"Colonel" William B. Hagans, was a veteran of the 1831-1932 Black Hawk Indian War along with his two brothers, James C. Hagans and Samuel C. Hagans. He shows up on the muster rolls as being only a Second Corporal from Sangamon County, Illinois in Captain Jesse Claywell's Company, in the 4th Regiment, 3rd Brigade Illinois Mounted Volunters. It was not that uncommon for the times, for an old soldier of a lesser rank to be given an appelation of a higher rank by his family and friends.

From a family history by Dr. John Baker:

Col. Hagans came out in the year 1849 from Missouri to California and settled in Petaluma on a ranch. He returned east again and made up a train of relatives of 31 wagons and started for California... There was no deaths on the trip... They brought 1000 head of cattle with them when they came west. They traveled in the wagons by day and did not always circle at night. The Indians came in camp once and took Uncle Williams Hagan's pinto stallion and rode him away. They also took one cow, but no one dared to interfere. Another time they followed and tried to take a couple of the girls (Aunt Adline and Cousin Helene Cockrill).

There were about 30 wagons in all and they were drawn by 4 to 6 oxen each. They came to the LaPlatte River which was up and they put logs on the sides of the wagons. There was a ferry but they wanted too much to cross. They met with severe weather at that river so they circled the wagons and built fires inside the circle. They took the northern pioneer route which ended at Sacramento. They milked the cows and put the milk in churns in the backs of the wagons and by traveling butter was made... One ox died so a milk cow was put in the yoke. Antelope and buffalo were killed for meat. The Indians set prairie fires, but as no trouble was wanted, no back fires were set...

After arriving from the east with the train, Col. Hagan and his family moved to Ukiah.

William appears to be listed in the early tax records for Allen County, Kentucky.

He is listed in the 1850 Census for Bates County, Missouri, living in District No. 6, dwelling #287, as William B. Hagans, age 42, a farmer born in Kentucky. Enumerated with Lucinda (a. 44, bp. KY), Alton [Oscar?] (a. 20, bp. IL), Anderson (a. 18, bp. IL), Cynthia (a. 16, female, bp. IL), Wallace (a. 12, bp. IL), and Edwin (a. 9, male, bp. IL). John Smith Hagans and family are listed as living in dwelling #283 in this census.

In the California 1852 Census for Sonoma County (page 39, line 25) recorded August 19, 1852, William is listed as William B. Hagans, a 45 year old farmer born in Kentucky whose last residence was Missouri. Also enumerated with him are Louisindy Hagans (a. 46, bp. KY), Oscar F. Hagans (a. 23, bp. IL, "farming"), William A. Hagans (a. 20, bp. IL), Wallace M. Hagans (a. 14, bp. IL), and Edwin R. B. Hagans (a. 11, bp. MO). William's family is listed right before James A. Cockrill's.

From E. B. Hagans, "Hagans" 1769 to 1887, p. 4:

On pp. 11-12:

From California Wagon Train Lists Volume 1, by Louis J. Rasmussen (San Francisco Historic Records, San Francisco: 1994), p. 166, a W. B. and O. F. Hagans show up on a list published in the Sacramento Union of 21 September 1852, of overland emigrants who arrived in Placerville during the second week of September 1852. This is an odd date in that it is between James Cockrill's return trip and the Cockrill-Hagans emigration of 1853 (they left Missouri April 24, 1853 and arrived in California on October 1, 1853). No other name associated with the Cockrill family is on this list.

From the biography of his son William Anderson Hagans in the History of Mendocino County, California, by Lyman L. Palmer (San Francisco: Alley, Bowen & Co., 1880), pages 645-646, it infers that William Boyd Hagans moved his family to Bates County, Missouri from Fulton County, Illinois around 1840. William and his son (Oscar) came to the California Gold Fields in 1849. In the biography of William Travis, it states that Colonel Hagans teamed up with Travis is the spring of 1850 and worked one of the forks of the American River until the fall. During the summer of 1851, Hagans worked with Travis to cut hay which they then lost in a flood, at the sink of Putah Creek in Yolo County.

The rest of the Hagans family, also came out in 1851 (along with James A. Cockrill and his family) and they met William and Oscar at the Sink of the Humbolt. The family arrived in Sacramento on September 17th, 1851. They lived at a ranch previously bought by William about twelve miles from Sacramento in Yolo County (probably the same place mentioned in the Travis biography where they had cut the hay). In January of 1852 the family moved upon a ranch about five miles from Pelaluma. Hagans and Travis, were also said to have returned East by way of Nicaragua to purchased "a drove of cattle, which they brought across the plains in 1853." This was undoubtedly, the Cockrill-Hagans wagon train, and it is assumed that this is the same return trip which had been planned by James A. Cockrill. However, the details of the Travis biography indicates that Colonel Hagans had left California to return to Bates County, Missouri, before James Cockrill had intended to leave since James was supposedly buying supplies for the return trip in Napa when he contacted small pox and suddenly died in February of 1853.

Though it is not mentioned in the 1880 biography of his son, Colonel Hagans had left his family at the "ranch," living in tents on a side of a hill with a house yet to be built. Oscar Hagans, who was not quite 24 and who had come out to California with his father, in 1849, passed away in Petaluma in May, before his father returned with the remaining Cockrill family members from Missouri. The Colonel's 8 year old daughter, Mary Francis, also passed away while he was gone or shortly after his return. According to William Zilhart's diary, the wagon train led by Colonel Hagans, Larkin Cockrill, and Henry Beaver arrived at his tent ranch in Petaluma on October 1, 1853.

William Hagan ran numerous ads similar to the above over the succeeding years in the Sonoma County Journal published in Petaluma. His ranch (along with his son's) is often listed as being in the Vallejo Township. This was an area between Sonoma on the east, Petaluma and Analy on the west, and extending from Santa Rosa on the north to San Pablo Bay.

From the Sonoma County Journal, Petaluma, Vol. 2, No. 3, 5 Sep 1856, p. 2:

William and his wife moved to Mendocino county probably at the same time as William Anderson in 1863. After the death of his wife, William ended up living with William Anderson, who by then, owned and operated the Ukiah Hotel in Mendocino County.

A listing of all the Hagans buried in the Ukiah Cemetery (also known as the Russian River Cemetery) can be found USGenWeb Archives (thanks to Hagans family researcher, William Lon Hagan Jr. for this link).