Shoshone County, Idaho: Difference between revisions

{{about|the county|the Southerncity Idahoin citysouthern Idaho|Shoshone, Idaho}}

{{useUse mdy dates|date=OctoberApril 20212024}}

Shoshone County was formed under the [[Washington Territory|Territory of Washington]] on January 9, 1861.<ref>{{cite web|title=Session Laws of the Territory of Washington|url=http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1860pam1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121035522/http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1860pam1.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-January 21, 2013 |url-status=live|publisher=James Lodge Public Printer|access-date=10 February 10, 2016}}</ref> WashingtonThe Territoryterritorial legislatorslegislature established the county in anticipation of the gold rush that occurred after the discovery of gold at [[Pierce, Idaho|Pierce]] in October, 1860. Their location of the northern boundary at a line drawn due east from the mouth of the [[Clearwater River (Idaho)|Clearwater River]], unknowingly placed the emerging mining settlement at Pierce outside of the county's boundaries while residents of the new [[Mormon]] settlement at [[Franklin, Idaho|Franklin]] were unknowingly within the established boundaries. Regardless of the geographic reality, the county seat was at Pierce.

Growth at Pierce was so rapid that Shoshone County boasted the largest vote of any county within Washington Territory at the territorial election of July 8, 1861. In less than a year, Shoshone County contained additional settlements at [[Lewiston, Idaho|Lewiston]], [[Elk City, Idaho|Elk City]], Newsome, and [[Florence, Idaho|Florence]]. On December 20, 1861, [[Nez Perce County, Idaho|Nez Perce]] and [[Idaho County, Idaho|Idaho]] counties were created from most of the original territory of Shoshone County. On the following day, Shoshone's boundaries were shifted northward, containing most of present-day [[Clearwater County, Idaho|Clearwater County]] and a portion of present-day Shoshone County.<ref>{{cite web|title=Early Shoshone County|url=http://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0339.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503181430/http://www.history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0339.pdf |archive-date=May 3, 2012-05-03 |url-status=live|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 10, 2016|ref=ISHS Reference Series #339}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Session Laws of the Territory of Washington|url=http://leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1861pam1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121042040/http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/documents/sessionlaw/1861pam1.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-January 21, 2013 |url-status=live|publisher=A.M. Poe, Public Printer|access-date=February 10, 2016}}</ref>

This new boundary alignment left the existing settlement at Pierce and the new settlement of [[Orofino, Idaho|Orofino]] as the county's only settlements. The county's population dwindled as prospectors abandoned Pierce for gold prospects at Elk City and Florence. [[Idaho Territory]] was created in 1863 and the first census of the territory in that year enumerated only 574 residents in Shoshone County.<ref>{{cite web|title=1863 Census|url=http://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0129.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|ref=ISHS Reference Series #129|access-date=February 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124071925/http://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0129.pdf|archive-date=January 24, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The county boundaries were expanded to include the Silver Valley by the legislative assembly of Idaho Territory when it officially created Shoshone County on February 4, 1864. The expanded territory contained no population at the second census of Idaho Territory in 1864. All of the county's 276 residents were located at Pierce and Orofino.<ref>{{cite web|title=1864 Census|url=http://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0130.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 10, 2016|ref=ISHS Reference Series #130|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203144212/http://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0130.pdf|archive-date=February 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 1870 national census, 65% of the population were Chinese.

Until 1904, Shoshone County included present-day [[Clearwater County, Idaho|Clearwater County]] to the south. That portion was annexed by [[Nez Perce County, Idaho|Nez Perce County]] for several years and then was established as a new county in 1911.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.clearwatercounty.org/visitors/history/index.html|title=Clearwater County, Idaho{{!}}History|website=www.clearwatercounty.org|language=en|access-date=April 4, 2018}}</ref> When the Silver Valley population rose dramatically in the 1880s, the seat was moved to [[Murray, Idaho|Murray]] in 1884 (and to [[Wallace, Idaho|Wallace]] in 1898) to better serve the majority of the county's population. The southern area's population increased with homesteading in the [[Weippe, Idaho|Weippe]] area in the late 1890s. The vast distance and time required for travel to Wallace from the [[Clearwater River (Idaho)|Clearwater River]] area prompted the southern portion to move to Nez Perce County.

Hard rock miners in Shoshone County protested wage cuts with a strike in 1892. After several [[Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892|died in a shooting war]] provoked by discovery of [[Labor spies|a company spy]], the [[United States Army|U.S. armyArmy]] forced an end to the strike. [[Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899|Hostilities erupted once again]] in 1899 when, in response to the company firing seventeen men for joining [[Western Federation of Miners|the union]], the miners dynamited the [[Bunker Hill Mining Company|Bunker Hill & Sullivan mill]]. Again, people died, and the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] intervened, requested by Governor [[Frank Steunenberg]], as the [[Idaho National Guard]] troops were still stationed in the [[Philippines]] following the [[Spanish–American War]]. Steunenberg was [[Assassination|assassinated]] outside his residence in [[Caldwell, Idaho|Caldwell]] in 1905, nearly five years after leaving office, and the subsequent trials in [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]] in 1907 made national headlines.

Much of the county was burned in the [[Great Fire of 1910]], including part of the townparts of [[Wallace, Idaho|Wallace]].<ref name=pyne>{{cite book|last=Pyne |first=Stephen J. |year=2008 |title=Year of the Fires: The Story of the Great Fires of 1910 |location=Missoula, Montana |publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-87842-544-0}}</ref>

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref><br />1790-19601790–1960<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref> 1900-19901900–1990<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/id190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref><br />1990-20001990–2000<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327165705/http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=2010-03-March 27, 2010 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref> 2010-20202010–2020<ref name="QF">{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/16/16079.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2014}}</ref> 2020<ref name="2020 Census">{{cite web |title=2020 Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US16079 |websitepublisher=data.census.gov}}</ref> The county seat is [[Wallace, Idaho|Wallace]],<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }}</ref>

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|title=Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County

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* [[Silver Mountain (Idaho)|Silver Mountain]]

==See alsoEducation==