The first territorial appointments were made in June and July 1854. The officers appointed by President Franklin Pierce. They were confirmed by the United States Senate. The first governor was Democrat Andrew Horatio Reeder. Reeder was completely in sympathy with the pro-slavery southerners. He took the oath of office in Washington, DC on July 7, 1854. He arrived in Kansas on October 7, the same year. Reeder became one of the most active land speculators in the territory. In 1855, this conflict of interest finally got him fired as governor by President Pierce.