Idaho Facts

Some interesting facts about Idaho:

How high is Idaho?
Mt. Borah 12,655
Six peaks over 12,000 feet
Sixteen 11,000 feet or higher
Thirty 10,000 feet or higher
Over ninety between 8,000 and 10,000 feet

Total land area in Idaho 52,972,000 acres
63% is public land
3,100 miles of rivers, more than any other state

State flower is the Syringa
State bird is the Mountain Bluebird
State tree is the Western White Pine.
State fruit is the Huckleberry
State vegatable is the potato
State horse is the Appaloosa
State fish is the Cutthroat Trout
State insect is the Monarch Butterfly
State gem is the Star Garnet
State fossil is the Hagerman Horse
State raptor is the Peregrine falcon
State dance is the Square Dance
State soil is Threebear

Idaho is the name originally suggested for Colorado. Idaho is an invented word, and is not a derivation of an Indian phrase “E Dah Hoe (How)” supposedly meaning “gem of the mountains.”

Between 1863 (when Abraham Lincoln signed the bill making Idaho a Territory) and statehood (27 years later), the Idaho Territory had 16 governors, four who never set foot in Idaho.

Appropriately named the “Gem State,” Idaho produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world.

The Silver Valley in North Idaho has produced more than $4 billion in precious metals since 1884, making the area one of the top 10 mining districts in the world.