John W. Dawson

1861, Democrat/Republican

John W. Dawson served a very short term as territorial governor. He was in Utah for one month before heading back East. Combative feelings existed between Governor Dawson and the Mormon population. Three men attacked and beat him in Parley's Canyon while he was leaving the territory. Law officers later killed the men.

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

This page was last updated May 29, 2002.