Idaho Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

—Between 1955 and 1969, Dean Oliver won eight world tie-down calf-roping championships, five of them in consecutive years from 1960 through 1964. The cowboy from Nampa (pop. 51,867) also was the World Champion All-Around Cowboy for three years, from 1963 to 1965. He began competing in riding and roping events as a young man, after watching the action at an Idaho rodeo and deciding to try it out.

—At an elevation of 2,128 feet, the 120-mile-long St. Joe River is reported to be the world’s highest navigable river. Known for its fishing and whitewater, and still used to float rafts or “brailes” of logs to nearby lumber mills, the “Shadowy St. Joe” meets the St. Maries River in St. Maries (pop. 2,652).

—Reported to be the nation’s only marketplace on a bridge, the Cedar Street Bridge in Sandpoint (pop. 6,835) opened in 1983, inspired by the Ponte Vecchio, a historic marketplace over the Arno River in Florence, Italy. The Cedar Street Bridge, which crosses Sand Creek and was the home of shopping retailer Coldwater Creek until last year, is being redeveloped as a public market.

The Sixth Street Melodrama Theater has operated since 1984 in the oldest remaining wood-frame building in Wallace (pop. 960). A survivor of the devastating 1910 fire that swept through the downtown area, the century-old structure now hosts year-round entertainment, which specializes in the region’s history and legends.

—Mike Young was a three-time state wrestling champ at Idaho Falls (pop. 50,730) High School in the early 1960s. He won gold in wrestling at the 1967 Pan American Games, was named U.S. senior freestyle champion in 1973 and went on to become a successful wrestling coach. Young is an Idaho honoree of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame for his lifetime service to the sport.

—At 1,800 acres, Elk Mountain Hop Farm in Bonners Ferry (pop. 2,515) is one of the world’s largest hop farms. Established in 1987, the Anheuser-Busch farm produces nearly 8 percent of the hops that the company uses to create its beers. The farm’s location near the Canadian border puts it at the same latitude as Europe’s premier hops-growing regions. Hops are a specialty crop that can add bitterness, flavor, aroma and preservative qualities to beer. Idaho is the nation’s third-largest hops producer, with two distinct growing regions. European varieties of hops are grown in northern Idaho, while varieties such as Zeus, Galena, Nugget and Willamette are grown in the state’s southwestern Treasure Valley, near Boise.

—Many varieties of the snapdragon-like penstemon plant thrive in the state, including the Rocky Mountain penstemon with its deep blue flowers. Also known as beardtongue, penstemons are perennials that tolerate drought and sun, with blooms appearing from May to July, depending on the species. The plants control soil erosion and can be grown in home gardens.

—Tina Andersen of Rigby (pop. 2,998) has become a pioneer in space education, transporting her Mobile Space Station trailer to schools throughout the state. Equipped with a 10-foot robotic arm and mock space suits, the trailer is designed to give students in grades five through eight a hands-on “space mission” to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom. Now working toward her master’s degree, Andersen hopes to resume traveling with the trailer in 2008.

—The Nez Perce Indian tribe is developing a new breed of horse, known as the Nez Perce, with the breed’s registry located in Lapwai (pop. 1,134). A cross between the appaloosa and a horse from Turkmenistan called the akhal-teke, the Nez Perce horse is tall and powerful, often having a metallic sheen to its coat, and is intended to help revitalize tribal horse culture.

—Local outfitters offer guided horseback riding trips near Challis (pop. 909) to view one of the state’s herds of wild horses, descended from animals that escaped or were released onto public lands before 1971’s Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act.

—Several gray wolves that form the Sawtooth Pack, also known as Wolves of the Nez Perce, live on 20 acres of rolling timberland near Winchester (pop. 308), at the Wolf Education and Research Center on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. A visitor’s center opened there in 1997 to provide public education about wolves, and tours are available by reservation.

Thousands of people turned out in Boise on April 16, 1925, to see the first transcontinental train steam into the newly opened Union Pacific Depot. The grand, Spanish-style station, which incorporates a bell tower and heavily timbered roof, was restored in 1992 by Morrison Knudsen Corp., and purchased in 1996 by the city of Boise. Today, the Boise Depot offers public drop-in hours and facility rental.

—Solar-powered lights illuminate several miles of cross-country ski trails at Bogus Basin Mountain Resort near Boise for night skiing and snowshoeing. Engineering students from Boise State University worked with Bogus Basin personnel between 2003 and 2005 to design and install the system, which uses photovoltaic panels to feed battery banks that in turn power trailside lights on poles.

Tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf plan to develop a luxury hotel and residence community at Tamarack Resort near Donnelly (pop. 138). The married couple—who’ve both won all four Grand Slam tennis titles along with Olympic gold—will be involved in designing and financing the property in the resort community, which offers boating on nearby Lake Cascade, golfing and snow skiing.

—Each March for the last two decades, Sun Valley (pop. 1,427) has hosted The Paw ’n’ Pole cross-country and snowshoe race in which contestants are accompanied by their dogs or canines “borrowed” from the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley. Prizes are awarded for best silly pet tricks and costumes, with proceeds going to local animal charities.

—The 280-mile route looping the Selkirk Mountains in northern Idaho, northeastern Washington and southeastern British Columbia is known as the International Selkirk Loop. Reported to be North America’s first international scenic byway, the route includes Idaho communities such as Sandpoint (pop. 6,835), and features one of the most diverse wildlife areas in the lower 48 states, inhabited by more than 50 mammal and 265 bird species.

—The USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council is headquartered in Moscow (pop. 21,291). Founded in 1965 as a nonprofit organization to promote and protect those growing and processing peas, lentils and chickpeas, the council today represents more than 5,000 members. Its mission involves supporting research, developing new markets and increasing awareness of American-grown legumes.

When the 2006 Meteksan Archery World Cup competition was launched last May in Porec, Croatia, the Wilde family of Pocatello (pop. 51,466) was well represented. Reo Wilde won gold in the men’s compound competition while father Dee Wilde finished in 22nd place and brother Logan Wilde finished 33rd.

—For the past year, the town of Santa in Benewah County (pop. 9,171) has been known as SecretSanta.com. Commissioners voted to change the town’s name for 12 months in return for at least $20,000 from an Internet marketer promoting a gift exchange service. The community was platted by Sarah Renfro in 1902, taking its name from the post office already in existence there.

—Located on the Pend Oreille River near present-day Sandpoint (pop. 6,835), Seneacquoteen was the site of an American Indian river crossing—hence the name, which means “crossing.” Beginning in the mid-1800s, the location was a ferry site visited by explorers, fur traders and gold miners. Today, a small cemetery is all that remains.