Page Toppers

• Here We Have Idaho
• Way Out in Idaho
• We're Coming, Idaho

Idaho Symbols

• Nicknames: The Gem State; Gem of the Mountains; Little Ida
• Slogan: Discover Idaho
• Motto: Let it be perpetual
• Song: Here We Have Idaho
• Folk Dance: Square Dance
• Horse: Appaloosa
• Bird: Mountain Bluebird
• Fish: Cutthroat Trout
• Insect: Monarch Butterfly
• Tree: White Pine
• Flower: Syringa
• Fossil: Hagerman Horse
• Gemstone: Star Garnet
• Fruit: Huckleberry
• Vegetable: Potato

Facts About Idaho

• Capital: Boise
• Residents: Idahoans
• State Name Origin: a word made up by a mining lobbyist
• Admitted to Statehood: 3 Jul 1890
• Order of Admission: 43rd state
• Length: 479 miles
• Width: 305 miles
• Area: 83,570 square miles
• Size Rank: 14
• Number of Counties: 44
• Streams and Rivers: 115,595 miles
• Geographic Center: SW of Challis in Custer Co.
• Mean Elevation: 5,000 feet
• Highest Point: Borah Peak, 12,662 feet
• Lowest Point: Snake River, 710 feet
• Agricultural Products: potatoes, other food products, hay, wheat, cattle, milk
• Commercial Products: tourism, silver, lumber and wood products
• Average Annual Rainfall: 25 inches
• Average Winter High Temperature: 30 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -60 degrees (18 Jan 1943 Island Park Dam)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 75 degrees
• Record High Temperature: 118 degrees (28 Jul 1943 Orofino)
• Official Language: English
• More information about Idaho

from Here We Have Idaho

(words by McKinley Helm & Albert J. Tompkins
music by Sallie Hume-Douglas)

You've heard of the wonders our land does possess,
It's beautiful valleys and hills,
The majestic forests where nature abounds,
We love every nook and rill.

Items of Interest

• Hell's Canyon is the deepest canyon in North America. It is 7900 feet deep.
• Idaho was the last of the 50 states to be sighted by Europeans in 1805.
• Gold can be found in some form in every county in Idaho. The state also has 72 different kinds of gemstones, some of which can't be found anywhere else.
• Bruneau Dunes State Park contains North America's tallest single structured sand dune. It stands 470 feet high.
• The Kamiah Valley where ancestors of the present day Nez Perce first bred the Appaloosa horse was first bred, primarily for use as a war animal.
• Birds of Prey Wildlife Area is home to the world's most dense population of nesting eagles, hawks, and falcons.
• Sun Valley is the home of America's first destination ski resort.
• Seven Devils' Peaks, one of the highest mountain ranges in Idaho, includes Heaven's Gate Lookout, where you can look into four states.

Notable Natives

Some of these people were born here, others just lived a part of their life in the state.

• Joe Albertson - grocery chain founder
• Gutzon Borglum - Mt. Rushmore sculptor (Bear Lake)
• Carol R. Brink - author
• Frank F. Church - senator
• Beverly Cleary - author of children's books
• Homer Davenport - cartoonist
• Fred Dubois - senator
• Abigail Scott Duniway - journalist
• Philo T. Farnsworth (1908) - inventor of television (moved to Rigby at age 11)
• Vardis Fisher - author (Annis)
• Dick Fosbury - Olympic athlete
• Matt Groening - cartoonist
• Mariel Hemingway - actress
• Walter Johnson - baseball player
• David Kennerly - photographer
• Harmon Killebrew - baseball player (Payette)
• Jerry Kramer - football player
• Ursula LeGuin - author
• Edwin Markham - poet
• Linus Pauling - Olympic athlete
• Ezra Pound - poet (Hailey)
• Jane Powell - actress
• Ahmad Rashad - football player, sportscaster
• John Reed - journalist
• Sacagawea (1790- ) - Shoshonean Indian guide and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
• Doc Severinsen - band leader
• J. R. Simplot - industrialist
• Robert E. Smylie - political leader
• Henry Spalding - missionary (Lapwai Valley)
• Frank Steunenberg - governor
• Picabo Street - Olympic skier (Triumph)
• Lana Turner - actress (Wallace)
• Lindsay Wagner - actress

You Know You're from Idaho When...

• A girls' basketball game fills the gym.
• A rodeo is more popular than a rock concert.
• Democrats are like salmon, they are on the endangered species list.
• Every other vehicle is a 4x4.
• In March your vehicle is 43% mud.
• In the spring every tenth car you pass is a tractor.
• Maps and gloves are kept in your vehicle's "jockey box."
• People drive 200 miles to shop in a real mall.
• The bumper jack in your pickup will lifeet a house.
• The elevation exceeds the population.
• The wind is faster than your truck.
• When the car in front of you is weaving you suspect a farmer instead of a drunk.
• When the sun goes down you start looking for your coat.
• Yellow light means "follow the car in front of you no matter what."
• You can fish, golf, and go skiing all in the same day if you try hard enough.
• You can see the stars at night.
• You got a set of snow tires for Valentines Day.
• You have to wait for a flock of sheep to pass you on the road.
• You installed your new computer using a Leatherman tool.
• You know why people pay money to watch "pig wrestling."
• You leave your keys in the car and the next morning it's still there.
• You say "crick" instead of "creek".
• You slept through the night unawakened by a siren.
• You talk about a combine and people don't wonder what you are putting together.
• You wave to someone on the freeway because you recognize the truck.
• Your back yard smells like sagebrush or various animals.
• Your great grandmother is older than the courthouse.
• You've broken down on the highway and somebody stops to help you.
• You actually get these jokes and forward them to all your Idaho friends.

You Know You're Born and Raised in Small-Town Idaho When...

• All your radio-preset buttons are country.
• During a storm you check the cattle before you check the kids.
• It takes 30 seconds to reach your destination and it's clear across town.
• Little smokies are something you serve on special occasions.
• The local gas station sells live bait.
• The meaning of true love is that you'll ride in the tractor with him.
• There's a tornado warning and the whole town is outside watching for it.
• Using the elevator involves a grain truck.
• Without thinking, you wave to all oncoming traffic.
• You are related to more than half the town.
• You call the wrong number and talk to the person for an hour anyway.
• You can eat an ear of corn with no utensils in under 20 seconds.
• You can tell it's a farmer working late in his field and not a UFO.
• You can tell the difference between a horse and a cow from a distance.
• You can tell the smell of a skunk and the smell of feed lot apart.
• You defend the beauty of being able to see the next town which is 20 miles away.
• You don't buy all your vegetables at the grocery store.
• You don't put too much effort into hair styles due to wind and weather.
• You get up at 5:30 am and go down to the coffee shop.
• You go to the State Fair for your family vacation.
• You go to Wal-Mart for your Saturday shopping.
• You have the number of the Co-op on speed dial.
• You know the difference between field corn and sweet corn when they are still on the stalk.
• You know you should listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit.
• You listen to "Paul Harvey" every day at noon.
• You try to find the cheapest room rates when going out of town.
• You wake up when it's dark and go to bed when it's still light.
• You wear your boots to church.
• Your car breaks down outside of town and news of it gets back to town before you do.
• Your excuse for getting out of school is that the cows got out.
• Your main drag in town is two blocks long.
• Your mayor is also your garbage hauler, barber, and insurance salesman.
• Your nearest neighbor is in the next area code.
• You're on a first name basis with the county sheriff.