|
|
1852 French Canadians discover gold on the Pend Oreille River. |
MORE INFORMATION: * Mining |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1853 Construction of the Cataldo Mission completed; Washington Territory established; Idaho divided between Washington and Oregon. |
|
| . | 1854 Twenty-one emigrants led by Alexander Ward massacred in Boise Valley by the Snake River Indians. This event leads to the closing of Fort Boise the next summer and of Fort Hall in 1856. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1855 Mormon missionaries establish Fort Lemhi, reclaim first land by irrigation in Idaho; First Nez Perce Treaty is signed. |
. |
| . | 1857 Oregon's eastern boundary (Idaho's western boundary) established by Oregon constitutional convention. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1858 Bannock Indians attack Mormons at Fort Lemhi, killing two and driving the remaining missionaries back to Utah. Fort Lemhi is abandoned. |
. |
. |
1859 Oregon admitted as a state, all of Idaho included in Washington Territory. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: . * 1860 Map |
1860 Idaho's oldest town, Franklin, is founded just north of the Utah border on April 14; Miss Hannah Cornish starts the first school for white children in Idaho; Gold discovered on Orofino Creek in August, leads to the establishment of Idaho's oldest mining town, Pierce; Mullan military wagon road built just north of Coeur d'Alene. |
. |
| 1861 Lewiston established as a service community for Idaho mines on May 13; Salmon River mines discovered, revealing the Florence diggings, which causes a mining stampede October 11. |
MORE INFORMATION: * About
Florence |
|
MORE INFORMATION: |
1862 First newspaper published in Idaho is the Golden Age in Lewiston; George Grimes and a party of prospectors establish the Boise Basin mines, leads to the creation of Idaho City; Packer John's Cabin built between New Meadows and McCall; Gold discovered near present day Warren; Pierce County Courthouse is built. |
|
 |
1863 Idaho Territory organized, capital at Lewiston; President Lincoln signs the act establishing the territory on March 4; Soda Springs founded by Colonel Conner; Boise News of Idaho City issues first copy September 29; Mining begins in the Owyhees; Boise Barracks established at Moore Creek by Major P. Lugenbeel and the U.S. Cavalry; The townsite of Boise laid out by merchants under the lead of Cyrus Jacobs; First general election held October 31; First county established: Owyhee County, December 31; The Massacre of Bear River, one of the West's largest Indian battles, is fought near present-day Preston; Nez Perce Treaty of Lapwai is signed; Boise Basin gold rush begins. |
MORE INFORMATION: * Snake
River Gold * Rocks, Rails & Trails: page 96 |
MORE INFORMATION: * Stagecoach
Lines |
1864 A resolution to make Boise the capital passes December 7; Public school system established for the territory; Julius Newburg Road completed in Elmore County September 7; Ben Holliday establishes first stagecoach line; The Idaho Statesman begins tri-weekly publication in Boise; Ada, Alturas, Boise, Idaho, Kootenai, Lah-Toh, Nez Perce, Oneida and Shoshone counties created. |
|
. |
1865 Boise becomes the capital of Idaho; J.M. Taylor and Robert Anderson erect bridge across Snake River near present day Idaho Falls; Boise-Rocky Bar stage begins operations, later extended to Silver City. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
| . | 1866 Gold discovered at Leesburg in Lemhi County; Survey of public lands begun, L.F. Cartee surveyor; Congress passes Federal Lode Mining Act; State of Columbia proposed by the Idaho legislature in a petition to Congress, to include all the lands in western Montana, northern Idaho, and eastern Washington; Telegraph service reaches Idaho. |
. |
| . | 1866 to 1868 Snake War. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1867 Owyhee Miners' League in Owyhee County organizes, as state's first labor union; Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmore sculptor, born in Bear Lake County March 25; Bishop Tuttle, an Episcopal priest, arrives in Boise October 12; Idaho Legislature repeals oath of allegiance to U.S., a riot commences and Federal troops are called out; Lah-Toh County abolished, territory annexed to Kootenai County. |
. |
| . | 1869 Statue of George Washington, carved from native wood by Charles Ostner, is unveiled on the capitol grounds at Boise; Idaho State Law Library established; Placer gold strike made at Oro Grande; Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads complete transcontinental railway at Promontory Summit, Utah on May 10, improves transportation to Idaho; Chinese workers flock to Idaho mines; Fort Hall Indian Reservation set aside by President Grant for Shoshone and Bannock Indians of southern Idaho; First telegraph office established at Franklin, linking the town with Salt Lake City; Lemhi County created. |
MORE INFORMATION: * Mining |
MORE INFORMATION: * Rocks, Rails & Trails: Chapter 11 * Great
Sheep Trials |
1870 Idaho population: 14,999 (a later census figure shows 17,804 as Utah-Idaho border was not clearly established); Caribou gold rush in southeastern Idaho; Great Sheep Trials |
 |
|
|
1872 U.S. Assay office and Idaho prison completed; Strike drives Chinese labor out of Owyhee mines. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1873 Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation set aside by President Grant for the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane Indians; First russet potatoes successfully grown in Idaho, later becoming the state's "famous potatoes". |
|
| . | 1874 First railroad in Idaho: Utah Northern, to Franklin; Idaho's first daily newspaper, The Owyhee Daily Avalanche, issued at Silver City October 17; Telegraph reaches Silver City. |
. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1875 Lemhi Indian Reservation set aside by President Ulysses S. Grant; Bear Lake County created; Bank failure ruins Silver City and South Mountain Mines. |
. |
| 1877 National Desert Land Act passed by Congress for reclaiming land by irrigation; Nez Perce Indian War: battles fought at White Bird - June 14th through 29th. Battle of Clearwater fought July 11 and 12. Fighting then moved into Montana. The war ended on October 5 with the surrender of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce; Duck Valley Indian Reservation set aside by President Hayes for the Shoshone and Northern Paiute Indians. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
|
MORE INFORMATION: |
1878 Bannock Indian War: Bannocks led by Chief Buffalo Horn, and Paiutes led by Chief Egan, went on the warpath when the United States Government opened the Camas Prairie, which had been reserved for the Indians. Battles fought at South Mountain and Bennett Creek. |
|
. |
1879 The Sheepeater Indian War: renegade Bannock Indians go on warpath. Indians hide out in the hills of central Idaho subsisting on sheep they kill during their raids. Battles fought at Big Creek and Loon Creek. Indians surrender September 1; Utah Northern railroad completed within Idaho on its path from Salt Lake City to Helena, Montana; Washington county created. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: * Rocks, Rails & Trails: Chapter 24 |
1880 Idaho population: 32,619; Discovery of lead-silver lodes in the Wood River area, the rush to Bellevue, Hailey and Ketchum transforms south central Idaho; The Boise and Lewiston Independent School Districts created; North Idaho Annexation political party forms to counteract the powerful "Boise Ring". |
. |
| . | 1881 Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers forms to collect and preserve a reliable history of the early settlement of the territory; The Hailey Times begins daily publication; Wells Fargo office established at Challis; Custer County created; Earthquake centered 20 miles east of Mount Idaho August 9. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
| . | 1882 Northern Pacific railroad completed across the northern part of the Territory; Construction begins on the New York Canal in Ada County; Rexburg is founded; Oregon Short Line completed through southern Idaho; State's first electric light at the Philadelphia Smelter near Ketchum. |
. |
| . | 1883 First commercial telephone service in Idaho commences at Hailey, October 1. |
. |
MORE INFORMATION: * Mining |
1884 Silver discovered in the Coeur d'Alene mining district, which eventually becomes nation's richest; Coeur d'Alene gold rush, followed by Tiger and Polaris mines opening lead-silver operations; The Oregon Short Line arrives in Ketchum August 19; Freight and passenger service begins on Coeur d'Alene Lake; Oregon Short Line reaches Weiser, connecting Idaho to the Pacific coast; Wallace is founded. |
. |
|
|
1885 The legislature approves construction of Territorial Capitol building at an expense of $80,000; Test Oath Act adopted by legislature, designed to bar Mormons from voting and holding public office; Legislature locates insane asylum at Blackfoot; Famous poet Ezra Pound born at Hailey October 30; Bingham County created; Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines begin operation; Giant gold nugget discovered north of Wallace. |
. |
| . | 1886 Utah Northern merges with Oregon Short Line and joins Union Pacific system; Separate bills to annex north Idaho to Washington Territory pass each chamber of Congress, but are not reconciled; Construction on the Territorial Capitol completed; Nampa city platted. |
. |
| . | 1887 Electric light plant goes into operation at Hailey to supply power for territory's first electric lights; Wardner miner's union established after wage reductions at Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines; Compulsory education law passed; A bill to annex north Idaho to Washington Territory passes Congress, but is not signed by President Cleveland and does not become law. |
. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1888 Ricks Academy, now known as Ricks College, established in Rexburg; Latah County created by U.S. Congress. |
. |
| . | 1889 As a conciliatory move to keep north Idaho from seceding, the Territorial legislature locates the University of Idaho at Moscow; Constitutional convention composed of sixty-eight members meet at Boise July 4 and after laboring twenty-eight days, forms and adopts constitution for the state of Idaho; August 6. Constitution is ratified by the people on November 5 by a vote of 12,398 to 1,773; Fire in Hailey causes $750,000 worth of damage; Elmore county created. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
| . | 1890 Idaho population: 88,548; Idaho admitted to the Union as the 43rd state on July 3, signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison; Great Northern Railroad completed across the northern part of the state; Congress passes Federal Forest Reserve Act; First legislative and statewide elections held; First session of the Idaho Legislature meets. |
. |
|
|
1891 Great Seal of the State of Idaho, a design drawn by Miss Emma Edwards, with the Latin motto "Esto Perpetua" adopted; Idaho forest reserves created; Boise's electric street railway commences operation on August 22; College of Idaho opens in Caldwell October 9; Canyon county created; President Benjamin Harrison plants Water Oak on capitol grounds. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: * Mining |
1892 High freight rates and low silver prices close Coeur d'Alene mines January 16; The Farmers Alliance and the Knights of Labor organize the Idaho Populist Party in Boise May 26; Martial law commenced in the Coeur d'Alenes on July 14 following the dynamiting of the Frisco Mill near Burke; University of Idaho opens October 3; Idaho Education Association organized; Timber and Stone Act passes Congress, paving way for commercial timber industry in Idaho. |
. |
| . | 1893 The "Panic of '93" lead and silver prices collapsed, Coeur d'Alene mines shut down; Western Federation of Miners formed; Office of State Mine Inspector established; Idaho State Medical Society founded September 12; State Wool Growers Association started at Mountain Home September 25; First state game laws enacted; State Normal Schools (Colleges of Education) established at Lewiston and Albion; Legislature enacts state wagon roads to connect north and south Idaho; Bannock and Fremont counties created. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: * Rocks, Rails & Trails: pages 70-71 |
1894 Nez Perce Indian Reservation allotted; Congress passes Carey Act, makes possible reclamation of Snake River Valley; Gold discovered in the Thunder Mountain country. |
. |
| . | 1895 Comprehensive irrigation law, providing for uniform use of public water, enacted on March 9; Lincoln and Blaine counties created. |
MORE INFORMATION: |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1896 Lewiston Normal School dedicated June 3; Idaho becomes first in the nation in production of lead; Montpelier bank robbed by Butch Cassidy August 13; Idaho Legislature calls on Congress to extend the right to vote to women; Idaho Republicans split, Silver Republicans endorse William Jennings Bryan for President; Clashes between sheep and cattle industries culminate in the murder of sheepherders allegedly by "Diamondfield" Jack Davis; Cassia County created. |
. |
|
|
1897 President Grover Cleveland establishes Bitterroot Forest Reserve which includes much of north Idaho; Legislature acts to protect bison within the state; State Board of Medical Examiners established to regulate the practice of medicine. |
MORE INFORMATION: * Forestry |
MORE INFORMATION: |
1898 First Idaho regiment of military volunteers called into service for the Philippine insurrection of the Spanish-American War; Fort Hall Indian Reservation allotted in parcels of 160 acres each, with the balance to be sold for the Indians' benefit. |
. |
| . | 1899 Position of State Fish and Game Warden created; Governor Steunenberg calls in federal troops to suppress riot in the Coeur d'Alene mining district following the dynamiting of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan concentrator. |
MORE INFORMATION: * Mining |
