IDAHO

The northern Mountain region. constituent state of the United States of America, lying in the northwestern part of the country. It is bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by Montana and Wyoming, on the south by Utah and Nevada, and on the west by Oregon and Washington. The capital is Boise. The area that is now Idaho was explored by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805. A trading post was established at Pend Oreille Lake in 1809, and other settlements followed. Idaho was a part of the disputed Oregon Country that passed to the United States when Britain relinquished its claims in 1846. The discovery of gold in 1860 led to an influx of settlers and was followed by a wave of Confederate refugees after the American Civil War. Mormons from Utah also settled there and frequently clashed with other Christian denominations. Idaho became the 43rd state of the United States in 1890. Idaho's physical relief is dominated by the northern Rocky Mountains. The granite batholith of central Idaho, exposed in the Sawtooth Mountains, is one of the largest in North America. Nearly all of the state drains to the Pacific. The southern part of Idaho lies within the Columbia Plateau and is dominated by the Snake River, the course of which includes Hells Canyon, North America's deepest gorge (7,900 feet ). The valley of the Snake is a geologically complex sequence of lakes, lava beds, mesas, buttes, canyons, and desertscape, most notably symbolized by the barren craters and cones of the Craters of the Moon National Monument. Indians, particularly the Kutenai, Salish (Kalispel), Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perc, and Shoshoni, were Idaho's first inhabitants. Living on reservations located in about the same areas as their ancestral homes, they now comprise only a tiny fraction of the state's population. The state is predominantly Mormon: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has about half of the state's total church membership. Some cities in southeastern Idaho are more than 90 percent Mormon. Idaho is sparsely populated, with an average of only about 12 persons per square mile (5 per square km). The urban population is slightly more than one-half of the total. Potatoes have become almost synonymous with Idaho; wheat and sugar beets are also major crops. Cattle and sheep are raised in the prairies and mountain plateaus. Forestry is an important industry. Silver, lead, antimony, and molybdenum are mined. The manufacturing sector has only recently exceeded agriculture in terms of the state's personal income. Food processing, machinery manufacturing, and the production of chemicals are the leading industries. Transportation is hindered by the mountains, and only one major highway connects north and south. Four transcontinental railroads cross Idaho, and Lewiston is connected to the Pacific Ocean by way of the navigable Snake and Columbia rivers. Culture in Idaho is mainly the province of the schools and colleges. There are three major universitiesBoise State University, Idaho State University in Pocatello, and the University of Idaho at Moscowand several colleges. University education leans toward agriculture, mining, engineering, and forestry. Notable Idaho cultural figures include novelists Vardis Fisher and Carol Ryrie Brink. Area 83,564 square miles (216,432 square km). Pop. (1990) 1,006,749. constituent state of the United States of America. With 83,564 square miles (216,432 square kilometres), including 1,153 square miles of inland water, it has twice the combined area of the six New England states. Its boundaries are both historical and geographic in derivation. The boundary with the Canadian province of British Columbia on the north follows the 49th parallel of latitude, while the southern border with Utah and Nevada follows the 42nd parallel; both lines were established by treatythe northern between the United States and Britain in 1846 and the southern between the United States and Spain in 1819. The state's northeastern border with Montanain the Idaho panhandlefollows the Continental Divide, while the eastern border with Wyoming incorporates a small slice of Yellowstone National Park. On the west, Idaho's border with Oregon and Washington is a 480-mile (770-kilometre) straight stretch except between Weiser and Lewiston, where Hells Canyon of the Snake River serves as a natural boundary. Boise is the capital. Idaho, admitted as the 43rd state of the Union on July 3, 1890, is one of the Mountain states, but it is often also classified as part of the Pacific Northwest region, a region unified by the Continental Divide as an eastern boundary and by the Columbia River drainage basin, which covers virtually the entire area. The name is an invented one, formerly thought to be an Indian name (Ee-dah-hoe) meaning gem of the mountains. Idaho is shaped much like a logger's boot, thereby accidentally reflecting the state's rugged forest and mountain terrain in which logging and mining play major roles. The residents of Idaho enjoy some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the United States, including about 2,500,000 acres (1,012,000 hectares) of wilderness and primitive land in which roads and vehicles are seldom to be found. Since its development in 1936 Sun Valley has become an internationally known area for winter sports. Idaho also has large supplies of groundwater. Hot springs are found in many parts of the state and are used to heat some homes and buildings in Boise, whose name (French bois, wooded) reflects its settlement as an oasis for explorers who once crossed the desolate Snake River Plains. A frontier character is still evident in the individualism of voting that makes the crossing of party lines, especially to support liberal issues and candidates, a frequent occurrence in an otherwise fairly conservative climate. Additional reading Federal Writers' Project, Idaho: A Guide in Word and Picture (1937), also available in a 2nd edition, revised (1950, reprinted 1976), offers a still-useful overview of the state. Merle Wells and Arthur A. Hart, Idaho: Gem of the Mountains (1985), provides information about the state, its industries, and its history. Alan A. DeLucia (ed.), The Compact Atlas of Idaho (1983), treats all aspects of the state's resources and development; while DeLorme Mapping Company, Idaho Atlas & Gazetter, 2nd ed. (1998), focues on the state's topography. Lalia Boone, Idaho Place Names (1988), combines geograpy and history. Randy Stapilus, Paradox Politics: People and Power in Idaho (1988), analyzes popular government. Merrill D. Beal and Merle W. Wells, History of Idaho, 3 vol. (1959), is a detailed history. F. Ross Peterson, Idaho: A Bicentennial History (1976), is a more recent introduction. Boyd A. Martin