Idaho Territory

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Idaho Territory was a historic territory of the United States . It existed from March 4, 1863 to July 3, 1890, when the territory became the 43rd state of Idaho to join the union. The territorial capital was Lewiston first and then moved to Boise in 1865 .

history

1860s

The territory was created by a law passed by the US Congress on March 4, 1863, which President Abraham Lincoln signed. It was created from pre-existing territories. The area west of the Continental Divide was previously part of the Oregon and Washington Territories , whereas most of the area east of the Continental Divide was part of the Dakota Territory . The original territory included much of what is now Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming .

Although the battle on the Bear River ( Bear River Massacre ) in what is now Franklin County is viewed as the westernmost battle in the American Civil War , the Civil War and the subsequent reconstruction were seen as a distant problem in the territory , which in turn led to an increase in population in the relatively stable Idaho led.

1864 parts were eliminated in the east of the territory: The northeastern section of the territory east of the Bitterroot (. English Bitterroot Range ) went to the newly created Montana Territory , the southeastern part back to the Dakota Territory.

In the late 1860s, the Idaho Territory became a new home for many displaced southern states - Democrats who fought for the Confederate States during the American Civil War . These people were then well represented in the early territorial parliaments and often clashed with the appointed republican territorial governor. The political hand-to-hand combat became more brutal in 1867 when Governor David W. Ballard asked for protection against the territorial parliament from federal troops stationed at Fort Boise. In the 1870s the situation eased significantly.

In 1868 the area east of the 111th longitude was added to the newly created Wyoming Territory . With this, the Idaho Territory gradually assumed its present-day borders. The discovery of gold , silver and other valuable mineral resources in the early 1860s, as well as the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, brought new people to the territory. The mining and other extractive industries have become increasingly important to its economy , it exported Idaho up to the 1890s, more lead than any other state.

1870s

Entrance to the old prison

Construction began on the Idaho Territorial Prison in 1870, and it was completed in 1872. The building, which was in use until 1973, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for its expressiveness as a territorial prison. Today there are museums and an arboretum on the site .

Immediately after the establishment of the territory, a general school system was created and stagecoach lines were established. Regular newspapers were available in Lewiston, Boise and Silver City from 1865 on . The first telegraph line reached Franklin in 1866 and Lewiston in 1874 as the first city in northern Idaho.

The Mormons were a sizable minority in Idaho and distrusted by other ethnic groups. As a result, by 1882, respected and powerful Idahoers successfully excluded Mormon voters in the Idaho Territory from voting, which they justified with their illegal polygamy . Idaho was able to join the Union six years before Utah , although the Utah Territory had a larger population and had been populated for much longer.

1880s

The relocation of the capital from Lewiston to Boise created massive support for the initiatives that called for the territory to be divided into two regions. In 1887, the Idaho Territory was almost divided between the Washington Territory (northern part) and the state of Nevada , but President Grover Cleveland refused to sign a bill as a favor to Governor Edward A. Stevenson .

In 1889, Moscow in the north was designated as the headquarters of the University of Idaho , instead of the previously planned location at Eagle Rock (now Idaho Falls ) in the south. This was intended to compensate the residents of northern Idaho for the loss of the capital.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ An Act to provide a temporary Government for the Territory of Idaho.
  2. ↑ Old Idaho Penitentiary Timeline . In: Education Programs . Idaho State Historical Society. 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2007.

Web links

Commons : Idaho Territory  - collection of images, videos, and audio files