Idaho's Historic Sites
Idaho is home to a rich tapestry of historic sites that reflect its diverse cultural heritage and significant events in American history. Among these sites, the Boise Assay Office stands out as a key representation of the mining industry's role in Idaho's development, operational from 1872 to 1933. Another notable site is the Bear River Massacre location, which marks a tragic encounter in 1863 between Native Americans and U.S. military forces, resulting in significant loss of life. The Cataldo Mission, the oldest mission church in the Pacific Northwest, highlights the early efforts of Jesuit missionaries among the Coeur d'Alene Indian community.
Additionally, the City of Rocks serves as a historic landmark along the California Trail, where thousands of emigrants camped during their westward journey. The Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 in Arco signifies advances in nuclear technology, being the first to generate usable electricity from nuclear means. Other important sites include Fort Hall, a crucial trading post for overland migration, the Lolo Trail used by Lewis and Clark, and Weippe Prairie, where the explorers first encountered the Nez Perce. Each of these sites contributes to understanding Idaho's complex history involving Native American cultures, western expansion, and technological innovation.
Idaho's Historic Sites
Assay Office
Location: Boise, Ada County
Relevant issues: Business and industry
Statement of significance: Built by the federal government in 1870-1871, the Boise Assay Office illustrates the importance of mining in the political, social, economic, and legal development of Idaho and the Far West. In operation from 1872 to 1933, it is one of the most significant public buildings remaining from Idaho’s territorial days.
Bear River Massacre Site
Location: Southeastern Idaho
Relevant issues: Native American history, military history
Statement of significance: On January 29, 1863, California Volunteers under the command of Colonel Patrick Edward Conner attacked a band of Northwestern Shoshone. The bloodiest encounter between Native American and White men to take place in the West in the years between 1848 and 1891, Bear River Massacre resulted in the deaths of almost three hundred Shoshone and fourteen soldiers.
Camas Meadows Battle Sites
Location: Kilgore, Clark County
Relevant issues: Native American history, military history
Statement of significance: On August 19, 1877, the military force led by Major General Oliver Otis Howard that had been pursuing the Nez Perce since their departure from Clearwater was in a position to intercept them in their flight to Canada. Here, on August 20, a predawn raid by Nez Perce warriors succeeded in capturing most of Howard’s pack mules, forcing the army to halt until more mules and supplies could be secured, which resulted in a time-consuming detour. The army’s delay made it possible for the Nez Perce to escape into Yellowstone Park and Montana. Their remarkable journey toward Canada continued six weeks longer as a result of this raid.
Cataldo Mission
Location: Cataldo, Kootenai County
Relevant issues: Native American history, religion
Statement of significance: The oldest extant mission church in the Pacific Northwest, Cataldo was used by Jesuit missionaries (1850 or 1853) in their efforts to convert the Coeur d’Alene Indians.
City of Rocks
Location: Almo, Cassia County
Relevant issues: Western expansion
Statement of significance: A popular stopping point on the California Trail named for its strange resemblance to a city skyline scattered across Graham and Circle Creeks and their basins and rising against a backdrop of wooded mountainsides, this complex provided westbound emigrants a refreshing contrast to the extensive sagebrush plains surrounding it. Thousands of emigrants camped here, leaving still-visible wagon rut tracks. The site is now a state park and a national reserve.
Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1
Location: Arco, Butte County
Web site: www.inel.gov/resources/tours/ebr1.htm
Relevant issues: Science and technology
Statement of significance: On December 20, 1951, the EBR-I produced the first usable amounts of electricity created by nuclear means; in July 1963, it was the first reactor to achieve a self-sustaining chain reaction using plutonium instead of uranium as the major component in the fuel. In addition, the EBR-I was the first reactor to demonstrate the feasibility of using liquid metal at high temperatures as a reactor coolant.
Fort Hall
Location: Fort Hall, Bannock County
Relevant issues: Western expansion
Statement of significance: Fort Hall is the most important trading post in the Snake River Valley and is known for its important association with overland migration on the Oregon-California Trails. In the 1860s and 1870s, it was a key road junction for the overland stage, mail, and freight lines to the towns and camps of the mining frontier in the Pacific Northwest.
Lolo Trail
Location: Lolo Hot Springs, Clearwater County
Relevant issues: Western expansion
Statement of significance: When, after reaching Lehmi Pass and crossing the Continental Divide, navigation of the Salmon River proved impossible, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark determined to use one of several trails over the mountains used by the Nez Perce in their annual journeys to the buffalo plains in the east. The Lolo Trail, used by the explorers to cross the Bitterroot Mountains in September 1805, represents probably the most arduous single stretch of the entire route traveled by the expedition.
Weippe Prairie
Location: Weippe, Clearwater County
Relevant issues: Native American history, western expansion
Statement of significance: On the morning of September 20, 1805, an advance party of the Lewis and Clark Expedition came out of the Bitterroot Mountains onto the southeastern corner of Weippe Prairie, the western terminus of the Lolo Trail and long a favored source of camas root for the Nez Perce Indians. Here, the expedition first met the Nez Perce, who had never before seen White people. The Nez Perce gave the explorers food as well as much-needed help and directions during the two-and-a-half-week period the White people spent in their territory.
"History." Government of Idaho, idaho.gov/about-idaho/history/. Accessed 28 May 2024.
"Idaho." US National Park Service, 1 Oct. 2021, www.nps.gov/oreg/planyourvisit/idaho.htm. Accessed 28 May 2024.
Larsen, Brooke. "The Northwestern Shoshone Are Restoring the Bear River Massacre Site." High Country News, 29 Jan. 2024, www.hcn.org/issues/56-2/social-justice-the-northwestern-shoshone-are-restoring-the-bear-river-massacre-site/. Accessed 28 May 2024.