FULL NAME State of Idaho

FULL NAME State of Idaho

POSTAL ABBREVIATION ID

INHABITANT Idahoan

ADMITTED TO THE UNION July 3, 1890.

Rank 43rd

CAPITAL CITY Boise, the largest city in the state, located on the Boise River in south¬western Idaho; population 125,738. Origi¬nally an army camp, it was founded as a settlement in 1863 and was incorporated as a city the following year, when it also be¬came the territorial capital.

STATE NAME AND NICKNAMES The name "Ida¬ho" is an artificial Indian word invented by George M. Willing. Also known as the Gem State and the Gem of the Mountains (the putative meaning of "Idaho").

STATE SEAL In the center is a shield showing a landscape, with the Snake River, moun¬tains, a fir tree, and a farmer at the plow. Above the shield is an elk's head and the

state motto on a scroll; below it is a sheaf of wheat; to the right is a miner; to the left a woman holding symbols of justice and liberty. Along the bottom are agricultural symbols, including two cornucopias, the state flower, and ripened wheat. The yel¬low border reads "Great Seal of the State of Idaho."

The western state of Idaho belongs to the Mountain states. It is bordered on the north by Canada, on the east by Montana and Wyoming, on the south by Nevada and Utah, and on the west by Oregon, Washington, and the Snake River. It ranks 42nd in population and 14th in area among the states.

MOTTO Esto Perpetua (It Is Forever)

SONG "Here We Have Idaho," lyrics by McKinley Helm and Albert J. Tompkins, music by Sallie Hume Douglas.

SYMBOLS

Flower syringa Tree white pine Bird mountain bluebird Gem star garnet Horse Appaloosa FLAG A blue field with the state seal in the center and below it a red band bearing the legend "State of Idaho."

As a Rocky Mountain state, Idaho is domi¬nated by mountain terrain, with the Conti¬nental Divide forming Idaho's eastern bor¬der. The state contains some of the largest stretches of unspoiled wilderness in the continental U.S., with a wide diversity of flora and game. Idaho also boasts more than 2,000 lakes and ten major rivers. Heavily irrigated farmland lines the Snake River valley, the state's major drainage; Hell's Canyon, along the western Snake River, is the deepest gorge—about one mile in depth—in North America.

ELEVATIONS Highest point-. Borah Peak, Cus-

ter County, 12,662 feet. Lowest point. Snake River, Nez Perce County, 710 feet. Mean elevation: 5,000 feet

MAJOR RIVERS Snake, Salmon, Clearwater

MAJOR LAKES Pend Oreille, Coeur d'Alene, Priest, Bear, American Falls, Cascade, and Dworshak

TEMPERATURES (1990) The highest recorded temperature was 118°F on July 28, 1934, at Orotino. The lowest was —60°F on January 18, 1943, at Island Park Dam.

IDAHO IN HISTORY

1805 A U.S. expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark crosses what is now the Idaho panhandle en route to the Pacific coast.

1809 David Thompson of the North West Company establishes a trading post on the eastern shore