He was also noted for his prickly attitude toward both U.S. Presidents whose terms overlapped his own -- Benjamin Harrison and Cleveland, whom he once famously told via telegram to mind his own business.

[4] At the trial, federal judge and Pennoyer adversary Matthew Deady ruled in favor of Neff, with the Supreme Court affirming the decision in 1877.

[4] Pennoyer was compelled to give the land back to Neff, and the property became a part of the Willamette Heights neighborhood in later years.

[5] In 1885 he ran for mayor of Portland, but lost to John Gates, partly due to his record of sympathy for the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

[3] The following year he ran for Governor of Oregon against T. R. Cornelius, gaining support for advocating the use of American labor over Chinese immigrants.

When Harrison came to Salem, Pennoyer kept him waiting in the train station (in the rain) and arrived 10 minutes late.

[4] While in office Pennoyer declared without authority that the Oregon Supreme Court lacked the power to invalidate legislative acts on constitutional grounds.

The Democrats were able to get hold of the cannon by using an unpaid blacksmith's bill for $10 as a pretext to have the sheriff seize the weapon, and the salute was fired on schedule.

Just a few months later, on May 3, 1893, he refused to use his resources to protect Chinese Americans when asked to do so by Grover Cleveland's Secretary of State on May 3, 1893.

"[3] He also moved Thanksgiving Day in Oregon one week ahead of the national holiday in 1894 in further protest to President Cleveland's request.

[9] Throughout his terms in office, Pennoyer had an antagonistic relationship with Oregonian newspaper editor Harvey Scott, who referred to him in editorials as "His Eccentricity.

"[11] The legislature came within one vote of overriding this veto, but it stood, and Judge Matthew Deady—who had drafted it—was so put out that he called the governor "Sylpester Annoyer.