Boise, Idaho

Boise, Idaho, started out as a mining community, virtually unrecognizable as the small but vibrant city that it would eventually become. It grew from a rough-and-tumble outpost along the Oregon Trail to the capital city of Idaho and one of the largest metropolises in the Pacific Northwest. Boise attracts people who want a relaxed lifestyle and enjoy the outdoors but still crave the amenities of life in a large city.

Landscape

Boise is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) east of the Oregon border. It is approximately 404 miles (650 kilometers) southeast of Seattle, Washington, and 344 miles (554 kilometers) southeast of Portland, Oregon. The three cities form a triangle that loosely defines the area known as the Pacific Northwest.

Boise's climate is semiarid, with four distinct seasons. The city experiences hot, dry summers, with high temperatures in July averaging around 92.7 degrees Fahrenheit and at times reaching above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and cold winters, with average January lows of around 25.5 degrees Fahrenheit and average annual snowfall of about 17.6 inches. Autumn and spring in Boise are temperate and comfortable.

Boise sits in the center of a valley surrounded by foothills that sweep up from the city into mountains, the highest of which is 7,600 feet (2,316 meters). The valley itself, called the Treasure Valley, lies 2,842 feet (866 meters) above sea level. The terrain is such that locations suitable for skiing or whitewater rafting are accessible in less than a thirty-minute drive from the city.

The Boise River winds its way through the Treasure Valley and cuts directly through the heart of downtown Boise. The large river provides water to numerous trees and vegetative growth, giving rise to the city's nickname, City of Trees. During the early and mid-1800s, thousands of immigrants following the Oregon Trail traveled along the river, and small mining communities and homesteaders began to establish town sites near the river. Today, the city protects the areas near the river. There are more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) of natural greenbelt on either side as it flows through the downtown area.

People

According to the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Boise had an estimated population of 236,634 as of 2022. The majority of the population was White (81.2 percent), with smaller populations of Asian Americans (3.4 percent), African Americans (1.5 percent), and American Indians and Alaska Natives (0.6 percent). Approximately 6.8 percent of the population was multiracial, and about 9.1 percent self-identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Boise has a significant population of Basque descent, and downtown Boise features an area known as Basque Block. In 1987, the city's Basque community held an elaborate festival known as Jaialdi at the Old Idaho State Penitentiary in order to showcase Basque culture to the public. The event was a success, drawing around thirty thousand visitors, and three years later the governor asked the community to hold another festival to celebrate Idaho's centennial. Since then, Jaialdi has been held every five years, eventually moving to the Western Idaho Fairgrounds when it grew too large to remain at the penitentiary. Boise is also home to the Basque Center, established in 1949, and the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, established in 1985.

Boise began as a small community surrounding Fort Boise, populated at first by miners and soldiers, along with a few Oregon Trail travelers who decided to remain in the area. Soon more and more homesteaders took up residence in the community, lured by the natural beauty and rich soil. Hoping to shed Boise's reputation as a dirty mining town, the citizens lobbied to bring train service to the city and made an effort to develop an art and culture scene. Today, the city is known for its commitment to the arts. In addition to several smaller events, such as First Sunday and Art Talk, Boise hosts several large annual events, including a jazz festival, an arts festival in the fall, and the highly popular Alive after Five summer concert series.

Economy

Boise originated as a mining service community that sprang up as a result of the 1862 Boise Basin gold rush. Savvy merchants quickly took advantage of the gold rush, establishing shops in the area to supply the miners' needs. The town, also a major stop along the Oregon Trail, grew quickly as a result of the gold rush and of homesteaders traveling west. While interest in mining waned as the decade progressed, interest in the area did not. Settlers established ranches and farms, and the area grew as a distribution center.

With the rise in interest in farming and ranching came irrigation issues, which hampered agricultural growth. The population of the city, which had been named the capital of Idaho in 1864, began to diminish. It did not grow again until construction of the New York Canal and associated dams, an ambitious irrigation project begun in 1882 but not completed until 1912.

Since then, Boise has experienced growth not only in the field of agriculture but also as a center for trade, technology, and corporate headquarters. Several well-known companies have established corporate offices in Boise, including HP Inc., Micron Technology, Keynetics, Inc., and BMC West. Boise has the largest airport in the region, making it the most attractive option for large businesses that want to settle in western Idaho, an area that is much less expensive than western Oregon and Washington. It is connected to two major interstate highways and is serviced by Amtrak. A shorter commute time has also attracted professionals who wish to settle in a small city with big opportunities. However, by the 2020s, the city remained one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and as more people relocated from states such as California to take advantage of the tech industry in Boise and construction continued, reports of rising housing prices and greater roadway congestion increased. In 2023, the publication U.S. News & World Report ranked Boise as the sixth fastest growing city in the nation.

Boise State University is the largest university in Idaho. While the stadium provides a boost to the economy every fall, the college itself provides area businesses with both patronage and a skilled workforce.

Landmarks

Fort Boise Park is a well-known landmark in the city. The original Fort Boise was first located forty miles from the center of what is now the downtown area. It was built in 1834 by the Hudson Bay Company to serve as a trading post. Just six years later, the fur trade diminished, and the purpose of the fort shifted to providing supplies for the many travelers along the Oregon Trail. The fort was plagued by frequent floods and was completely destroyed in 1855 by rising waters. A concrete marker rests at the original spot, located within what is now known as the Fort Boise Wildlife Management Area.

In 1863, a new fort was built by the US Army several miles to the east, where Boise is now located. The purpose of the new fort was to protect travelers. The site of the fort is now owned by the city of Boise and is part of Fort Boise Park, which also consists of a community center and several playing fields.

The city also supports many one-of-a-kind centers and museums, including the Morrison Knudsen (MK) Nature Center, the Idaho Black History Museum, the Idaho State Historical Museum, and the World Center for Birds of Prey. The latter is the headquarters of the Peregrine Fund, which is known for its efforts to help endangered raptors. The center contains breeding and recovery facilities as well as the Velma Morrison Interpretive Center, which features interactive displays and live demonstrations of bird handling.

Another famous Boise landmark is Bronco Stadium. While the city does not have any major professional sports teams, the people of the city ardently support Boise State University's college football team. Known for its distinctive blue "Smurf" turf, Bronco Stadium is usually sold out for every football game.

History

Boise was established as Idaho's capital in 1864. Nestled near a forested ridge, the town, an oasis of green in the middle of a desert, grew quickly from its humble beginnings as a mining service community. During the Boise Basin gold rush of 1862, merchants and developers saw a need to establish businesses that would serve the miners and the people who also passed through the area along the Oregon Trail.

In 1863, the US Army established an outpost, the second Fort Boise, to protect travelers along the Oregon Trail from potentially hostile American Indians. Over time, the areas around the fort began to be settled by homesteaders and ranchers, who were in turn served by the businesses first developed for the mining community. One year later, the community became a flourishing city.

In 1864, an agreement was reached between the Boise Shoshone (or Shoshoni) people and the US government. The Shoshones agreed to hand over the lands of southwestern Idaho, including the Boise valley, basin, and surrounding areas, for an undisclosed sum of money. However, the treaty was never ratified, nor were the Shoshones ever paid for the land. In fact, current official records still show the area as belonging to the Shoshones.

The population of Boise dropped dramatically when the gold rush ended. Still, the beauty of the area attracted settlers, and after the federal government opened an assay office (a Treasury Department facility responsible for testing and refining gold, silver, and other metals) in Boise in 1872, the city began to grow again.

By 1880, there were over two thousand settlers in the region. Many of these settlers struggled to irrigate their land. In 1882, construction began on the New York Canal, part of an irrigation system that extended throughout the entire Treasure Valley. This helped fuel the area's popularity, and twenty years later, the population would swell to 6,000, despite the lack of a mainline passenger railway to the city. The increase in numbers was partially due to a lack of competition for trade from nearby cities. In 1890, Idaho became a state, and between 1900 and 1920, the population of Boise increased fourfold.

During the late 1930s, a large number of Basque people from the western Pyrenees migrated to the valley to work as sheepherders, a thriving local industry at the time. They remained in the area after the industry died out.

Boise can claim the rare distinction of being a city that has always enjoyed economic growth, even during the Great Depression and World War II, when thousands of airmen trained at Boise's Gowen Air Base and brought economic stability to the region. By 1960, the population had grown to 34,481.

With its comfortable climate (the Treasure Valley is known as the Banana Belt of Idaho), recreational opportunities, and low cost of living, the city of Boise has often been listed in magazines and publications as one of the best places to live, work, and play in the United States. In 2023, Boise was ranked twelfth on U.S. News & World Report's list of best places to live. While, by the 2020s, residents had begun experiencing increasing rent and home prices, the city was still considered one of the better in which to live and work relative to the rest of the country.

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