The 43rd state admitted to the US was Idaho, on July 3rd, 1889. Idaho is known as "the Gem State" because of the 72 rare precious minerals that are produced there. The "Idaho Cut" created by Quincy Douglas Howell, one of the worlds top five faceting experts in the world, is the official cut for gemstones in Idaho. This state is known for their potatoes, trout, precious stones, and rugged landscapes. It is said that if you flattened all of the mountains in Idaho, the state would be the size of Texas. Idaho covers the land of two separate time zones, and is the 13th largest state in the US. The state capitol is Boise, the state bird is the Mountain Bluebird, the state tree is the Western White Pine, and the state flower is the Syringa.
The first peoples of Idaho were Native Americans over 16,600 years ago. They were divided into five separate groups: the Kutenai, Coer d'Alene, Nez Perce, Shoshoni-Bannock, and Northern Paiute with smaller communities within them. It wasn't until 1592 that the Spaniards first arrived and introduced horses, domestic fowl, pigs, corn, beans, garlic, and tomatoes to the Indigenous. The first Euro-Americans to walk on Idaho soil were Lewis and Clark. They traveled through the state in 1805 with an African American servant named York. French-Canadian fur trappers came soon after that, and even Hawaiian Islanders worked the fur trade between 1834 and 1844. In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was formed between the US and Great Britain that established the 49th parallel as the boarder between countries, with the exception of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where it followed the middle of the channel. This guaranteed free and open navigation of the Columbia River and common navigation rights in Puget Sound for both the British and the Hudson's Bay Company, instead of a "Joint Occupancy" that was fought over 28 years for an expansive region. From 1848 - 1853, Idaho was part of the Oregon Territory. When Oregon became a state, Idaho was attached to Washington. An unexpected gold rush brought minors by the thousands, and the Idaho mines grew the population as they mined for silver, lead, zinc, and copper much larger than Washington. The Oregon/California Trail became a major route for settlers, and it passed through Idaho. In 1863, Idaho was organized as a territory. After the Civil War ended in 1864, many African Americans settled in Idaho, and some were sent in as troops from the military to take residence. In 1865, Boise replaced Lewiston as the capital. The Union Pacific Railroad extended through Idaho, and Boise was soon connected to this system in 1887. On July 3rd, 1890, Idaho became the 43rd state of the USA. Today, about 2.3% of the population is Native American. There are nine languages spoken and five federally recognized tribes as of 2010.
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