Photo Courtesy Utah State Historical Society In 1895 Heber Manning Wells was elected the first governor of the State of Utah after it gained statehood. He was elected for a five year term on the Republican ticket and in 1900 was re-elected for a four year term until January 2, 1905. Wells was a member of the constitutional convention which framed the constitution under which Utah was admitted as a state. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1875.

Today, Utah inaugurated its 17th governor, Gary Herbert, for his second term.

Here is a photo gallery of some of Utah’s previous governors, including those of the Utah Territory before it became a state in 1896. The U.S. president appointed 15 territorial governors from 1850 until Utah became a state 1896.

John W. Dawson’s three-week term was the shortest, and Brigham Young’s seven-year run as the first territorial governor was the period’s longest. The state’s longest serving governor was Calvin Rampton, who served three terms from 1965 to 1977. Olene Walker served the shortest term, the remaining 14 months of Mike Leavitt’s term upon Leavitt’s resignation to become head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

At age 36, Heber Manning Wells was the youngest person to become Utah’s governor, and at the age of 70, Simon Bamberger became the oldest to be elected. Walker, at 72, was the oldest person to enter the office.