Volney Howard

Volney Howard's life traced the arc of American westward expansion. Born in Maine, he practiced law in Mississippi before the promise of a new start drew him to the raw, Mexican-controlled territory of California in the 1840s. He swiftly became a central, often controversial, figure in its turbulent politics. A staunch American partisan, Howard was a vocal agitator during the Bear Flag Revolt and the subsequent U.S. annexation. His reward was an appointment as U.S. Attorney for California, where he aggressively, and some said overzealously, prosecuted land claim cases, becoming a lightning rod in the conflicts between Anglo settlers and Californios. Later, he helped draft the state's first constitution and served in Congress, his career embodying the rough-and-tumble legal birth of a new American state.