Idaho County

	More About Idaho County
County Statistics
Interesting Facts
What To See And Do
Famous Idaho County Natives and Residents

Idaho County was established on February 4, 1864, one of the first nine counties formed by the First Idaho Territorial Legislature. Its county seat was at Florence. In 1861, it had been established as the third county in the Washington Territory. It was named for the steamer Idaho that was launched on June 9, 1860, on the Columbia River and served miners during the gold rush in north Idaho. In 1875, Mount Idaho was named the county seat. In 1902, the county seat was moved to Grangeville following a 10-year struggle between Grangeville and Mount Idaho over the location.

Return to County Profiles Main Page, or page to next county, Jefferson.

County Statistics:

County Seat: Grangeville
Population: 15,616
Idaho County website

Borders:  Adams, Clearwater, Lemhi, Lewis and Valley counties; Montana and Oregon

Interesting Facts:

The Historical Museum at St. Gertrude in Cottonwood is one of the oldest continuously-operating museums in the Northwest. It started operations in 1932.

Lawyers Canyon, located between Craigmont and Ferdinand, was named after the Nezperce Indian Chief Lawyer, who was so named for his argumentative disposition and general shrewdness.  The railroad trestle in the canyon is the third tallest steel trestle structure in the U.S.

What To See And Do:

Carey Dome Fire Lookout is located in the Payette National Forest, approximately 20 miles east of the town of Riggins. It was built in 1934 and is still in use during the summer fire season. The tower, which is made of steel, stands 72 feet high. The small log cabin at its base provides living quarters for the dome's seasonal staff.

Clearwater Historical Museum:  Displays range from historical photographs to Native American/Nez Perce and Chinese artifacts.  You can also learn more about the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Dworshak Dam and the area's gold mining history and much more.   The museum's goal is to share the rich legacy of the Clearwater River drainage.  It is located in Orofino.

Cottonwood Butte Ski Area is a small downhill ski area, five miles from Cottonwood.  It's open weekends and hosts an 845-foot vertical drop with six groomed trails.  Ski rental sand instructors are available.

Grangeville Bicentennial Historic Museum:  This museum in Grangeville is open from June 1st through September 30th on Wednesday and Friday afternoons.  You can make an appointment to visit at other times.  Displays include historical artifacts, materials and tools, and clothing.

Grangeville Border Days is Idaho's oldest rodeo.  The first rodeo was held in 1912, and the tradition continues each July. Enjoy three days of rodeo activities, a cowboy breaks each morning, a Kiddies Parade on the 4th of July, fireworks, Street Sports, a Wild Horse Race and other activities that will bring a smile to every family member.

Historical Museum at St. Gertrude:  For 75 years, this museum in Cottonwod is provided interesting exhibits and research resources for those who are interested in the Camas Prairie area.  Exhibits include military/weaponry, Nez Perce Tribe, mining, textiles, pioneer life styles, geology and many others. One exhibit of note is the Rhoades Emmanuel Memorial Exhibit, which contains Asian and European artifacts donated  by Sam Emmanuel and reflects sixty years of serious collecting by his wife Winifred.  Some of the items date from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The Old Victorian Opera Theatre in Kooskia was built in 1912 and features year-round concerts and melodramas.  The interior decor includes a spectacular crystal chandelier and a dessert and sarsaparilla bar.

Tolo Lake Mammoths:  A 1994 discovery of a leg bone of a mammoth at Tolo Lake focused attention to Idaho County.  A cooperative excavation project involving the Idaho State Historical Society, the University of Idaho and the Idaho Museum of Natural History soon unearthed a mammoth graveyard of hundreds of skeletons.  An enclosed interpretive structure houses a resin memmoth skeleton replica along US 95 near the Grangeville Area Chamber of Commerce.  Tolo Lake has now been refilled to protect bones that remained unearthed, but the interpretive center gives insights into what mammoths and the regions may have looked like thousands of years ago.

Famous Idaho County Natives and Residents:

Polly Bemis (1853-1933) was born Lalu Nathoy in China, and was sold by her father to Chinese brigands when she was still a child.  Eventually she was smuggled to the US where, in 1872, she was sold as a slave in San Franscisco for $2,500. Her buyer ran a saloon in the Warren mining camp in Idaho.  Eventually she bought her freedom and ran a boarding house in Warren.  She and her husband, Charlie Bemis, were among the first pioneers to settle the Idaho Territory, specifically along the Salmon River.  A biographical novel, A Thousand Pieces of Gold, fictionalized Bemis' life; it was made into a film in 1991.  Another book about Bemis, Polly Bemis:  A Chinese American Pioneer, published in 2003, is used as an elementary classroom history book.

(Sources include The Idaho Blue Book.)