{y'-duh-hoh} Idaho, a Pacific Northwest state, links the Great Plains and the Northwest coast. It is bounded on the north by British Columbia, on the east by Wyoming and Montana, and on the south by Utah and Nevada. Its western border with Oregon and Washington follows, in part, the course of the \TSnake River\t. The \TRocky Mountains\t dominate the entire landscape except for the Snake River plain, which cuts across the southern part of the state. Idaho's wealth of natural resources, along with its scenic attractions, forms the base of the state's economy. LAND AND RESOURCES The broad, arid Snake River valley arcs across the southern part of Idaho. The plain developed when a series of high ridges to the north and south of the river began to sink and their intervening valleys became filled with lava and windblown soils. The valley of the Snake provides an access route from the Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest. Farther north, rugged mountains of the Bitterroot, Lost River, Pioneer, and Sawtooth ranges, separated by deep canyons and interrupted by occasional prairies, make up nearly all the rest of the state. Other than that portion of the \TGreat Basin\t rim in the southeast, all of Idaho is part of the \TColumbia River\t basin. Almost 64% of Idaho is owned by the U.S. government. Mountains or deserts used for forestry and grazing make up almost all these public lands. Soils Idaho's variation in soils is a result of elevation and climatic diversity. Most of the windblown, volcanic soils in arid parts of the Snake plain are alkaline, including about 6,058 sq km of irrigated farmland. Soils receiving 279 to 356 mm (11 to 14 in) of annual precipitation are chemically neutral. Where precipitation increases to 457 mm (18 in), darker, slightly acid soils predominate. Exceptionally valuable dark, acidic windblown soils of the Palouse country near Moscow receive 432 to 635 mm (17 to 25 in) of precipitation, as do similar soils at higher elevations in southern Idaho. Mountain and forest soils, usually thin, can support only timber, although some drained mountain-basin soils yield crops. Rivers and Lakes Except for the Bear River in southeastern Idaho and the Kootenai, Pend Oreille, and Spokane systems to the north, the Snake River drains virtually the entire state. The Big Wood, Blackfoot, Boise, Clearwater, Payette, and Salmon rivers flow into the Snake, along with many smaller rivers. More than 1,609 km (1,000 mi) long, this major river discharges more water than the Colorado and Sacramento rivers combined. Idaho has four large lakes: Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, Priest, and Bear. Thousands of small lakes and reservoirs contribute to the state's expanse of inland water. Idaho contains four of the federally-administered wild rivers, segments of the Clearwater, Rapid, Salmon, and Snake. Climate Elevation and latitude influence the diverse climate found in Idaho. The Lewiston area, in the north, has the warmest climate, while higher cities in the southeast are much cooler. Northern canyons above Lewiston average 11 deg C (52 deg F) annually; the southwestern valleys in the Boise region, averaging 1 degree cooler, are comparable. The southeastern highlands, however, are substantially colder (6 deg C / 42 deg F). Low humidity makes hot desert summers more tolerable; particularly at higher elevations, daily variation in summer temperatures often approaches 22 C degrees (40 F degrees). Precipitation ranges from 152 mm (6 in) or less in desert areas to 2,504 mm (99 in) in the mountains. Vegetation and Animal Life Coniferous forests cover about 40% of the state, while pasture and rangelands constitute almost one-half of the remainder. Much of Idaho's grazing land is semiarid, and a substantial portion of the land used for farming requires irrigation. Large indigenous animals include deer (white tail in the north, mule deer farther south), elk, moose, mountain goats, big horn sheep, antelope, cougars, and bears. A few grizzlies inhabit remote areas. A large variety of smaller animals typical of the mountain and desert west abound throughout the state. Wilderness-preservation efforts help to maintain the wildlife population. Resources In addition to abundant water for irrigation and power, Idaho's commercial minerals include extensive silver, lead, zinc, and phosphate deposits. Forest products, primarily in the north, and valuable farmland contribute to the economy. Outdoor recreation areas are found throughout the state. Along the Oregon border, Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in the nation, is a major attraction, along with Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Bear Lake. PEOPLE Idaho's population by 1990 finally surpassed 1 million people. From 1980 to 1990 the population grew by 6.7%, considerably slower than in the previous decade, when the population increased by nearly a third. The state remains for the most part rural and sparsely populated. Other than about 14,000 Indians, slightly more than the number present at the time of initial white exploration, the population has few distinctive ethnic elements. Idaho's southwestern area has the nation's major concentration of Basques. A rapidly increasing Hispanic element, representing 5.3% of the state's population, constitutes Idaho's largest ethnic minority. Among the state's small but rapidly growing Asian population are some Japanese (reinforced by a 10,000-person relocation center from the Pacific coast during 1942-45), and a few Chinese families, descendants of the Asians who arrived after the gold rush, when most Idaho miners were Chinese. Black miners also came to Idaho with the gold rush, but the state's black population has never exceeded 1%. Among religious groups, the Mormons, about 29% of the state's population, are the largest, followed by Roman Catholics and Methodists. For more than a century Idaho has ranked second after Utah in concentration of Mormon population. Idaho has no large cities; most of the urban population live in small towns. \TBoise\t, with a metropolitan area population of 205,775 in 1990, is the only place with more than 50,000 people; \TPocatello\t and \TIdaho Falls\t in the southeast exceed 40,000, while Lewiston, Twin Falls, and Nampa have more than 25,000. The state's growth in recent decades has occurred primarily in cities and rural communities with scenic or recreational benefits. Education Elementary, secondary, vocational, and higher education in Idaho have been under the jurisdiction of a single state board of education since 1912. Following a professional study in 1946, the legislature consolidated the state's 1,110 school districts into few more than 100. Legislation enacted in 1965 provides for a sales tax to supplement property-tax revenues used in funding school budgets. The University of Idaho was chartered in 1889 as the major state institution of higher education. Idaho State University at Pocatello (1901) and Boise State University (1932) are also 4-year state institutions that offer higher degrees. The state's major libraries include that of the University of Idaho, complemented by the libraries of the other state universities; Idaho State Library; and Boise Public Library. Regional libraries serve the public libraries located throughout the state. Cultural Institutions Idaho has the State Historical Museum and the Boise Art Museum in Boise, the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, an ethnology museum (College of Southern Idaho) in Twin Falls, and about 30 county historical museums distributed throughout the state. Several symphony orchestras, including the professional Boise Philharmonic, perform in the larger communities. The American Festival Ballet and the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, both in Boise, offer dance and theater programs. The \TSun Valley\t Center for the Arts and Humanities offers an extensive cultural program. Historic Sites Three of Idaho's specific historic interest are along the course of the \TLewis and Clark Expedition\t. Others include Fort Hall near Pocatello, City of Rocks along the California Trail, and two important buildings--the Jesuit Coeur d'Alene Mission near Cataldo and the U.S. Assay office in Boise. Nez Perce National Historical Park has sites in northern Idaho. Communications The Idaho Statesman, the state's oldest daily newspaper, published in Boise, was established in 1864. Several other dailies and numerous weekly papers also serve the state's communities. Idaho's oldest radio station dates from 1922. The state's commercial and public television stations are augmented by stations operating in neighboring states. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Although originally dependent upon mining, Idaho also developed farming and forestry. After 1940 industrial diversification broadened the economy, and tourism gained importance. Agriculture Idaho's farms dominate the state's economy. Potatoes are the most important crop, followed by wheat, barley and sugar beets. Although much of the state is naturally arid, extensive irrigation has enabled Idahoans to harvest valuable crops--particularly on the level river plains of southern Idaho. Forestry and Fishing Commercial lumber production, primarily of Douglas fir, white fir, white pine, yellow pine, and red cedar, contributes substantially to the state's income, although lumbering ranks well behind agriculture and manufacturing in value. The extent of Idaho's national forest system land is third largest in the nation, following Alaska and California. In 1947 commercial rainbow trout fish farming began near Hagerman in southern Idaho, utilizing water from Thousand Springs. Sufficient national demand for rainbow trout has developed to support this significant local industry. Mining Idaho habitually ranks first nationally in the production of silver. Other commercially important metals include lead, gold, and zinc. Phosphate is also mined. Periods of increasing gold and silver prices have led to the resumption of mining in abandoned districts as well as increasing production in the Coeur d'Alene area. Manufacturing Most of the state's industrial development has taken place since 1940, and Idaho's manufactured products have increased in value, almost catching up with agriculture. A small population and the absence of iron and steel restricts this economic sector to agribusiness, and wood products, mobile home, electronics, and construction-equipment manufacturing. Large land reclamation, reforestation, and highway projects within the state have been undertaken by Idaho's construction and lumber firms. Transportation and Trade A central mountain barrier has made railroad construction between north and south Idaho infeasible, and the first highway connecting the two sections of the state was surfaced only in 1938. As a result, Spokane serves as commercial center for the northern counties, Salt Lake City for the southeast, and Boise for the southwest. Tourism Although Idaho's mountainous topography creates serious economic problems, recreation and tourism benefit from this natural heritage. Federal financial assistance has enabled Idaho to develop areas for tourism, such as Lava Hot Springs State Resort near Pocatello. Special attractions include the nation's pioneer ski resort at Sun Valley, developed by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1936. Other attractions are the Nez Perce National Historical Park, \TCraters of the Moon National Monument\t, City of Rocks National Reserve, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, and \TYellowstone National Park\t on the Wyoming border. Special events appealing to tourists--who spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually in Idaho--include rodeo and regional fairs. GOVERNMENT Idaho's constitution was adopted in 1889, one year before statehood. It provides for a governor and six other state officials elected to 4-year terms. A constitutional amendment enacted in 1972 called for the reorganization of the executive branch into no more than 20 departments. Education, health and welfare, and transportation are the major departments. A senate and house of representatives form the legislature. The state supreme court, with five justices, heads the judicial branch. Two levels of trial courts (district and magistrate) serve all counties in the state. Legislators are elected to 2-year terms, judges and magistrates to 4-year terms, and supreme court justices to 6-year terms. All court justices are nonpartisan. Local government consists of 44 counties and approximately 200 cities and villages. Idaho has gained a reputation for independent voting on a national level. An almost equal number of Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidency have received the state's electoral votes since Idaho entered the Union. From 1946 to 1970, Idaho elected a series of Republican governors, followed by Democrats after 1970. Republicans, however, have won more congressional elections in recent decades. HISTORY Idaho has been inhabited for more than 14,000 years. A continental ice sheet extended into northern Idaho at the time of first habitation. As the ice receded, floods swept through northern valleys. The largest of these torrents--equal to ten times all the rivers of the world combined--occurred about 12,000 years ago when ancient Lake Missoula (see \Tlake, glacial\t) overflowed and washed out a 610-m-high (2,000-ft) ice dam. That catastrophe was followed by a hot, dry epoch, then another cold period. The early inhabitants hunted mammoths and other large animals now extinct. These early people migrated throughout the region. By the 18th century, Idaho was the home of six Indian tribes: \TKutenai\t, Pend d'Oreille (or \TFlathead\t), Coeur d'Alene, and \TNez Perce\t in the north; and Northern \TShoshoni\t and Northern \TPaiute\t (known as Bannock) to the south. Exploration and Fur Trade After the Lewis and Clark Expedition discovered the Salmon and Clearwater country in 1805-06, fur trappers explored the rest of Idaho in search of beaver. Idaho's Snake River area became a disputed borderland in which British and French trappers, based in Montreal and the lower Columbia River valley, competed with U.S. adventurers from Saint Louis. By 1840 trapping had almost ended, and the \THudson's Bay Company\t gained control of the region. The United States acquired the southern part of the Oregon country, including all of present-day Idaho, in 1846. Hudson's Bay Company, with posts at Fort Hall and Fort Boise, continued to serve the settlers traveling to the west over the \TOregon Trail\t and California Trail. Permanent white settlement began in 1860, when Mormons moved northward from Utah and miners arrived from the Pacific coast. Mining A series of Idaho gold rushes lured many, especially after an important mineral discovery at Pierce in 1860. Idaho was then part of Washington Territory, which extended east from Puget Sound to the continental divide. By 1862, a majority of the territory's population lived in Idaho. On Mar. 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln approved an act of Congress establishing the Idaho Territory. Present-day Montana and nearly all of Wyoming were included in this new mining commonwealth. Despite the departure of thousands of miners, Idaho had more than 32,000 residents in the census of 1863. Population figures declined after that time. Some of Idaho's early gold camps were quickly mined out, but others continued to produce for many years. Important lead-silver discoveries near Hailey in 1880 and in the Coeur d'Alene mines to the north in 1884 brought permanence to Idaho's mining industry. The latter became the major lead-silver region of the United States, with production exceeding a value of $4.6 billion in a little more than a century. Statehood After territories were formed in Montana (1864) and Wyoming (1868), Idaho's boundaries enclosed two areas divided by mountains. For a quarter-century, North Idaho tried without success to form a new territory with eastern Washington, or, as a last resort, rejoin Washington. The U.S. Congress voted in 1886-87 to annex North Idaho to Washington Territory, but President Grover Cleveland was persuaded not to approve that change. Although Idaho Territory had been overwhelmingly Confederate Democratic after 1864, a coalition of Republicans and anti-Mormons gained power in 1882. By 1888, Idaho had become safely Republican. In attempting to establish control over the U.S. Congress, the Republicans voted for admission of the territory. Idaho was made a state on July 3, 1890. Political and Economic Unrest A silver-price collapse (1888-92), followed by a national economic panic, severely hurt Idaho. The Populist candidate James B. Weaver received the state's votes in the presidential election of 1892, as did William Jennings \TBryan\t in 1896. Idaho thus expressed its discontent with the federal government's economic policies. Labor battles in the Coeur d'Alene mine area attracted national attention in 1892 and 1899. Sheep ranchers and cattlemen, vying for the limited rangeland available, clashed during that same period. By 1900, Idaho began to avail itself of national legislative programs, enacted in 1894 and 1902, directed at large-scale reclamation projects. The state developed rapidly in the early 1900s, spurred by the commercial lumber industry. National farm and forest products markets, along with large-scale mining, developed in all parts of the state, but in 1920, a severe agriculture price collapse, followed by the Depression of the 1930s, intensified the state's problems; federal expenditures helped Idaho's economic recovery. Important military bases (a large naval training station on Lake Pend d'Oreille; air bases at Boise, Pocatello, and Mountain Home; and a naval gun plant at Pocatello) contributed to the state's economy after 1942. Idaho's largest federal installation, a National Reactor Testing Station located west of Idaho Falls, superseded Idaho's naval-gun testing area in 1949, developing nuclear power there 2 years later. Contemporary Idaho Issues related to maintenance of a high-quality environment and to wilderness preservation in vast mountain areas of the state have remained prominent in recent decades. With extensive wilderness, and with constantly increasing pressures of economic and population growth, Idaho serves as an example for the study of contemporary environmental problems. Merle Wells Bibliography: Attebery, Louie W., Idaho Folklife: Homesteads to Headstones (1985); Beal, Merrill D., and Wells, Merle, A History of Idaho, 3 vols. (1959); Beatty, Robert O., Idaho (1974); Federal Writers' Project, Idaho (1936; repr. 1975); Jensen, Dwight, Discovering Idaho: A History (1977); Maley, Terry S., Exploring Idaho Geology (1987); Peterson, F. Ross, Idaho: A Bicentennial History (1976); Sparling, Wayne, Southern Idaho Ghost Towns (1974); Wells, Merle W., Idaho: An Illustrated History (1980) and, with Hart, Arthur A., Idaho: Gem of the Mountains (1985).