FULL NAME State of Idaho POSTAL ABBREVIATION ID INHABITANT Idahoan ADMITTED TO THE UNION July 3, 1890. Rank 43rd CAPITAL CITY Boise, the largest city in the state, located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho; population 125,738. Originally an army camp, it was founded as a settlement in 1863 and was incorporated as a city the following year, when it also became the territorial capital. STATE NAME AND NICKNAMES The name "Idaho" is an artificial Indian word invented by George M. Willing. Also known as the Gem State and the Gem of the Mountains (the putative meaning of "Idaho"). STATE SEAL In the center is a shield showing a landscape, with the Snake River, mountains, a fir tree, and a farmer at the plow. Above the shield is an elk's head and the state motto on a scroll; below it is a sheaf of wheat; to the right is a miner; to the left a woman holding symbols of justice and liberty. Along the bottom are agricultural symbols, including two cornucopias, the state flower, and ripened wheat. The yellow border reads "Great Seal of the State of Idaho."
     The western state of Idaho belongs to the Mountain states. It is bordered on the north by Canada, on the east by Montana and Wyoming, on the south by Nevada and Utah, and on the west by Oregon, Washington, and the Snake River. It ranks 42nd in population and 14th in area among the states. MOTTO Esto Perpetua (It Is Forever) SONG "Here We Have Idaho," lyrics by McKinley Helm and Albert J. Tompkins, music by Sallie Hume Douglas. SYMBOLS Flower syringa Tree white pine Bird mountain bluebird Gem star garnet Horse Appaloosa FLAG A blue field with the state seal in the center and below it a red band bearing the legend "State of Idaho." As a Rocky Mountain state, Idaho is dominated by mountain terrain, with the Continental Divide forming Idaho's eastern border. The state contains some of the largest stretches of unspoiled wilderness in the continental U.S., with a wide diversity of flora and game. Idaho also boasts more than 2,000 lakes and ten major rivers. Heavily irrigated farmland lines the Snake River valley, the state's major drainage; Hell's Canyon, along the western Snake River, is the deepest gorge-about one mile in depth-in North America. ELEVATIONS Highest point-. Borah Peak, Cus- ter County, 12,662 feet. Lowest point. Snake River, Nez Perce County, 710 feet. Mean elevation: 5,000 feet MAJOR RIVERS Snake, Salmon, Clearwater MAJOR LAKES Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, Priest, Bear, American Falls, Cascade, and Dworshak TEMPERATURES (1990) The highest recorded temperature was 118°F on July 28, 1934, at Orotino. The lowest was -60°F on January 18, 1943, at Island Park Dam. IDAHO IN HISTORY 1805 A U.S. expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark crosses what is now the Idaho panhandle en route to the Pacific coast. 1809 David Thompson of the North West Company establishes a trading post on the eastern shore
    of Lake Pend Oreille. 1810 Andrew Henry of the Missouri Fur Company establishes a camp on the fork of the Snake River but abandons it the following year. 1818 The United States and Great Britain agree on joint occupancy of the Pacific Northwest, including what is now Idaho. 1834 Fort Hall and Fort Boise are constructed to aid fur traders; these posts become stops on the Oregon Trail, which by 1845 is a well-traveled road. 1836 Henry Spalding establishes a mission to the Nez Perce Indians at Lapwai. 1846 June 15. A treaty with Great Britain establishes the Pacific Northwest below the 49th parallel as U.S. territory. 1848 August 14. Oregon Territory is created, including present-day Idaho. 1855 A treaty with the Koutenai, Pend Oreille, and Flathead Indians creates reservations for them in what is now Idaho and Montana. A treaty with the Nez Perce establishes for them a reserve in what is now Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. I860 June 15. First permanent settlement in Idaho, at Franklin, by Mormons from Utah. In 1911 this day is proclaimed Pioneer Day. 1862 The Golden Age is Idaho's first newspaper and is published in Lewiston. 1863 March 4. Creation of Idaho Territory. Some Nez Perce accept a smaller reservation replacing the 1855 area, overrun by
    gold prospectors. Chinese violence in 1866-1867 that leaves over a hundred dead. 1874 The Utah Northern Railroad reaches Franklin from Ogden, Utah. 1877 Nontreaty Nez Perce led by Chief Joseph, expelled from northeastern Oregon, are pursued
    through Idaho by federal troops before surrendering in Montana 1878 Forty whites and 78 Indians die in an uprising by Paiutes and Bannocks. Indian warfare in Idaho ends the following year. 1880 Silver is found in the Wood River region. 1882 The Northern Pacific Railroad links northern Idaho to the east and the Pacific Northwest seaports. . 1884 Completion of the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Wyoming through southern Idaho to Oregon. 1885 Noah S. Kellogg finds silver in the Coeur d Alene area. 1 he Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines become the biggest in the chief lead-silver district in the U.S., which has yielded about $2 billion. . . Test Oath Act bars Mormons from voting, holding office, or serving on Juries These disabilities become part of the state constitution and remain in force until 1890 when Mormons renounce polygamy as an act of faith. 1892 Martial law is declared in northern Idaho mining towns, where the dispatch ot federal troops helps break a miners' strike. More than 600 union leaders and sympathizers are arrested. 1896-1902 Democrats, allied with Populists, control state politics. They also receive support from dissident Republicans who join in seeking the remonetization of silver. 1899 Dynamiting of Bunker Hill concentrator results in the reimposition of martial law and dispatch of U.S. ............