Idaho Territory
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the State of Idaho.
1860s
The territory was officially organized on March 4, 1863 by Act of CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. It is a successor region that was created by areas from existing territories undergoing parallel political transitions beginning with disputes over which country owned the region (See Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
); by 1863 the area west of the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
that was formerly part of the huge Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
(by now some was a state) had been sundered from the coastal Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
north of the young State of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
to the far west and the remnant of the Oregon Territory was officially 'unorganized'— whereas most of the area east of the Continental Divide had been part of the loosely defined Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
ending along the 49th parallel—now the border with Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, then a colonial possession
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
of Great Britain.
The original newly organized territory covered most of the present-day states of Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. The later was wholly spanned east-to-west by the bustling Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
and its hitchhiker emigrant trail
Emigrant Trail
The Emigrant Trails were the northern networks of overland wagon trails throughout the American West, used by emigrants from the eastern United States to settle lands west of the Interior Plains during the overland migrations of the mid-19th century...
s, the California Trail
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
and Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
which since hitting stride in 1847, had been conveying settler wagon trains to the west, and incidentally, across the continental divide into the Snake River Basin, a key gateway into the Idaho and Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
interiors.
The first territorial capital was at Lewiston
Lewiston, Idaho
Lewiston is a city in and also the county seat of Nez Perce County in the Pacific Northwest state of Idaho. It is the second-largest city in the northern Idaho region, behind Coeur d'Alene and ninth-largest in the state. Lewiston is the principal city of the Lewiston, ID - Clarkston, WA...
. Boise
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
was the territorial capital from 1865.
Although the 1863 Bear River Massacre
Bear River Massacre
The Bear River Massacre, or the Battle of Bear River and the Massacre at Boa Ogoi, took place in present-day Idaho on January 29, 1863. The United States Army attacked Shoshone gathered at the confluence of the Bear River and Beaver Creek in what was then southeastern Washington Territory. The...
in present-day Franklin County
Franklin County, Idaho
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2000 Census the county had a population of 11,329 . The county seat and largest city is Preston. Franklin County is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area.Established in 1913, Franklin County was named...
is considered to be the westernmost battle of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the upheaval caused by the Civil War and Reconstruction was a distant concern to those in the comparatively stable Idaho Territory, a situation which in turn encouraged settlement.
In 1864, the Montana Territory
Montana Territory
The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 28, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Montana.-History:...
was organized from the northeastern section of the territory east of the Bitterroot Range
Bitterroot Range
The Bitterroot Range runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of 62,736 square kilometers and is named after the bitterroot , a small pink flower that is the state flower of Montana.- History :In 1805, the Corps of Discovery,...
. Most of the southeastern area of the territory was made part of the Dakota Territory
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...
.
In the late 1860s Idaho Territory became a destination for displaced Southern Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
who fought for the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
during the Civil War. These people were well-represented in the early territorial legislatures, which often clashed with the appointed Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
territorial governors. The political infighting became particularly vicious in 1867, when Governor David W. Ballard
David W. Ballard
David W. Ballard was governor of Idaho Territory from 1866 to 1870...
asked for protection from federal troops stationed at Fort Boise against the territorial legislature. By 1870, however, the political infighting died down considerably.
In 1868, the areas east of the 111th meridian west
111th meridian west
The meridian 111° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
were made part of the newly created Wyoming Territory
Wyoming Territory
The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital...
. Idaho Territory assumed the boundaries of the modern state at that time.
The discovery of gold, silver and other valuable natural resources throughout Idaho beginning in the 1860s, as well as the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
in 1869, brought many new people to the territory, including Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
laborers who came to work the mines. As Idaho approached statehood, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and other extractive industries became increasingly important to its economy. By the 1890s, for example, Idaho exported more lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
than any other state.
1870s
Construction began on the Idaho Territorial PrisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in 1870 and was completed by 1872. The prison was in use by the territory, then the state until 1973. The Old Idaho State Penitentiary
Old Idaho State Penitentiary
The Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site, also known as the Idaho Territorial Prison, was constructed in the Territory of Idaho in 1870. The territory was less than ten years old when the prison was built east of Boise, Idaho in the western United States...
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974 for its significance as a Territorial Prison. The site currently contains museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
.
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
and Silver City
Silver City, Idaho
Silver City is a ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. At its height in the 1880s it was a gold and silver mining town with a population of around 2,500 and approximately 75 businesses. Silver City served as county seat of Owyhee County from 1867 to 1934. Today, the town has about 70...
by 1865. The first telegraph line reached Franklin in 1866, with Lewiston being the first town linked in northern Idaho in 1874. The first telephone call in the Pacific Northwest was made on May 10, 1878, in Lewiston.
Although forming a sizeable minority, Mormons in Idaho were held in suspicion by others in Idaho. By 1882 notable and powerful Idahoans successfully disenfranchised Mormon voters in Idaho Territory, citing their illegal practice of polygamy. Idaho was able to achieve statehood some six years before Utah, a territory which had a larger population and had been settled longer, but was majority LDS with voting polygamists.
There were four thousand Chinese living in the Idaho Territory from 1869 to 1875. Like many Chinese immigrants, they came to "Gold Mountain" to work as miners, or found work as laundrymen and cooks. The 1870 census reported there were 1,751 Chinese in Idaho City who were nearly half of city residents. Annie Lee was one legendary Idaho city woman who like Polly Bemis
Polly Bemis
Polly Bemis was a famous Chinese American pioneer woman who lived in Idaho in the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her story became a biographical novel, and was fictionalized in the 1991 film A Thousand Pieces of Gold.-Life:Polly Bemis was born in China...
, escaped enslavement from the "world's oldest profession". She escaped from a member of the Yeong Wo Company in the 1870s to Boise to marry her lover, another Chinese man. Charged by her owner with grand larceny, she told a judge "me want to stay in Boise City" who granted her freedom. The story of Polly Bemis who helped settle the Idaho territory became the basis for the novel and fictionalized 1991 film A Thousand Pieces of Gold
A Thousand Pieces of Gold
Thousand Pieces of Gold is an English-language book written by Ruthanne Lum McCunn and based on the life of Polly Bemis, a 19th century Chinese immigrant woman in the American Old West...
which was set in California.
1880s
After the capital relocation controversy proposals to split the two regions became widespread. In 1887 Idaho Territory was nearly legislated out of existence, but as a favor to Governor Edward A. StevensonEdward A. Stevenson
Edward Augustus Stevenson was governor of Idaho Territory from 1885 to 1889. Stevenson was the first resident of Idaho Territory appointed to the position and the only Democrat to hold the office....
, President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
refused to sign a bill that would have split Idaho Territory between Washington Territory in the north and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
in the south.
In 1889, the University of Idaho
University of Idaho
The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...
was awarded to the northern town of Moscow
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow is a city in northern Idaho, situated along the Washington/Idaho border. It is the most populous city and county seat of Latah County and the home of the University of Idaho, the land grant institution and primary research university for the state...
instead of its original planned location at Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 130,374....
) in the south. This served to alleviate some of the hard feelings felt by North Idaho
Idaho Panhandle
The Idaho Panhandle is the northern region of the U.S. State of Idaho that encompasses the ten northernmost counties of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Shoshone. Residents of the panhandle refer to the region as North Idaho...
residents over losing the capital.
The territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Idaho on July 3, 1890.
See also
- American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, 1861–1865- Idaho in the American Civil WarIdaho in the American Civil WarThe history of Idaho in the American Civil War is atypical, as the territory was far from the battlefields.At the start of the Civil War, modern-day Idaho was part of the Washington Territory. On March 3, 1863, the Idaho Territory was formed, consisting of the entirety of modern day Idaho, Montana,...
- Idaho in the American Civil War
- California TrailCalifornia TrailThe California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
- Historic regions of the United StatesHistoric regions of the United StatesThis is a list of historic regions of the United States.-Colonial era :-The Thirteen Colonies:* Connecticut Colony* Delaware Colony* Province of Georgia* Province of Maryland...
- History of IdahoHistory of IdahoThe history of Idaho is an examination of the human history and social activity within the state of Idaho, a geographical area in the Pacific Northwest area near the west coast of the United States and Canada...
- Oregon TrailOregon TrailThe Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
- Oregon TreatyOregon TreatyThe Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...
, 1846 - Territorial evolution of the United StatesTerritorial evolution of the United StatesThis is a list of the evolution of the borders of the United States. This lists each change to the internal and external borders of the country, as well as status and name changes. It also shows the surrounding areas that eventually became part of the United States...
- Territory of FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
that encompassed land that would later become part of the Territory of Idaho:- LouisianeLouisiana (New France)Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...
, 1682–1764 and 1803
- Louisiane
- Territory of SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
that would later be returned to FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
:- LuisianaLouisiana (New Spain)Louisiana was the name of an administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1764 to 1803 that represented territory west of the Mississippi River basin, plus New Orleans...
, 1764–1803
- Luisiana
- Territory of the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
that encompassed land that would later become part of the Territory of Idaho:- Rupert's LandRupert's LandRupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...
, 1670–1870
- Rupert's Land
- International territory that encompassed land that would later become part of the Territory of Idaho:
- Oregon CountryOregon CountryThe Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
, 1818–1846
- Oregon Country
- U.S. territory that encompassed land that would later become part of the Territory of Idaho:
- Provisional Government of OregonProvisional Government of OregonThe Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent government...
, 1843-1849 (extralegal) - Territory of Oregon, 1848–1859
- State of DeseretState of DeseretThe State of Deseret was a proposed state of the United States, propositioned in 1849 by Latter-day Saint settlers in Salt Lake City. The provisional state existed for slightly over two years and was never recognized by the United States government...
, 1849-1850 (extralegal) - Territory of Nebraska, 1854–1867
- Territory of Jefferson, 1859-1861 (extralegal)
- Territory of Dakota, 1861–1889
- Provisional Government of Oregon
- U.S. territories that encompassed land that was previously part of the Territory of Idaho:
- Territory of Montana, 1864–1889
- Territory of Dakota, 1861–1889
- Territory of Wyoming, 1868–1890
- U.S. states that encompass land that was once part of the Territory of Idaho:
- State of Montana, 1889
- State of Idaho, 1890
- State of Wyoming, 1890
- Territory of France
External links
- Idaho State Univ. document (PDF) on origin of name "Idaho" and how Idaho became territory
- COLUMBIA: Fall 1988; Vol. 2, No. 3, The Long Wait for Statehood, Why it took Washington 36 years and Idaho 26 years to achieve their goals.
- Idaho Organic Act 1863 -- An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Idaho
- Laws of the Territory of Idaho (1864)
- Constitution of the state of Idaho, and the act providing for the admission of the state (1891)