“Lew at Large” from Idaho’s capital city, Boise, where Its a balmy 22 degrees (but it feels much colder. When I left home this morning it was below zero & the power was out, so this is an improvement. Now, for your Wednesday enlightenment here’s today’s FREE (Facebook Roaming Education Effort): The name “Boise” means “wooded” & was originated in the 1820’s when French-Canadian fur trappers set trap lines in the vicinity. The tree-lined valley of the Boise River became a distinct landmark. They called this La rivière boisée, which means the wooded river”. The original Fort Boise was about 40 miles west of here near the Oregon border but was abandoned in the 1850’s. The U.S. Army re-established a fort in the area in 1863, after many massacres along the Oregon Trail occurred. The new Fort Boise was near the intersection of the Oregon Trail & a major road connecting the booming areas of Idaho City (the largest city in the Northwest at the time) & the Silver City mining areas. At this location Fort Boise grew rapidly & was soon incorporated as a city. The first capital of the Idaho Territory was Lewiston in northern Idaho. The original Idaho territory was larger than Texas. But following the creation of Montana Territory, Boise was made the territorial capital of a much reduced Idaho along geographic lines in 1866. Dang, we could have almost been the largest state instead of the 13th largest! Now here are more fascinating Idaho tidbits: 1. Idaho’s only has about 1.5 million people with almost half of them living within the Boise metro area. 2. The crime rate in Idaho is 21% lower than that of the national average. And EVERYONE owns guns, lots of them!! 3. Idaho has the second lowest cost of living out of the eleven western states. 4. The Statehouse in Boise and dozens of other buildings in the city are geothermally heated from underground hot springs. In fact, Idaho has a huge number of public and private hot springs. 5. 63% of Idaho is public land managed by the federal government. The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness is the largest wilderness area in the 48 lower states - 2.3 million acres of rugged, unspoiled back country. 6. The worlds first nuclear power plant is located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), near Arco, Idaho. The Atomic Energy Commission offered the town of Arco electricity generated by atomic energy in 1953. 7. In 1953, the engineering prototype of the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus, was built and tested in the Idaho desert on the Snake River Plain near Arco. 8. The deepest river gorge in the North American Continent is Idahos Hells Canyon - 7,900 feet deep, 1/4 mile deeper than the Grand Canyon. 9. Sacajawea, a Lemhi Shoshoni from an area now on the Montana/Idaho border, escorted Lewis & Clark through northern Idaho to the mouth of the Columbia River drainage. 10. Five of historys pioneer trails, including the Oregon Trail and the California Trail, cross Southern Idaho. Wagon ruts are still visible all along the rugged terrain. 11. Shoshone Falls, near Twin Falls, Idaho, drops 212 feet, 52 feet further than Niagara Falls. 12. Craters of the Moon National Monument in southeast Idaho contains nearly 40 separate lava flows, some formed as recently as 250 years ago. This area looks like it’s from another world & was used as a training ground for early astronauts. 13. Idaho is named the Gem State, & produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world. 14. One of the largest diamonds ever found in the United States, nearly 20 carats, was discovered near McCall, Idaho. 15. Idaho has 3,100 miles of rivers - more than any other state. 16. The worlds most dense population of nesting birds; including eagles, falcons, and hawks, reside in Idahos Birds of Prey Wildlife Area. 17. Idaho is the top national producer of potatoes, trout, lentils, and Australian winter peas. And here you thought Idaho was only famous for Potatoes & Melaleuca!
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 23:28:58 +0000
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