Alexander Howison Murray Jr.

Alexander Howison Murray Jr. (1907–1993), known as Sandy Murray, was a two-time mayor of Placerville, California and three-time president of the county's chamber of commerce, who championed regional development, including the building of U.S. Route 50 in California (US 50) and was a regular page-one name in the Placerville Mountain Democrat.

Background Alexander Howison Murray Jr. was born on April 18, 1907, in Long Beach, California. His parents were Scottish-American Alexander Howison Murray Sr., and Spanish-Irish-American Katharine da la Ossa Kevane. He was also a fifth-generation "Californio" descended from Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné (1766–1878). In 1924, Murray graduated Long Beach High School. He studied economics the University of California, Berkeley (which he reached by boat or train from Long Beach). In 1944 during World War II, he joined in the US Navy through 1945; his wife ran the store in his absence. In June 1949, they sold the stationery store to Edward H. Durbin, following Murray's purchase of the El Dorado Distributing company from George Yeager. By 1975, Murray had retired from business.

Politics In 1942, Murray became mayor of Placerville for the first time. In April 1946, Murray ran un-opposed for Placerville City Council. In April 1948, he was re-elected to city council. From 1950 to 1952, he served a second term as mayor of Placerville. In 1976, he ran and won a council seat again. Later that year, Murray and fellow councilmen Andy Anderson and Mark Tetrault came under fire from the mayor and other councilmen for leading a 3–2 vote in an amendment to reduce appointive powers of the city manager. Murray was among several councilors recalled in March 1977.

In the late 1940s, Murray led town officials in a successfully campaign to have US 50 constructed through Placerville, which the State of California completed in 1953. "To help draw attention to the highway and promote businesses along it, he helped organize the first 'Forty-Niner' Festival and Wagon Train (or Wagon Caravan) event in 1949," which he supported annually as late as 1962 when he served as "chairman for the annual Highway 50 Snow Ball." He continued to support the highway by serving on the board of the National Highway 50 federation with California Senator Swift Berry as chairman.

In 1975, Murray took out papers to run again for city council.

In another letter dated June 8, 1987, he called on fellow citizens to rally support for a South Fork American River (SOFAR) project. (The South Fork American River is a major tributary of the American River in El Dorado County, California, that drains a watershed on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento. The river begins in pristine Desolation Wilderness and flows through the Sierra Nevada foothills. The river at Coloma was the site of James Marshall's discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, which started the California Gold Rush. )

Community Murray served many years also on the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce and served as a director, committee chair, and president (elected 1935, 1937 1954 ).

Murray helped organize local support for the 1960 Winter Olympics at Olympic Valley.

Murray was bilingual in Spanish and English. "He was a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West and all his life remained interested in American history, particularly that of California's and its transformation with the discovery of oil and the influx of new residents during and after World War II." In 1955, E Clampus Vitus elected him Noble Grand Humbug. He was also a board member of the local Rod and Gun Club, of which his brother-in-law Lloyd A. Raffetto was a director.

Murray converted from Presbyterianism to Roman Catholicism and spent his last active years as an elder in St. Patrick's Catholic parish of Placerville.

Murray died age 86 on October 26, 1993, in Frederick, Maryland of renal failure. 1950s: Local support for the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley 1980s: Preservation of the South Fork American River – today "the most popular recreation stream in the West" for whitewater rafting in North America, e.g., 80,000 visitors in 2011.