STATES AND TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED

In this post we will looking at Idaho and its territories, Its past and present governors and current House of representative’s members.

INTRODUCTION.

An early presence of French-Canadian trappers is visible in names and toponyms: Nez Percé, Cœur d’Alène, Boisé, Payette, some preexisting the Lewis and Clark and Astorian expeditions which themselves included significant numbers of French and Métis guides recruited for their familiarity with the terrain. Idaho, as part of the Oregon Country, was claimed by both the United States and Great Britain until the United States gained undisputed jurisdiction in 1846. From 1843 to 1849, present-day Idaho was under the de facto jurisdiction of the Provisional Government of Oregon. When Oregon became a state, what is now Idaho was in what remained of the original Oregon Territory not part of the new state, and designated as the Washington Territory. Between then and the creation of the Idaho Territory on March 4, 1863, at Lewiston, parts of the present-day state were included in the Oregon, Washington, and Dakota Territories. The new territory included present-day Idaho, Montana, and most of Wyoming. The Lewis and Clark expedition crossed Idaho in 1805 on the way to the Pacific and in 1806 on the return, largely following the Clearwater River in both directions. The first non-indigenous settlement was Kullyspell House, established on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille for fur trading in 1809 by David Thompson of the North West Company. In 1812 Donald Mackenzie, working for the Pacific Fur Company at the time, established a post on the lower Clearwater River near present-day Lewiston. This post, known as “MacKenzie’s Post” or “Clearwater”, operated until the Pacific Fur Company was bought out by the North West Company in 1813, after which it was abandoned. The first attempts at organized communities, within the present borders of Idaho, were established in 1860. The first permanent, substantial incorporated community was Lewiston in 1861. After some tribulation as a territory, including the chaotic transfer of the territorial capital from Lewiston to Boise, disenfranchisement of Mormon polygamists upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in and a federal attempt to split the territory between Washington Territory which gained statehood in 1889, a year before Idaho, and the state of Nevada which had been a state since 1864, Idaho achieved statehood in 1890. Idaho was one of the hardest hits of the Pacific Northwest states during the Great Depression. Prices plummeted for Idaho’s major crops: in 1932 a bushel of potatoes brought only ten cents compared to $1.51 in 1919, while Idaho farmers saw their annual income of $686 in 1929 drop to $250 by 1932. In recent years, Idaho has expanded its commercial base as a tourism and agricultural state to include science and technology industries. Science and technology have become the largest single economic center (over 25% of the state’s total revenue) within the state and are greater than agriculture, forestry and mining combined.

IDAHO TERRITORIES.

The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. By an Act of Congress dated 4 March 1863, Idaho Territory was established. This act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. Originally, Idaho Territory included all of the present states of Idaho and Montana and all but the extreme southwestern corner of what became Wyoming. All of the Territory west of the Continental Divide came from Oregon Territory and Washington Territory, and all east of the Divide came from Dakota Territory. The first Territorial Capital was Lewiston, Idaho. Two years later, the capital was moved to Boise where it continued until statehood. In 1864, Montana Territory was created, taken from the northeastern part of Idaho Territory east of the Bitterroot Range. The southeastern part of Idaho Territory at that time was returned to Dakota Territory. Four years later, in 1868, Wyoming Territory was created from Dakota Territory. Idaho was made a state on 3 July 1890. Both the United States and Great Britain claimed ownership of the land of what is now Idaho. However, in 1846, the two governments were able to come together, and they signed the Oregon Treaty.23 Dec 2018. The Territory of Idaho had sixteen territorial governors appointed by the president of the United States from the territory’s organization in 1863 until the formation of the state of Idaho in 1890. Four of these never took office, resigning before reaching the territory.

31 individuals have held the office of governor of Idaho since the state’s admission to the Union in 1890, two of whom—C. A. Bottolfsen and Cecil Andrus—served non-consecutive terms. The state’s first governor, George L. Shoup, had the shortest term of three months; Cecil Andrus served as governor the longest at 14 years. Four governors resigned, but none have died while in office. 20 governors have been Republicans while 11 were Democrats. Andrus was the last Democrat to hold the governorship in Idaho; he left office in 1995.

LIST OF GOVERNORS AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE’S MEMBERS.

Idaho Territory was created from Dakota Territory, Nebraska Territory, and Washington Territory on March 4, 1863. Due to the long distance between Washington, D.C. and Boise, there was often a lengthy gap between a governor being appointed and his arrival in the territory; four resigned before even arriving.

Governors of the State of Idaho

Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890. Since then, the state has had 33 governors, two of whom served non-consecutive terms. The terms for governor and lieutenant governor are 4 years, commencing on the first Monday in the January following the election. Prior to 1946, the offices were elected to terms of two years. If the office of governor is vacant or the governor is out of state or unable to discharge his duties, the lieutenant governor acts as governor until such time as the disability is removed. If both the offices of governor and lieutenant governor are vacant or both those officers are unable to fulfill their duties, the President pro tempore of the Idaho Senate is next in line, and then the Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives. After the change to four-year terms, self-succession (re-election) was not initially allowed; newly elected Governor Robert E. Smylie, formerly the state’s attorney general, successfully lobbied the 1955 legislature to propose an amendment to the state constitution to allow gubernatorial re-election, which was approved by voters in the 1956 general election. There is no limit to the number of terms a governor may serve.

MEMBERS OF REPRESENTATIVES TO THE U.S. HOUSE FROM IDAHO.

The following is an alphabetical list of members of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Idaho. For chronological tables of members of both houses of the United States Congress from the state (through the present day), see United States congressional delegations from Idaho. It includes members who have represented both the state and the territory, both past and present.

List of members and delegates