Idaho Trivia & Tidbits - Page 14

Looking for Idaho trivia? Try our list Idaho little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

More than 60 percent of the land in Idaho is owned and managed by the federal government—land that was too high, too dry, too steep, or too remote to have attracted settlers during the early drive westward.

first appeared: 10/13/2002

Hells Canyon on the Snake River bordering Idaho measures 7,900 feet at its greatest drop point from rim to river. The Grand Canyon in Arizona drops only 6,000 vertical feet by comparison, but is considerably wider.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

The Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area—35 miles south of Boise, Idaho, along 81 miles of the Snake River—is home to North America’s largest population of nesting raptors. American kestrels, bald eagles, golden eagles, and seven varieties each of hawks and owls are among the 750 nesting pairs on the 485,000-acre preserve.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

The potato most important to the state’s potato industry got its start in the early 1870s, when plant experimenter Luthur Burbank developed his special seedlings. Eventually, the Burbank potato mutated to today’s Russet Burbank, a staple of the french fry industry.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

Idaho’s official state tree is the Western White Pine. A specimen growing near Elk River (pop. 156) is 219 feet tall and is thought to be the largest in the world.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

Coeur d’Alene Parkway, along the north shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene, is part of the Millennium Legacy trail system—a nationwide set of trails reflecting the diversity of culture and landscape across the United States. The trail, which parallels more than 1,000 feet of lake shoreline, affords views of bald eagles during winter months.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

Near Priest Lake grows the Priest Lake Shoe Tree—a tall cedar decorated with shoes fastened to it by visitors. Origins of the tradition are a mystery, but apparently it began in the 1970s. The tree has become a popular attraction since.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

In Minidoka County, in the southern part of the state, legend says its name is derived from an American Indian word meaning “broad expanse,” appropriate since the area contains a broad part of the Snake River plain.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

Henry’s Lake, located in the mountains of the Targhee National Forest near Island Park (pop. 215), is named for Maj. Andrew Henry, a fur trader sent by the Missouri Fur Company to explore the area in 1810. Henry’s Fork of the Snake River also is named for the explorer.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

Owyhee County in the southwestern corner of the state took its name from the river, mountains, and mining region named by fur trappers from Hawaii who explored the area in 1819-20. On Dec. 31, 1863, Owyhee was the first county established by the initial territorial legislature in Idaho.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

The town of Salmon was founded in 1866 as a place where men and supplies were ferried across the Salmon River to the gold fields of Leesburg, 16 miles west. The gold ran out a few years later, and Leesburg is now a ghost town. Salmon is a bustling community of 3,122 people.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

Elmer Cook, a cattle rancher in Hagerman (pop. 600), discovered a rich trove of fossil bones in 1928, which turned out to be the remains of a herd of zebra-like horses that drowned while crossing a river there 3.5 million years ago. It is now the site of Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

The dome above the rotunda in Idaho’s Capitol has 13 large stars and 43 smaller stars. The 13 large stars represent the original colonies, while the 43 smaller stars symbolize that Idaho was the 43rd state when it was admitted into the union in 1890.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

The Wildlife Canyon Scenic Byway between Banks and Lowman, north of Boise, offers prime wildlife viewing—particularly during winter and spring when herds of elk sometimes number almost 100. The byway travels along the South Fork of the Payette River, which offers challenging rafting and kayaking during summer.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

Coeur d’Alene (pop. 34,514) boasts the world’s longest floating boardwalk, a 3,300-foot-long, 12-foot-wide walkway that features a swinging gate for sailboats.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

The Minidoka National Wildlife Refuge near Rupert (pop. 5,645) includes all of Lake Walcott and its surrounding land and marsh. Spring and fall migrations bring concentrations of up to 100,000 ducks and geese to the refuge, and nearly 500 tundra swans can be found there in spring. Bald eagles are also commonly seen in the refuge.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

Idaho native Harmon Killebrew of Payette (pop. 7,054) amassed 573 home runs during his 22-year major league baseball career with the Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, and Kansas City Royals. In 1969 he won the American League Most Valuable Player award, leading the league in home runs, runs batted in, walks, and on-base percentage.

first appeared: 7/7/2002

The Idaho State Historical Museum in Julia Davis Park in Boise tells the state’s history dating back to prehistoric times. Among the exhibits are two log cabins built in 1863, the year the city was founded. The Mayor Logan Adobe House is another interesting holding. Built in 1865, it is one of the few remaining structures from the city’s adobe period.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

One of the challenges facing wagons on the Oregon Trail in Idaho was Big Hill near Montpelier (pop. 2,785). The hill presented a long, arduous climb with a very steep descent. Today Montpelier is the home of the National Oregon-California Trail Center, a living history museum educating visitors about life on the trail.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

The campus at the University of Idaho in Moscow (pop. 21,291) was designed by the Olmsted Brothers, a famed landscape architectural firm in Massachusetts. The brothers inherited the firm from their father, Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York’s Central Park. Their plan for the campus was to give the area’s Palouse prairie the look of New England’s refined landscape.

first appeared: 6/16/2002

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