Idaho
State of northwestern USA; nicknamed Gem State
Area:
216,500 sq km/83,569 sq mi
Capital:
Boise
Towns and Cities:
Pocatello, Idaho Falls
Physical:
Rocky Mountains; Sawtooth Mountains, with peaks up to 11,800 feet;
Snake River, which runs through Hell's Canyon (2,330 m/ 7,647 ft), the
deepest gorge in North America; Shoshone Falls; Salmon River; Lava Hot
Springs; Coeur d'Alene Lake, with a large population of ospreys
Features:
The National Reactor Testing Station on the plains of Hell's Canyon's
upper reaches; Nez Percé National Historic Park; Craters of the Moon
National Monument; Old Mission at Cataldo (1850), the oldest building
in the state; Coeur d'Alene Native American reservation; EBR-1, the
first nuclear reactor in the USA to generate usable amounts of electricity,
now a national historic landmark; Soda Springs, with the only artificial
geyser in the world; Sun Valley, the first ski resort in the USA (1935)
and site of the world's first chair lifts
Industries:
Potatoes, wheat, livestock, timber, silver, lead, zinc, antimony Population:
(1995) 1,163,300
Famous People:
Ezra Pound
History:
Part of the Louisiana Purchase 1803; explored by Lewis and Clark 1805-06;
the first non- Native Americans to settle permanently were the
Mormons in 1860, the same year gold was discovered. Settlement
in the 1870s led to a series of battles between US forces and
Native American tribes. Idaho became a state in 1890. The timber
industry began 1906, and by World War I agriculture was a leading
enterprise.
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