List of governors of Dakota Territory

Eleven people were appointed governor of Dakota Territory by the President of the United States during its existence, though one, John F. Potter, declined the post.^[3]

A provisional government formed in January 1859 and elected Wilmot Brookings as territorial governor, but the federal government refused to acknowledge the provisional government as official.

Governors of the Territory of Dakota

No.	Governor		Term in office[a]	Appointing President
1		William Jayne[b] (1826–1916) [4][5]	May 27, 1861[c] – March 1, 1863 (resigned)[d]	Abraham Lincoln
2		Newton Edmunds (1819–1908) [3][8]	October 6, 1863[e] – August 4, 1866 (successor appointed)	Abraham Lincoln
3		Andrew Jackson Faulk[f] (1814–1898) [14][15]	August 4, 1866[g] – May 10, 1869 (successor appointed)	Andrew Johnson
4		John A. Burbank[h] (1827–1905) [18][19]	May 10, 1869[i] – January 1, 1874 (resigned)[j]	Ulysses S. Grant
5		John L. Pennington (1829–1900) [23][24]	January 1, 1874[k] – March 12, 1878 (successor appointed)	Ulysses S. Grant
6		William Alanson Howard (1813–1880) [27][28]	March 12, 1878[l] – April 10, 1880 (died in office)	Rutherford B. Hayes
7		Nehemiah G. Ordway (1828–1907) [31][32]	May 22, 1880[m] – July 2, 1884 (successor appointed)	Rutherford B. Hayes
8		Gilbert A. Pierce (1839–1901) [35][36]	July 2, 1884[n] – February 3, 1887 (resigned)[o]	Chester A. Arthur
9		Louis K. Church (1846–1897) [40][41]	February 3, 1887[p] – March 13, 1889 (resigned)[q]	Grover Cleveland
10		Arthur C. Mellette (1842–1896) [46][47]	March 13, 1889[r] – November 2, 1889 (elected state governor)[s]	Benjamin Harrison

• List of governors of North Dakota
• List of governors of South Dakota

General

Specific