David W. Ballard

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David W. Ballard

3^rd Governor of Idaho Territory
In office 1866 – 1870
Preceded by	Caleb Lyon
Succeeded by	Thomas M. Bowen

Born	February 21, 1824 Marion County, Indiana
Died	September 8, 1875 (aged 51) Lebanon, Oregon
Political party	Republican
Profession	Physician

David W. Ballard (born February 21, 1824 in Marion County, Indiana – died September 8, 1875 in Lebanon, Oregon) was governor of Idaho Territory from 1866 to 1870. A physician by trade, Ballard actively practiced medicine in Boise throughout his tenure as territorial governor.

On the recommendation of Oregon Senator George Henry Williams, Ballard was appointed territorial governor by President Andrew Johnson in April 1866. When he arrived in Idaho Territory in June he found the government in serious disarray. The territory was still reeling from the mismanagement of Ballard's predecessor, Caleb Lyon, deeply divided over the controversial decision to move the capital from Lewiston to Boise, and nearly broke because former territorial secretary Horace C. Gilson had embezzeled most of the territory's funds while serving as acting governor between Lyon and Ballard's administrations.

A Republican who supported the Union during the Civil War, Ballard often clashed bitterly with the overwhelmingly Democratic and pro-Confederate territorial legislature. This infighting resulted in Ballard's temporary suspension by Johnson in 1867. Johnson reinstated Ballard before a successor could take office.

Despite these difficulties, by 1869 Ballard's administration patched its differences with the territorial legislature and managed to address many of the serious issues it inherited. Some Idahoans petitioned newly innagurated President Ulysses S. Grant to retain Ballard as governor, but by the time the petition reached Grant he had already appointed a successor. Ballard returned to Oregon after his appointment expired.