Walter Colton

(Image: Engraving of Walter Colton (1797-1851. Image is inscribed, "Very sincerely yours, Walter Colton". Original source. Author unknown. Considered in the public domain)






Rev. Walter Colton, the first American government official in California and a Yale-education chaplain, was aboard one of the Navy warships that visited Monterey after Commodore John Sloat seized the West from Mexico in 1846. Colton was appointed alcalde, or chief magistrate, of everything within 300 miles of Monterey.