the lewis and clark expedition reached
idaho in 1805 making it one of the last
places in the u.s to be explored by
non-native settlers the fur trade and
the discovery of gold brought more
europeans to the area but there were
frequent conflicts with the native
people which disrupted trade and
discouraged gold miners from settling
there permanently the sheep eater indian
war was the last conflict to be fought
in the area in 1879 the sheep eaters a
faction of shoshone indians surrendered
the fellow who first proposed a
territory be named idaho claimed the
name came from a shoshone word meaning
gem of the mountains he later admitted
he made the word up but the name stuck
and even idaho's nickname is the gem
state
idaho became the 43rd state in the union
on july 3 1890.
many visitors come to idaho to hike and
ski in the rocky mountains the world's
first ski lift was built in 1935 in
idaho at sun valley ski resort with all
those mountains it might surprise you
that the deepest gorge in the u.s hell's
canyon is found on the idaho and oregon
border
carved by the snake river it's almost 8
000 feet deep
the snake river valley in idaho is
fertile farmland and more potatoes are
grown here than any other place in the
u.s
when you're traveling around idaho don't
forget to set your watch the northern
half of the state is in the pacific time
zone and the southern half keeps
mountain time