Grover Cleveland Saves Idaho

We are coming up on the 151st Anniversary of the state capital being moved to Boise from Lewiston, a move that almost broke up the state if it were not for President Grover Cleveland.

Lewiston served as Idaho's capital from the formation of Idaho Territory in1863. The territorial Legislature moved the capital to Boise on December 24, 1864 because it was difficult for lawmakers to travel to the Clearwater Basin. This was a controversial move which many in North Idaho claimed was illegal, to the point that In 1878, 96 percent of northern Idaho voters approved a proposal that would have united the panhandle with Washington. In 1887, a measure to do just that passed both houses of Congress in Washington DC; only a pocket veto by President Grover Cleveland stopped the move and left Idaho as we know it.

To help calm the residents in North Idaho, lawmakers created the University of Idaho and placed it in Moscow and Congress created Latah County, which by the way, is the only county in the United States formed by an act of Congress.

Happy Birthday to the State Capital…in Boise.