USA Idaho - The History : USA  

USA Idaho - The History - Travel guide

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USA Idaho - The History

The History

Prior to the arrival of European and Mexican explorers, roughly 8,000 Native Americans representing two distinct groups inhabited Idaho: the Great Basin Shoshone and Bannock tribes of the Shoshone-Bannock and the Shoshone. Paiute and the Plateau tribes of the Coeur d’Alene, Nez Perce and Kootenai. Today, Idaho’s Native American heritage, their tribes and their chiefs are reflected in county names like Nez Perce, Benewah Shoshone, Bannock and Kootenai counties and the communities of Shoshone, Pocatello, Blackfoot, Nezperce, White Bird, Kamiah, Lapwai, Weippe, Kooskia, Picabo and Tendoy.

Spanish explorers made trips to the Northwest beginning in 1592. Lewis and Clark were the first Euro-Americans to set foot on what is now known as Idaho. They encountered Spanish-speaking Native Americans as well as those who spoke their tribal language. They were followed by French-Canadian fur trappers; resulting in names of communities like Coeur d’Alene (French for "heart of an awl") and Boise (Le Bois-French for "the trees").

At one time, during the Gold Rush of the early 1800s, Idaho’s population was one-quarter Chinese. By 1870, a majority of all Idaho miners were Chinese.

In the mid-1800s, as with other western states, most early Idaho settlers fled the East to escape what they saw as officially sanctioned harassment of individuals for their beliefs. This was true of the Mormons fleeing persecution and Union and Rebel supporters desperately seeking to flee the Civil War. During the 1890s, there were several thousand Japanese laborers constructing the railroad through Idaho. In 1896, Idaho became the fourth state in the nation to give women the right to vote. The territorial legislature had come close to giving women the right to vote as early as 1869. The territorial legislature in 1867 passed a statute making Idaho a community property state. It was not until the turn of the century that women in more than a handful of states had equal right to the family assets. In 1972, Idaho became the first state in the Nation to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.

Idaho variously belonged to the Oregon Territory, Washington Territory before it became a state in 1890.