Idaho History Guide

Humans may have been present in the Idaho region as long as 14000 years ago. Native American tribes present in the area included the Nez Perce in the north and the Northern and Western Shoshone in the south. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was dispatched to explore lands including parts of Idaho. They crossed into northern Idaho in 1805. Sacagawea, the teenage Shoshone who helped guide the expedition, was born in Idaho. There they found the land too dry to farm, but many animals that could be hunted for furs. In 1809, the British opened the first trading post in Idaho. Soon afterwards fur traders came from all over to trade with the Indians for furs. In 1846, the United States signed an agreement with Great Britain for part of the Oregon Country. This land included all of Idaho.

In the 1846 Treaty of Oregon the British ceded their claims to lands which included the area now known as Idaho and set the northern border at the 49th parallel. When Oregon was admitted as the 33rd state in 1859, all of Idaho was included in the Washington Territory.

In 1860, farmers began to irrigate the land and plant potatoes. Members of the Mormon religion founded Idaho's first permanent settlement, Franklin. That same year miners found gold, and mining towns such as Boise and Idaho City were established. The influx of settlers was large enough to force Congress to create the Idaho Territory so on March 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory from portions of Washington Territory and Dakota Territory with its capital at Lewiston. The original Idaho Territory included most of the areas that later became the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and had a population of under 17,000. Two years later the capital was moved to Boise.

In 1876-77 the Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph, made their heroic but unsuccessful attempt to flee to Canada while being pursued by U.S. troops. By the 1880s, all Native Americans in Idaho were living on reservations.

When President Benjamin Harrison signed the law admitting Idaho as a U.S. state on July 3, 1890, the population was 88,548. George L. Shoup became the state's first governor, but resigned after only a few weeks in office to take a seat in the United States Senate.

During the 1890s, poor working conditions encouraged miners to join unions, the largest of these being the Western Federation of Miners. In 1892, violence broke out between union miners and nonunion men and the mine owners. When a second strike broke out in 1899, Governor Frank Steunenberg declared martial law and federal troops were called in to regulate the situation. That same year, a miner rigged a bomb that murdered Governor Steunenberg. The murder trial, held in 1907, attracted worldwide attention. Over time, miners gained better pay and working conditions.

The government work projects during the Great Depression (1929-1939) resulted in many roads, bridges and recreation projects built in Idaho. After World War II the economy shifted from mainly agricultural to food processing and manufacturing.

Mining and lumbering have been important for years. Idaho ranks high among the states in silver, antimony, lead, cobalt, garnet, phosphate rock, vanadium, zinc, and mercury. The Snake River has been diverted by dams to provide irrigation for Idaho's agriculture. Only three states have more irrigated land than Idaho. Agriculture is a major industry: The state produces about one fourth of the nation's potato crop, as well as wheat, apples, corn, barley, sugar beets, and hops.

The 1990s saw a remarkable growth in the high technology industries, concentrated in the metropolitan Boise area.

With the growth of winter sports, tourism now outranks other industries in revenue. Idaho's many streams and lakes provide fishing, camping, and boating sites. The nation's largest elk herds draw hunters from all over the world, and the famed Sun Valley resort attracts thousands of visitors to its swimming, golfing, and skiing facilities.

Idaho was one of several states that received the brunt of nuclear fallout from tests at the Nevada Test Site during the 1950s and 1960s. Reports published by the U.S. Government indicate that many Idaho citizens perished and continue to suffer as a result of these tests. As of September 2007, there are continuing efforts in the U.S. congress to compensate victims.

Idaho Famous People

• Joe Albertson (1907 - 1993) Grocery chain founder, opened his first grocery store in Boise.
• Ezra Taft Benson (1899 - 1994) Former secretary of Agriculture, prophet of the LDS church; born in Whitney.
• Gutzon Borglum (1867 - 1941) The Sculptor of Mount Rushmore; born near Bear Lake.
• Lou Dobbs - Anchor and managing editor of CNN's Lou Dobbs Moneyline; grew up in Rupert.
• Fred Dubois (1851 - 1930) Senator, born in Crawford County.
• Bill Fagerbakke (1957 - ) Played an assistant coach on the hit television series "Coach"; graduate of the University of Idaho.
• Philo T. Farnsworth (1906 - 1971) Inventor of television.  He first came up with the idea when he was only 14 years old.  Emigrated to Rigby in 1919 at the age of 11.
• Harmon Killebrew (1936 - )Played baseball for the Minnesota Twins and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame; born in Payette.
• Patrick McManus (1933 - ) Author, born near Sandpoint.
• Ezra Pound (1885 - 1972) Poet; born in Hailey.
• Paul Revere (1938 - ) Musician, raised in Caldwell.
• Sacagawea (c. 1790 -1812 or 1884) The Shoshone Indian that interpreted for explorers Lewis and Clark; born in eastern Idaho.
• Picabo Street (1971 - ) skier, 2-time Olympic medallist, born in Triumph.