a hundred
And you roamed the wide world over
You'd never live to see the likes of Ned McGowan's War

In the town of Yale that Christmas day
Two of McGowan's men
Pistol-whipped the barber and they snuck right back again
To Hill's Bar and Ned McGowan, and he tells them never fear,
For their Justice of the Peace has no jurisdiction here
And we'll turn him on his ear!"

When word came back to Hill's Bar
That their constable was gaoled
They deputized McGowan's men to bring him back from Yale
They stormed into the courtroom, took the Justice custody
Then they fined him fifty dollars and they went out on a spree

If you lived to be a hundred
And you roamed the wide world over
You'd never live to see the likes of Ned McGowan's War

The Justice wrote to Douglas, and appealed for relief
This shifty Ned McGowan, he's the cause of all our grief
He's a threat of annexation and if he is left alone
Of Californians he could raise an army of his own

With near two dozen Sappers came the Governor's reply
Fifty sailors and marines with a field piece close behind
And so a strange flotilla made way from Derby side
With a steamboat and a whaleboat, and a war canoe besides

If you lived to be a hundred
And you roamed the wide world over
You'd never live to see the likes of Ned McGowan's War

When Ned McGowan came to town
To the court he was arraigned
But they quickly dropped the charges as he craftily explained
The boys were sworn & deputized
When the Justice they'd detained
So court adjourned, and they all shook hands
And toasted with champagne

If you lived to be a hundred
And you roamed the wide world over
You'd never live to see the likes of Ned McGowan's War
You could sail the salt sea over
To the west, south, east and north
You'd never live to see the likes of Ned McGowan's War

Words & Music by Bruce Coughlan (SOCAN)