Boundaries and Internal Problems of Idaho

Abstract

A hundred years ago Idaho was merely a part of Oregon Territory, which lay between Canada and California and extended from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean (Fig. Ia). In 1853 Washington Territory was separated from Oregon Territory by a boundary that followed the Columbia River from the Pacific coast to the intersection of the river with the 46th parallel and then ran eastward along this parallel to the main range of the Rocky Mountains' (Fig. Ib). Settlement was more rapid in theWillamette Valley and near-by parts of Oregon than in Washington, and in 1859 Oregon was admitted as a state,2 with the present eastern boundary, which follows the Snake River and a north-south line. Oregon's boundaries were now complete. The remaining part of Oregon Territory (east of the Snake River in what is now southern Idaho) had no agricultural settlements or mines at that time and was hundreds of miles from the coast. This Indian-infested remnant of mountains and deserts was attached to Washington Territory (Fig. ic). The elongate, irregular Territory of Washington now consisted essentially of the undeveloped remainder of old Oregon. The discovery of gold in what is now northern Idaho in I860 and in southern Idaho in 1862 caused an influx of population into these areas. The capital of Washington Territory, Olympia, was separated from the new mining areas by hundreds of miles of deserts and mountains. The need for a seat of government much closer to the mines was generally recognized; also, agricultural western Washington desired a new territorial division that