rate shall not exceed 5 mills, when it reaches $100,000,000, 3 mills
shall be the limit, and when it reaches $300,000,000 the rate shall
not exceed 112 mills; but a greater rate may be established by a
vote of the people. No public debt (exclusive of the debt of the
Territory of Idaho at the date of its admission to the Union as a state)
may be created that exceeds 112% of the assessed valuation (except
in case of war, &c.); the state cannot lend its credit to any corporation,
municipality or individual; nor can any county, city or town
lend its credit or become a stockholder in any company (except
for municipal works).
History.—The first recorded exploration of Idaho by white men was made by Lewis and Clark, who passed along the Snake river to its junction with the Columbia; in 1805 the site of Fort Lemhi in Lemhi county was a rendezvous for two divisions of the Lewis and Clark expedition; later, the united divisions reached a village of the Nez Perce Indians near the south fork of the Clearwater river, where they found traces of visits by other white men. In 1810 Fort Henry, on the Snake river, was established by the Missouri Fur Company, and in the following year a party under the auspices of the Pacific Fur Company descended the Snake river to the Columbia. In 1834 Fort Hall in E. Idaho (Bingham county) was founded. It acquired prominence as the meeting-point of a number of trails to the extreme western parts of North America. Missions to the Indians were also established, both by the Catholics and by the Protestants. But the permanent settlements date from the revelation of Idaho’s mineral resources in 1860, when the Cœur d’Alene, Palouses and Nez Perces were in the North, and the Blackfoots, Bannocks and Shoshones in the South. While trading with these Indians, Capt. Pierce learned in the summer of 1860 that there was gold in Idaho. He found it on Orofino Creek, and a great influx followed—coming to Orofino, Newsome, Elk City, Florence, where the ore was especially rich, and Warren. The news of the discovery of the Boisé Basin spread far and wide, and Idaho City, Placerville, Buena Vista, Centreville and Pioneerville grew up. The territory now constituting Idaho was comprised in the Territory of Oregon from 1848 to 1853; from 1853 to 1859 the southern portion of the present state was a part of Oregon, the northern a part of Washington Territory; from 1859 to 1863 the territory was within the bounds of Washington Territory. In 1863 the Territory of Idaho was organized; it included Montana until 1864, and a part of Wyoming until 1868, when the area of the Territory of Idaho was practically the same as that of the present state. Idaho was admitted into the Union as a state in 1890. There have been a few serious Indian outbreaks in Idaho. In 1856 the Cœur d’Alenes, Palouses and Spokanes went on the war-path; in April 1857 they put to flight a small force under Col. Edward Tenner Steptoe; but the punitive expedition led by Col. George Wright (1803–1865) was a success. In 1877 the Nez Perces, led by Chief Joseph, refused to go on the reservation set apart for them, defeated a small body of regulars, were pursued by Major-General O. O. Howard, reinforced by frontier volunteers, and in September and October were defeated and retreated into Northern Montana, where they were captured by Major-General Nelson A. Miles. Occasional labour troubles have been very severe in the Cœur d’Alene region, where the attempt in 1892 of the Mine Owners’ Association to discriminate in wages between miners and surfacemen brought on a union strike. Rioting followed the introduction of non-union men, the Frisco Mill was blown up, and many non-union miners were killed. The militia was called out and regular troops were hurried to Shoshone county from Fort Sherman, Idaho and Fort Missoula, Montana. These soon quieted the district. But the restlessness of the region caused more trouble in 1899. The famous Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines were wrecked, late in April, by union men. Federal troops, called for by Governor Frank Steunenberg, again took charge, and about 800 suspected men in the district were arrested and shut up in a stockade known as the “bull-pen.” Ten prisoners, convicted of destroying the property of the mine-owners, were sentenced to twenty-two months in jail. The feeling among the union men was bitter against Steunenberg, who was assassinated on the 30th of December 1905. The trial in 1907 of Charles H. Haywood, secretary of the Western Federation of Miners, who was charged with conspiracy in connexion with the murder, attracted national attention; it resulted in Haywood’s acquittal. Before 1897 the administration of the state was controlled by the Republican party; but in 1896 Democrats, Populists and those Republicans who believed in free coinage of silver united, and until 1902 elected a majority of all candidates for state offices. In 1902, 1904, 1906 and 1908 a Republican state ticket was elected.
| Governors | |
| Territorial. | |
| William H. Wallace | 1863 |
| W. B. Daniels, Secretary, Acting Governor | 1863–1864 |
| Caleb Lyon | 1864–1865 |
| C. de Witt Smith, Secretary, Acting Governor | 1865 |
| Horace C. Gilson, Secretary, Acting Governor | 1865–1866 |
| S. R. Howlett, Secretary, Acting Governor | 1866 |
| David W. Ballard | 1866–1870 |
| E. J. Curtis, Acting Governor | 1870 |
| Thomas W. Bennett | 1871–1875 |
| D. P. Thompson | 1875–1876 |
| Mason Brayman | 1876–1880 |
| John B. Neil | 1880–1883 |
| John N. Irwin | 1883–1884 |
| William M. Bunn | 1884–1885 |
| Edward A. Stevenson | 1885–1889 |
| George L. Shoup | 1889–1890 |
| State Governors | |
| George L. Shoup,[1] Republican | 1890 |
| Norman B. Wiley, Acting Governor | 1890–1892 |
| William J. McConnell, Republican | 1893–1897 |
| Frank Steunenberg, Democrat Populist | 1897–1901 |
| Frank W. Hunt, Democrat Populist | 1901–1903 |
| John T. Morrison, Republican | 1903–1905 |
| Frank R. Gooding, Republican | 1905–1909 |
| James H. Brady, Republican | 1909– |
Bibliography.—The physical features and economic resources of Idaho are discussed in J. L. Onderdonk’s Idaho: Facts and Statistics (San Francisco, 1885), Israel C. Russell’s “Geology and Water Resources of the Snake River Plains of Idaho,” U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 199 (Washington, 1902), The State of Idaho (a pamphlet issued by the State Commissioner of Immigration), Waldmor Lindgren’s “Gold and Silver Veins of Silver City, De Lamar and other Mining Districts of Idaho,” U.S. Geological Survey, 20th Annual Report (Washington, 1900), and “The Mining Districts of the Idaho Basin and the Boisé Ridge, Idaho,” U.S. Geological Survey, 18th Annual Report (Washington, 1898). These reports should be supplemented by the information contained elsewhere in the publications of the Geological Survey (see the Indexes of the survey) and in various volumes of the United States Census. W. B. Hepburn’s Idaho Laws and Decisions, Annotated and Digested (Boisé, 1900), and H. H. Bancroft’s Washington, Idaho, and Montana (San Francisco, 1890) are the principal authorities for administration and history. The reports of the state’s various executive officers should be consulted also.
IDAR, or Edar, a native state of India, forming part of the Mahi Kantha agency, within the Gujarat division of Bombay. It has an area of 1669 sq. m., and a population (1901) of 168,557, showing a decrease of 44% in the decade as the result of famine. Estimated gross revenue, £29,000; tribute to the gaekwar of Baroda, £2000. In 1901 the raja and his posthumous son both died, and the succession devolved upon Sir Pertab Singh (q.v.) of Jodhpur. The line of railway from Ahmedabad through Parantij runs mainly through this state. Much of the territory is held by kinsmen of the raja on feudal tenure. The products are grain, oil-seeds and sugar-cane. The town of Idar is 64 m. N.E. of Ahmedabad. Pop. (1901) 7085. It was formerly the capital, but Ahmednagar (pop. 3200) is the present capital.
IDAS, in Greek legend, son of Aphareus of the royal house of Messene, brother of Lynceus. He is only mentioned in a single passage in Homer (Iliad, ix. 556 sqq.), where he is called the strongest of men on earth. He carried off Marpessa, daughter of Evenus, as his wife and dared to bend his bow against Apollo, who was also her suitor. Zeus intervened, and left the choice to Marpessa, who declared in favour of Idas, fearing that the god might desert her when she grew old (Apollodorus i. 7). The Apharetidae are best known for their fight with the Dioscuri.
- ↑ Governor Shoup resigned in December to take his seat in the U.S. Senate.
