Frank M. Pixley, 8th Attorney General

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Photo of Frank M. Pixley
Born in Westmoreland, New York on January 31, 1825. Pixley arrived in California on muleback, and spent two winters at the north fork of the Yuba working the mines. A miner, writer, lawyer, politician and journalist, it was said by some that in his day, he “probably exerted a more commanding influence upon the public mind of California than any other man.

” After losing his reelection bid for Attorney General, he ventured east to catch a taste of the Civil War. He posed as a California Senator so he could ride side by side with General Grant at the Battle of Cold Harbor. Pixley retired from politics in 1877 to pursue his lifelong dream - newspaper publishing - creating the weekly publication, the Argonaut. He died in San Francisco in 1895 at the age of 70.