Idaho Territory formed 150 years ago today
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March 4, 2013 |
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U.S. Senators
Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, in the
President's Room in the U.S. Capitol,
hold the original bill signed by
President Abraham Lincoln that created
the Idaho Territory in the early morning
of March 4, 1863. |
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On this day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln,
who on January 1 had signed the Emancipation
Proclamation to turn the tides of a civil war
then in its third bloody year in the Union's
favor, signed the bill that created the Idaho
Territory.
At its inception, Idaho Territory encompassed
most of what are now the states of Idaho,
Montana and Wyoming. Before that, it was part of
the vast Oregon Territory, parts of which had
become a state, the it became what was part of
Washington Territory.
The following year, the Montana and Dakota
Territories were created, and with some slight
adjustments on the map, the final outline of
what the state would encompass was laid out in
1868 with the creation of the Wyoming Territory
and the realignment of the borders of the three
territories.
Idaho became the nation's 43rd State on July 3,
1890.
To commemorate the sesquicentennial, U.S.
Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch visited the
President's Room in the U.S. Capitol, where on
the early morning of March 4, 1863, Idaho
Territory was created with the signature of
Lincoln, and they created a short informational
video, featuring the original bill.
Kootenai Tribal Chair Jennifer Porter, Boundary
County Commission chair Dan Dinning and Bonners
Ferry Mayor David Anderson are proclaiming this
date in commemoration of a yearlong statewide
recognition of Idaho’s Territorial
Sesquicentennial.
To read more of local recognition of the
sesquicentennial,
click here. |
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