Marshal Francis A. Colclough

Age: 53
Midvale Police Department
Homicide: Handgun

Night Marshal Francis A. Colclough was shot to death during an attempted armed robbery. 

In the late evening hours, Marshal Colclough conducted a business check on the Vienna Saloon. As he was discussing with the bartender the robbery of a nearby saloon, two armed men entered and announced a holdup. Marshal Colclough and one of the armed robbers were mortally wounded during the pitched gun battle that ensued. A second robber escaped. A suspect was eventually arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison. However, this sentence was overturned in 1914 by the Utah Supreme Court. The suspect was not retried. Marshal Colclough was married and the father of four grown children. He is buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery. 

Five months later, the fiancé of Marshal Colclough’s daughter, Midvale Special Officer William C. Nelson, was also murdered in the line of duty.

The bronze memorial name plaque of Marshal Francis A. Colclough is sponsored by the Sandy Police Alliance, FOP Lodge 21.