History of Idaho

The History of Idaho is an examination of the  and  within the state of, a geographical area in the  (PNW, or PacNW) area on or near the west coast of  and. Other associated areas include southern, all of , , , western and northern  and.

Humans may have been present in the Idaho for 14,500 years. Excavations at Wilson Butte Cave near Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls in 1959 revealed evidence of human activity, including arrowheads, that rank among the oldest dated artifacts in North America. tribes predominant in the area included the and the  in the north; as well as Northern and Western  and  peoples in the south.

The is responsible for preserving Idaho's history and cultural heritage with hundreds of thousands of primary sources relating to the history of.

For Editors Unfamiliar with Idaho History
Reference Series
 * Idaho Before Statehood
 * Idaho Since Statehood, 1890-1965

European exploration
Idaho was the last of the 50 states explored by people of European descent. The expedition entered present-day Idaho on, , at. The first expedition to enter southern Idaho is believed to be a group led by, which navigated the while attempting to blaze an all-water trail westward from , to , in  and. At that time, approximately 8,000 Native Americans lived in the region.

and work attracted the first settlers to the region. In, , the first white-owned establishment and first trading post in Idaho, was constructed. In, established a mission near , where he printed the Northwest's first book, established Idaho's first school, developed its first , and grew the state's first es. and were the first non-native women to enter present-day Idaho. , the oldest standing building in Idaho, was constructed at by the  and  between  and.

During this time, the Idaho region was part of an unorganized territory known as, claimed by both the United States and. The United States gained undisputed jurisdiction over the region in the of. The original boundaries of in  included all three of the present-day Pacific Northwest states and extended eastward to the. In, areas north of the became , splitting what is now Idaho in two. The future state was reunited in after  became a state and the boundaries of Washington Territory were redrawn.

While thousands passed through Idaho on the or during the  of, few people settled there. In 1860 the first of several es in Idaho began at in present-day. By, settlements in both the north and south had formed around the mining boom.

Mormon Settlement
The first organized town in Idaho was, settled in April by  who believed they were in ; although a later survey determined they had in fact crossed the border. would go on to settle the majority of Southeastern Idaho, reaching the area near the current day in. This area of Idaho is predominantly, and many church leaders have come from this area. Mormons settled in other areas of Idaho as well, but never with the same numbers as in the region of the state.

to North America after the and some migrated west searching for land for. Many ended up in Montana and Southern Idaho. Because the Catholic church already had a presence in the state, many Irish Catholics settled in Boise and.

York was the first recorded African American in Idaho and he was the helper of Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific. There is a significant African American population made up of those who came west after the. Many settled near and were ers, entertainers, and farmers. Although free, many Blacks suffered in the early to mid-late. The Black population of the state continues to grow as many come to the state because of educational opportunities, to serve in the, and for other employment opportunities. There is a Black History Museum in Boise, Idaho with an exhibit known as the "Invisible Idahoan", which chronicles the first African-Americans in the state. Blacks are the fourth largest ethnic group in Idaho according to the. ,, and have decent African-American populations.

Basque
The from the  in  and southern  were traditionally s in Europe. They came to Idaho, offering hard work and perseverance, in exchange for opportunity. One of the largest Basque communities in the US is in Boise, with a Basque museum and festival held annually in the city.

Chinese Settlement
s in the mid 1800s came to America through to work on the  and open businesses. They suffered discrimination due to the in the 1800s which sought to limit the rights and opportunities of Chinese emigrants. Today Asians are third in population demographically after Whites and Hispanics. Chinese made up 33 percent of Idaho in the 1880s.

Idaho Territory


On March 4,, President signed an act creating  from portions of  and  with its capital at. The original Idaho Territory included most of the areas that later became the states of Idaho, and, and had a population of under 17,000. Idaho Territory assumed the boundaries of the modern state in and was admitted as a state in 1890.

Statehood
When President signed the law admitting Idaho as a  on, , the population was 88,548. became the state's first governor, but resigned after only a few weeks in office to take a seat in the.

Miners' uprisings
During its first years of statehood, Idaho was plagued by labor unrest in the mining district of Coeur d'Alene. In 1892, miners called a strike which. Each side accused the other of starting the fight. The first shots were exchanged at the Frisco mine in Frisco, in the north and east of. The Frisco mine was blown up, and company guards were taken prisoner. The violence soon spilled over into the nearby community of Gem, where union miners attempted to locate a spy who had infiltrated their union and was passing information to the mine operators. But agent escaped by cutting a hole in the floor of his room. Strikers forced the Gem mine to close, then traveled west to the Bunker Hill mining complex near, and closed down that facility as well.

Several had been killed in the Burke-Canyon fighting. The and federal troops were dispatched to the area, and union miners and sympathizers were thrown into s. Hostilities would erupt at the Bunker Hill facility once again in 1899, when seventeen union miners were fired for having joined the union. Other union miners were likewise ordered to draw their pay and leave. Angry members of the union converged on the area and blew up the Bunker Hill Mill, killing two company men.

In both disputes, the union's complaints included pay, hours of work, the right of miners to belong to the union, and the mine owners' use of. The violence committed by union miners was answered with a brutal response in 1892 and in 1899.

Through the (WFM) union, the battles in the mining district became closely tied to a. The struggle culminated in the December assassination of former Governor  by  (also known as Albert Horsley), a member of the WFM. Orchard was allegedly incensed by Steunenberg's efforts as governor to break an strike after being elected on a pro-labor platform.

Pinkerton detective conducted the investigation into the assassination. In, WFM Secretary Treasurer and two other WFM leaders were tried on a charge of conspiracy to murder Steunenberg, with Orchard testifying against them as part of a deal made with McParland. The nationally publicized trial featured Senator as prosecuting attorney and  representing the defendants. The defense team that Orchard had been a Pinkerton agent and had acted as a paid informant for the. Darrow argued that Orchard's real motive in the assassination had been revenge for a declaration of martial law by Steunenberg, which prompted Orchard to gamble away a share in the that would otherwise have made him wealthy.

Two of the WFM leaders were acquitted in two separate trials, and the third was released. Orchard was convicted and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted, and he spent the rest of his life in an Idaho prison.

Mining in Idaho
was a major commercial venture, bringing a great of attention to the state. From 1860-1866 produced 19% of all  in the, or 2.5 million ounces. Idaho mined

Progressive policies
Idaho proved to be one of the more receptive states to the agenda of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The state embraced progressive policies such as  and   before they became federal law. Idahoans were also strongly supportive of. The pro- and  Parties of the late 1890s were particularly successful in the state.



After statehood, Idaho's economy began a gradual shift away from mining toward agriculture, particularly in the south. Older mining communities such as Silver City and gave way to agricultural communities incorporated after statehood, such as  and. on the Snake River, completed in, allowed for the formation of many agricultural communities in the region which had previously been nearly unpopulated.

Meanwhile, some of the mining towns were able to reinvent themselves as resort communities, most notably in, where the ski resort opened in. Others, such as Silver City and Rocky Bar, became s.

1950s to present
In the north, mining continued to be an important industry for several more decades. The closure of the Bunker Hill Mine complex in in the early 1980s sent the region's economy into a tailspin. Since that time, a substantial increase in in north Idaho has helped the region to recover. , a lake-side resort town, is a destination for visitors in the area.

Beginning in the, there was a rise in North Idaho of a few  and "survivalist" political groups, most notably one holding  views, the. These groups were most heavily concentrated in the Panhandle region of the state, particularly in the vicinity of Coeur d'Alene. Although Idaho is a state politically the vast majority of its residents reject such ideologies.

In a stand-off occurred between, the , and   and his family at their compound at , located near the small, north Idaho town of Naples. The ensuing fire-fight and deaths of a U.S. Marshall, and Weaver's son and wife gained national attention, and raised a considerable amount of controversy regarding the nature of acceptable force by the federal government in such situations.

In, the Aryan Nations compound, which had been located in , was confiscated as a result of a court case, and the organization moved out of state. About the same time Boise installed an impressive stone Human Rights Memorial featuring a bronze statue of and quotations from her and many other writers extolling human freedom and equality. A recent poll found that Idaho citizens accept people of different cultures and ethnicities and the demographics of the states has changed as well as a surge in economic expansion due to this growth in different groups, especially in Boise.

Nuclear fallout from Nevada Test Site
Idaho was one of several states that received the brunt of nuclear fallout from tests at the 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.