As Governor, McDougal presided over the creation of the Mariposa Battalion, a state militia unit that killed over 40 Indigenous Californians during the California Indian Wars.

McDougal signed legislation to move the state capital from San Jose to Vallejo in modern-day Solano County.

After failing to secure the nomination of the California Democratic Party in the 1852 election, McDougal left office and never served in a political capacity for the rest of his life.

Due to widespread discontent with his administration by the California State Legislature and press, Burnett resigned from the governorship in early January 1851.

In the ensuing conflict, which left over forty dead, the Mariposa Battalion became the first Whites to see Yosemite, while the local tribes ceased violent reprisals on the miner and trader population.

However, recurring drinking, gambling with assembly and senate members, and frequent quarrels over minor bureaucratic matters hurt his political career.

In a gubernatorial proclamation, he openly condemned the movement's lynching of two criminals that year, citing its complete disregard of the city's municipal authorities.

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.

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.

When this cemetery was removed from San Francisco, his remains were moved to the Laurel Hill Mound of Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.

John Eldredge was cast as Governor McDougal in "The Blonde King," a 1959 episode of the syndicated anthology series Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.