Idaho Trivia & Tidbits - Page 15

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

Dog Bark Park in Cottonwood (pop. 944) is the home of two gargantuan beagles. Toby stands 12 feet high, while Sweet Willy Colton, towering 30 feet tall, is scheduled to become a bed and breakfast for visitors longing to spend the night in a dog. The park also contains other works by husband and wife chain-saw sculptors Dennis J. Sullivan and Frances Conklin.

first appeared: 6/9/2002

The towering sand dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park lie in the center of a natural basin, which keeps the sand in place and prevents the dunes from drifting far. The largest single-structured sand dune in North America is found here, its peak reaching 470 feet.

first appeared: 6/2/2002

The Bown House, a sandstone home built in 1879 by early Boise-area settlers Joseph and Temperance Bown, is now a living history center that teaches youngsters about life in the 1890s—a time during which the Bowns had grandchildren on the premises. Children visiting the home today get a glimpse of life in a one-room school when they visit the room where Grandma Bown set up a classroom after the local school burned in 1889.

first appeared: 5/26/2002

The entire town of Wallace (pop. 960) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as the buildings of the old mining town provide one of the best illustrations of turn-of-the-century architecture in the Pacific Northwest. Several places date back to the early 1890s, when much of the town was destroyed in a fire.

first appeared: 5/19/2002

The Port of Lewiston at the gathering point of the Snake and Clearwater rivers is the West Coast’s most inland seaport. Lewiston (pop. 30,904) became a port city in 1975, after a series of eight locks and dams on the Columbia-Snake River system made the waterway navigable from Lewiston to the Pacific Ocean.

first appeared: 5/12/2002

Boise is home to the Basque Museum & Cultural Center, the only museum in America devoted entirely to the heritage of immigrants from the Basque region, an area of the Pyrenees Mountains along northern Spain and southern France. The Basques settled in Idaho in the early 1900s.

first appeared: 5/5/2002

The town of Burley (pop. 9,316) owes its prosperity to a 210,000-acre irrigation project that created a flourishing farming center. It is an important potato-growing area and also boasts a large sugar beet processing plant.

first appeared: 4/28/2002

Priest Lake in northern Idaho was first named Kaniksu, an American Indian word meaning “black robe” that refers to Father Peter John DeSmet and other Catholic priests who explored the area in the mid-1800s. DeSmet was known as “great black robe” and enjoyed great respect among many tribes in the Northwest.

first appeared: 4/21/2002

American Falls Dam near American Falls (pop. 4,111) is the state’s largest irrigation storage facility. The concrete dam—103 feet high—was first built in the 1920s and then replaced in 1978. It is not the state’s largest dam, however. Dworshak Dam in northern Idaho claims that distinction, rising to a height of 717 feet.

first appeared: 4/14/2002

Eagle Island State Park near Eagle (pop. 11,085) once was a farm where state inmates worked, but now is home to abundant wildlife. Among the species thriving in the park are great blue herons, eagles, hawks, turkeys, beavers, muskrats, foxes, and weasels.

first appeared: 4/7/2002

Givens Hot Springs, between Marsing (pop. 890) and Melba (pop. 439) in Owyhee County, has been a family-operated attraction since 1879, when Milford and Mattie Givens settled there. The spot became a regular stop for Oregon Trail travelers, and the Givens family eventually built a bathhouse, hotel, and even a school. Today, a pool house at the springs still serves visitors.

first appeared: 3/31/2002

The Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho and northeastern Washington are the only place in the continental United States where woodland caribou still can be found. The animal, listed under the Endangered Species Act, is equipped with large hooves suited for deep snow. It is rare among members of the deer family, since it winters in heavy snow areas. Only a few dozen of the caribou are thought to be remaining in the lower 48 states.

first appeared: 3/24/2002

The state song, Here We Have Idaho, extols the “beautiful valleys and hills,” and the “majestic forests where nature abounds,” and proclaims that “romance lies in her name.” The Legislature designated the song as the official state song in 1931, but the tune goes back to 1915 when the music was composed and copyrighted by Sallie Hume Douglas. Words were added later.

first appeared: 3/17/2002

Box Canyon, the state’s newest state park, contains one of the largest springs in the country—pouring 180,000 gallons of water a minute into the Snake River. The canyon near Hagerman (pop. 656) is also home to the Shoshone sculpin, a rare fish found only in Idaho.

first appeared: 3/10/2002

Albertson College in Caldwell (pop. 25,967) opened in 1891 as the College of Idaho, six years before statehood. A century later, it changed its name to Albertson College of Idaho in honor of Kathryn and Joe Albertson, alumni and benefactors of the school and founders of the Albertsons supermarket chain.

first appeared: 3/3/2002

Jesse Fairchilds, aka “Carriboo Jack,” was a legendary19th-century teller of tall tales who is memorialized in Geyser Park in Soda Springs (pop. 3,381). Among Fairchilds’ stories is a tale about his mule—a beast so smart it wouldn’t let Jack ride unless he changed his socks once a week.

first appeared: 2/24/2002

On Sept. 14, 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near the Powell Ranger Station, west of Lolo Pass. Attesting to the journey’s hardships, a nearby sign explains that the explorers encamped there were “compelled to kill a colt ... for the want of meat.”

first appeared: 2/17/2002

Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition are thought to have been the first to display the flag of the United States on “foreign” territory outside the Louisiana Purchase. The flag was unfurled in the foothills of Idaho’s Lemhi Valley.

first appeared: 2/10/2002

The eagle that tops the Idaho Capitol dome is made of copper with bronze plating and stands 5 feet 7 inches tall.

first appeared: 2/3/2002

Franklin (pop. 641), just north of the Utah border, is considered Idaho’s oldest town. It was founded April 14, 1860.

first appeared: 2/3/2002

jump to page: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18

newspaper partner login create account

Recent

Popular

Recipes

Below are the most recent American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile articles:

Below are the most recent, highest rated American Profile recipes:

Relish

Spry

Below are the most recent articles from our Relish sister site. Click on the "Spry" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.

Below are the most recent articles from our Spry sister site. Click on the "Relish" tab above to see the most recent articles from our other sister site.