Governor West

1886-1888, 1893-1896, Democrat

About the West Administration

Caleb Walton West served two non-consecutive terms as governor of Utah. President Grover Cleveland appointed him in both instances. He first served from 1886 to1889 and then from 1893 to1896. His second term ended when Utah became a state and a new governor was elected. Governor West supported the Edmunds-Tucker Law of 1887, an anti-polygamy law, and strongly believed church and political power needed to be separated in Utah. Significant events in Utah history occurred during West's terms: a legislative appropriation for what is now Utah State University and for a training school in Ogden; the opening of Saltaire, a resort on the Great Salt Lake; the federal government seizure of the LDS Church property for a period; the pardoning of polygamists; and the Constitutional Convention held in 1895. Caleb W. West was the last governor of the Territory of Utah and the first to pass the leadership to the governor of the State of Utah.

Powell, Allan Kent, ed. Utah History Encyclopedia. Territorial Governors, by Miriam B. Murphy. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1994.

"The Governors of Utah." Improvement Era. Vol. IV No. 10 (August 1901).