History of Idaho Timeline

The United States gained undisputed jurisdiction over the region in the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which set the border with British North America at the 49th parallel, although the area had been under de facto jurisdiction of the Provisional Government of Oregon from 1843 to 1849.

Image source: Oregon Treaty

The original boundaries of Oregon Territory in 1848 included all three of the present-day Pacific Northwest states and extended eastward to the Continental Divide, encompassing all of present-day Idaho.

Image source: Oregon Territory

In 1853, areas north of the 46th Parallel became Washington Territory, splitting what is now Idaho in two between Washington Territory and Oregon Territory.

Image source: Washington Territory

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints missionaries founded Fort Lemhi in 1855 in eastern Idaho near present-day Tendoy, but the settlement did not last and was abandoned after conflict with local tribes.

The future state was reunited in 1859 after Oregon became a state and the boundaries of Washington Territory were redrawn, placing all of present-day Idaho within Washington Territory.

The first organized town in Idaho was Franklin, settled in April 1860 by Mormon pioneers who believed they were in Utah Territory; although a later survey determined they had crossed the border into what would become Idaho.

On March 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory from portions of Washington Territory and Dakota Territory, with its capital at Lewiston.

Image source: Idaho Territory

Boise was becoming a growing area after gold was found nearby, so on December 24, 1864, Boise City was made the final destination of the capital for the Territory of Idaho, replacing Lewiston.

Image source: Boise, Idaho

In 1868, Idaho Territory assumed the boundaries of the modern state after Wyoming Territory was carved out of its eastern lands, setting the stage for eventual statehood.

Chinese immigrants came through San Francisco in the mid-19th century to work on railroads and open businesses. By 1870 there were over 4,000 Chinese in Idaho, comprising almost 30% of the population. They suffered discrimination from groups like the Anti-Chinese League, which sought to limit their rights and opportunities.

From 1860 to 1866 Idaho produced 19% of all gold in the United States, or 2.5 million ounces, fueling rapid settlement and economic development across the territory.

Image source: Idaho

In 1860, the first of several gold rushes in Idaho began at Pierce in present-day Clearwater County, drawing prospectors north from the Clearwater River country.

By 1862, settlements in both the north and south of present-day Idaho had formed around the mining boom, including boomtowns in the Boise Basin and Clearwater regions.

Idaho proved receptive to the progressive agenda, embracing women's suffrage in 1896 and statewide prohibition in 1916 before either became federal law, making it one of the more progressive states of the era.

Image source: Progressive Era

Milner Dam on the Snake River, completed in 1905, allowed for the formation of many agricultural communities in the Magic Valley region, which had previously been nearly unpopulated desert.

In 1919, the Idaho legislature passed an Act legalizing the forced sterilization of some persons institutionalized in the state. In 1925 it passed a revised eugenics act tailored to avoid earlier legal objections. Between 1932 and 1964, a total of 30 women and eight men were sterilized under this law.

Image source: Eugenics in the United States

Idaho's forced sterilization law, part of the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, was formally repealed in 1972, ending decades of legally sanctioned involuntary sterilization.

Governor Stevenson called for a constitutional convention in 1889. The convention approved a constitution on August 6, 1889, and voters approved the constitution on November 5, 1889, clearing the path for Idaho statehood.

Willis Sweet, a Republican, was Idaho's first congressman, serving from 1890 to 1895 representing the state at-large. In 1896 he supported the Silver Republican Party instead of the regular Republican nominee William McKinley, reflecting silver mining interests in his district.

Idaho was admitted as a state on July 3, 1890, when the territory became the 43rd state of the Union. At the time of statehood, the population was 88,548.

In 1892, miners called a strike which developed into a shooting war between union miners and company guards in the Coeur d'Alene mining district. The violence committed by union miners was answered with a brutal response by authorities.

Hostilities erupted again at the Bunker Hill facility in 1899, when seventeen union miners were fired for having joined the union. The resulting uprising was put down forcefully by Governor Frank Steunenberg, who had been elected on a pro-labor platform.

The labor struggle culminated in the December 1905 assassination of former Governor Frank Steunenberg by Harry Orchard (also known as Albert Horsley), a member of the Western Federation of Miners. Orchard was allegedly incensed by Steunenberg's efforts to suppress the 1899 miner uprising.

In 1907, WFM Secretary Treasurer 'Big Bill' Haywood and two other WFM leaders were tried in Boise on charges of conspiracy to murder Steunenberg, with Orchard testifying against them as part of a deal made with detective James McParland. Haywood and the others were ultimately acquitted.

Some former mining towns reinvented themselves as resort communities, most notably in Blaine County, where the Sun Valley ski resort opened in 1936 as America's first destination ski resort.

In 1992, a deadly stand-off occurred between federal agents and the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge in northern Idaho, drawing national attention to anti-government movements and leading to scrutiny of federal law enforcement tactics.

Image source: Ruby Ridge

In 2001, the Aryan Nations compound located in Hayden Lake, Idaho, was confiscated as a result of a court case brought after a violent incident involving security guards, and the organization moved out of state.

Image source: Aryan Nations

On March 13, 2020, officials from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 within the state of Idaho, beginning the pandemic's impact on the state.