Native Americans in Idaho
Southern Idaho is the ancestral home of the Newenee or Shoshonean people, speakers of the Shoshone, Bannock and Piute languages. The English name Shoshone comes from So-so-goi, meaning “those who travel on foot.” Sacagawea, who famously assisted the Lewis and Clark expedition, was born in a Shoshone village on the border of Idaho and Montana.
Other Native American tribes in Idaho include the Coeur d'Alene, whose ancestral home is Coeur d'Alene Lake in northern Idaho. The traditional lands of the Kootenai and Nez Perce also extend into parts of Idaho, Washington, Montana and Canada.
As was the case throughout the West, Native American populations in Idaho were decimated by disease and deprivation. Indians were forcibly displaced from their lands by Anglo settlers, broken government treaties and military raids.
On January 29, 1863, a U.S. Army militia led by Colonel Patrick E. Connor killed an estimated 500 Northwestern Shoshone Indians near modern-day Preston, Idaho. The Bear River Massacre was the worst slaughter of Native Americans in recorded history, with more than twice the deaths of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Trappers, Pioneers and Gold
Because of its remote location, Idaho was one of the last areas reached by Anglo explorers among all the territories that would become the United States. Lewis and Clark first arrived in 1805, quickly followed by fur trappers who exported exotic and valuable pelts to Europe.
In the 1840s the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail was blazed through southern Idaho and brought wagonloads of missionaries, pioneers and prospectors. By the 1860s a large number of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) had migrated north from Utah's Salt Lake Valley and settled across Southern Idaho.
When gold was discovered in the Boise Basin on August 2, 1862, it triggered a major gold rush that attracted hordes of fortune-seekers to the untamed territory.
Divided by Religion, Idaho Becomes 43rd State
President Abraham Lincoln signed an act making Idaho a territory in 1863, but it took almost another 30 years to attain full statehood.
During the late 1800s Idaho was divided between the LDS-dominated south and the anti-LDS north. At the time, the church still practiced polygamy, which was illegal. In 1884 the Idaho Legislature passed a “test oath” barring any LDS church members from voting or holding office in the territory. Since most LDS voters were Democrats, it was a boon for Idaho Republicans.
Republicans in Congress, eager to boost their numbers, pushed for Idaho to become a state. On July 3, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed a bill making Idaho the 43rd state. The very next day (July 4), a new star was added to the American flag.
Agricultural Irrigation and Dam Collapse
The Snake River in southern Idaho is the only major water source in an otherwise parched landscape. The first farmers in Idaho settled in river valleys where water was easily diverted for irrigation, but it required a massive feat of engineering to “tame” the Snake River and transport that precious water to the rest of Southern Idaho.
In 1905 work was completed on Milner Dam, a project funded in part by millions of dollars from Pennsylvania steel magnate Frank Buhl. Milner Dam diverted water from the Snake River into a network of thousands of miles of manmade canals and irrigation ditches. Over time, millions of acres of sagebrush were transformed into arable farmland. It was one of the largest land reclamation projects of its day.
Decades later, tragedy struck soon after the construction of a much larger and more ambitious Idaho dam. The Teton Dam in eastern Idaho was completed in 1975 and also diverted water for irrigation. Less than a year later, the massive earthen dam sprung a leak. On June 5, 1976, the dam suffered a catastrophic breach that triggered a total collapse.
A 30-foot wall of water descended on the downstream communities. Incredibly, only 11 people died in the Teton Dam collapse, but property loss was extensive.
Quick Facts
Date of Statehood: July 3, 1890
Capital: Boise
Population: 1,839,106 (2020)
Size: 82,645 square miles
Nickname(s): Gem State
Motto: Esto perpetua (“Let it be perpetual”)
Tree: Western White Pine
Flower: Syringa
Bird: Mountain Bluebird
