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Idaho
During World War II
The
demands of the Second World War were powerful enough
to reverse the slump in the economy and pull the
nation out of the Great Depression. Idaho contributed
manpower and resources to the war effort. Over 60,000
Idaho men and women served in the war; 1,784 were
killed. Idaho's natural resources and agriculture
were tapped for the war causing a boom in the state's
economy. Livestock products, including beef, pork,
chicken, and eggs were all exported. The Idaho potato,
beans, peas, onions, corn and fruit were also produced
for the war. Idaho's abundant minerals, such as
lead, zinc, silver, and tungsten, were mined and
transformed into war goods. The lumber industry
in northern Idaho received large orders. In 1942,
mills in Potlatch, Coeur d'Alene, and Lewiston produced
427 million board feet of white and ponderosa pine.
Idaho
was also home to the construction of numerous military
bases. Farragut Naval Base was constructed on the
south end of Lake Pend d'Oreille. The project employed
22,000 men. After construction, over 5,000 men were
stationed at the base and its six boot camps. The
Army and Air Force used Gowen Field near Boise as
a major B-24 bomber base. In addition, Sun Valley
Resort closed during the war and was used as a Navy
hospital. Idaho became home to two major and sixteen
minor German and Italian prisoner of war (POW) camps.
The largest camps were located at Farragut and Rupert,
others were in Rexburg, Sugar City, Rigby, and Idaho
Falls.(16) The Second World War recovered
Idaho's failing economy completely and put to use
the agricultural, natural, and political resources
of the state.
Idaho's Settlers
Settlement
of Idaho came much later than in most states. Fur
trappers and missionaries came to the area in the
1820s and 1830s, but did not create many permanent
settlements. Miners came a while after, beginning
in 1860. Their findings dictated the earliest settlement
patterns throughout the state. Among these miners
were Americans, French Canadians, Mexicans, and
Europeans. As gold was discovered throughout the
state, towns would be created near these newly formed
mines. The construction of the railroads in the
1880s and the ability to move water to the arid
parts of the state in the 1890s caused a population
boom in the early part of the 20th century. These
people came from across the nation, but the majority
came from the Midwest and Plains states. Some early
settlers also came from Utah. Many Mormons migrated
from Utah into southern Idaho in the late 19th century.
Mormons
began to push into southern Idaho, around the Cache
and Bear Lake Valleys in the 1870s and continued
to migrate there until World War I. Franklin, one
of the first permanent settlements in the state,
was founded by Mormons. Mormons went on to found
many other southern Idaho towns. The largest population
of Mormons in Idaho could be found in the Rexburg
and Driggs areas. Early Mormon settlers faced much
discrimination from the non-Mormon population, resulting
in the Test Oath of 1885. This law, brought on by
the backlash to Mormon polygamy, actually disenfranchised
all Mormons in Idaho. When this law was repealed
in 1893, Mormon migrants were less hesitant to move
to Idaho. The combination of opportunities put forth
by the railroad and water projects, lack of available
land in Utah, and the official end of Mormon discrimination
unleashed a new era of Mormon settlement between
the years of 1890 and 1914.
During
this period, Idaho would also attract many foreign-born
migrants. Some Europeans had come to Idaho during
the fur trade and mining eras, but the majority
of European migration came in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries. Many French Canadians and
British Islanders worked for the fur trading companies.
French Canadians also played a part in Idaho's mining
booms. Frenchmen's Island in Minidoka County was
named after two French Canadian homesteaders. The
main areas of French Canadian settlement were in
northern Idaho, including Kootenai, Shoshone, and
Bonner counties, and in the lumber regions of Latah
and Benewah counties.
Many
British Islanders, including people from England,
Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, became early migrants
to Idaho. Most of these immigrants assimilated into
society well, but the Irish, Welsh, and Cornish
(from the Cornwall district of England) settled
into enclaves. Cornish immigrants came mainly to
work in the mines. The gold rush in Idaho coincided
with a depression in the mines of Cornwall, which
prompted the immigration. Idaho's northern mines
drew Welsh immigrants as well who mainly settled
in Kellogg and the American Falls region. Welsh
Mormons settled in the Malad Valley and Bear Lake
Valley in the 1860s and 1870s. The mining booms
also drew large numbers of Irish, as did the military.
Half of the miners in the Wood River area during
the 1880s were Irish.(17) Many Irish
stayed in Idaho and became intensely active in the
labor movement.
The
Chinese were the next ethnic group to migrate to
Idaho in significant numbers. They came to work
in the mines, and by 1870, comprised 25 percent
of the population. In the late 1870s and 1880s many
of these Chinese worked in railroad construction.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1884 halted Chinese
immigration to the United States entirely, causing
the number of Chinese in Idaho and the U.S. to slowly
decline.
Scandinavian
immigrants, including people from Sweden, Norway,
Finland, and Denmark, constituted about ¼ of Idaho's
population by 1900.(18) These Scandinavian
immigrants usually did not come directly from Europe
to Idaho. Some were Mormon converts who went to
Utah before moving into southern Idaho. Most of
the others had first settled in Michigan, Minnesota,
or Wisconsin before migrating to Idaho. Many of
the migrants from the Midwest followed the shift
in the lumber industry from the northern Midwest
to Idaho and the west coast. Many settled in Potlatch,
Moscow, Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, and Troy. Southern
Idaho attracted Swedes as well, mostly settling
in New Sweden, Firth, and Nampa. The majority of
Finnish immigrants settled in Silver City and Long
Valley between 1890 and 1920.
Idaho
also drew many German immigrants, usually from the
Midwest. Many came during the mining rushes, others
came to homestead. A group of Germans from Illinois
came to Idaho and founded the town of Keuterville
where many German Catholics would settle. German
Lutherans tended to settle around Leland and Kendrick.
Germans could be found in the north, in St. Maries
and Moscow, as well as the southern capital city
of Boise. In 1910, Germans comprised ten percent
of Boise's population.
Mines
and railroads attracted many southern European immigrants
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Italian
enclaves existed in Kellogg, Wallace, Bonners Ferry,
Naples, and Mullan. Pocatello was home to the largest
community of Italians and Greeks, employed by nearby
railroads. Agents of the Oregon Short Line Railroad
recruited immigrants from Greece, creating an enclave
in Pocatello.(19) Potlatch, Boise,
St. Maries, and Sandpoint also hosted small Greek
populations. Other southern European immigrants
included Portuguese immigrants in Gooding County,
as well as a large community of Basques from northern
Spain and Southern France. The Basques who immigrated
to Idaho cane from the Pyrenees in Spain. They began
to immigrate to Idaho in 1895, working as sheepherders
and ranch hands. Basque enclaves declined in the
1920s, due to Americanization, but Boise, Mountain
Home, Nampa, Hagerman, Twin Falls, and Hailey remain
important locations of Basque settlement outside
of Europe.
Idaho's History Through Place
Names
Idaho's
history and settlement patterns can be explored
through place names. Idaho's place names vary in
origin, but follow a few patterns. Many places are
named after people; others were influenced by Native
American names or figures. Early explorers, miners,
and travelers along the Oregon and California trails
provided many names, as did railroad construction
and Mormon settlers.
Many
of Idaho's place names are Native American in origin.
Many counties, such as Shoshone, Bannock, and Kootenai
were named after Idaho tribes. Native American chiefs
and leaders are also preserved in place names, such
as Targee, Benewah, Pocatello, and Wabango.
Early
explorers, fur trappers, and miners were often the
first white people to travel through the region
and name places. Lewis and Clark named several places
on their journey, but many of those names did not
endure. William Clark named the Lewis River, but
it was later changed to the Salmon River. Many places
in Idaho are named after explorers, especially Lewis
and Clark. Lewis County, Lewiston, and Lewisville
are all named for Meriwether Lewis. The Clark River,
Clark Point, and Clarkia were all named for William
Clark. Place names throughout the state were inspired
by the numerous mining rushes in Idaho. Centerville,
Bogus Basin, Eldorado Gulch, Idaho City, and Silver
City are examples of that trend.
Mormon
colonization also brought place names. Often Mormon
settlers would name a town in honor of an important
church leader or official. Burton, Chesterfield,
Hammond, Kinckley, Lyman, Rexburg, and St. Charles
all received their names this way. Lemhi County
took its name from a figure in the book of Mormon.
Mormon Canyon, Mormon Mountain, and Mormon Ranch
were all named after Mormon settlers.
Ethnic
place names are found throughout Idaho as well.
Albion, Amsterdam, Bern, Danish Flat, Copenhagen,
Dublin, Geneva, Irish Canyon, Italian Gulch, and
Little Sweden all derive their names from the immigrants
who settled in those towns. Place names are an informative
way to begin local research and often give important
insight to local history and settlement patterns.
Bibliography
>>
(16) Arrington, Volume 2, 82.
(17) Arrington, Volume 2, 265.
(18) Arrington, 271.
(19) Mary Katsilometes Scott, "The
Greek Community in Pocatello, 1890-1941," Idaho
Yesterdays, 28, no.4 (1984): 29.
By
Rickie Lazzerini
Historian
BA History
University of California, Santa Barbara
Index
of Historical Reviews
© 2006 Rickie Lazzerini,
All Rights Reserved
This page may be freely linked to but may not
be reproduced
in any form without prior written consent from
the author.
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