Idaho

Other Idaho Facts

Moto
The state of Idaho was named after the Indian word ‘ídaahę́’ (meaning “the Land of many Waters”)

Potatoes
Idaho is famous for potatoes, producing about one-third of the potatoes grown in the United States. The first potato in America was planted in New Hampshire, in 1719. Henry Harmon Spalding brought the potato to Lapwai, Idaho, in 1836, to help the Nez Perce tribe grow their own food.

State Seal
Idaho’s state seal is the only one in the U.S. designed by a woman. In 1890, Emma Edwards Green submitted the design for the State Seal competition sponsored by the First Legislature for the State of Idaho. On May 5, 1891, Edwards was awarded $100 by Governor N. B. Willey for her design of the state Great Seal, which depicts a miner, a woman and various natural resources of Idaho. Bron in in Stockton, California, Emma Edwards Green was the daughter of former Missouri Governor John Cummins Edwards

Soada Springs
Soda Springs, Idaho is home to the ‘Soda Springs Geyser’, the only captive geyser in the United States. On November 30, 1937, a well drilling operation while attempting to build a natural hot springs swimming pool was unintentionally released Soda Springs’s famous captive geyser, which surprised everyone by shooting 100 feet into the air. It has been capped and a timer activates it once every hour. The water it shoots up is about 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

No Large Candy Exchange
In Idaho law forbids a citizen to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.

Lewis and Clark
The Lewis & Clark Highway (United State Highway 12) is the shortest route from the midwest to the Pacific Coast and the longest highway within a national forest in the nation.