Editing Boise, Idaho (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}
{{Expand section|date=September 2021}}

===Etymology===
[[File:Tubers Float the Boise River.JPG|thumb|220px|Floating the [[Boise River]]]]
The origin of the name is uncertain. One account credits Capt. [[Benjamin Bonneville|B. L. E. Bonneville]] of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] as its source. After trekking for weeks through dry and rough [[terrain]], his exploration party reached an overlook with a view of the [[Treasure Valley|Boise River Valley]]. The place where they stood is called Bonneville Point, located on the [[Oregon Trail]] east of the city. According to the story, a [[French language|French]]-speaking guide, overwhelmed by the sight of the verdant river, yelled "{{lang|fr|Les bois! Les bois!}}" ("The woods! The woods!")—and the name stuck.

The name may also derive from earlier [[Mountain man|mountain men]] who named the river that flows through the city. In the 1820s, [[French Canadian]] [[fur trapping|fur trappers]] associated with the British-owned [[Hudson's Bay Company]] set trap lines in the vicinity. Set in a high-desert area, the tree-lined valley of the Boise River became a distinct landmark, an [[oasis]] dominated by [[Populus sect. Aigeiros|cottonwood]] trees. This led the French trappers to call the area "{{lang|fr|la rivière boisée}}" ("the wooded river").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idahohistory.net/reference%20series/0032.pdf|title=The name "Boise" |publisher=IdahoHistory.net|date=July 7, 2010|access-date=November 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930214321/http://www.idahohistory.net/Reference%20Series/0032.pdf |archive-date=September 30, 2009 }}</ref>

====Pronunciation====
Most local and longtime residents use the pronunciation {{IPA|/ˈbɔɪsiː/}} (BOY-see),<ref name=idaldpx>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gEBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6908%2C2711950 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |location=-Ohio |agency=Los Angeles Times news service |title=Idaho: a land of wild paradoxes |last=Suplee |first=Curt |date=November 30, 1986 |page=F7 |access-date=August 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904034156/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gEBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3wIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6908%2C2711950 |archive-date=September 4, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> as given on the city's website.<ref name="boiname" /> The pronunciation is sometimes used as a [[shibboleth]], as those from elsewhere tend to pronounce the city's name as {{IPA|/ˈbɔɪziː/}} (BOY-zee).<ref>{{cite web|last=O'Mara |first=Maggie |url=http://www.ktvb.com/community/blogs/maggie-omara/65582257.html |title=BLOG: Boise or Boize? Get it right people... PLEASE. |publisher=Ktvb.com |date=September 18, 2009 |access-date=November 28, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527212928/http://www.ktvb.com/community/blogs/maggie-omara/65582257.html |archive-date=May 27, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Joni|last=Auden Land|title='Boy-see' vs. 'Boy-zee': A linguistic debate hundreds of years in the making lingers on|url=https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/boise/article257823873.html|work=[[Idaho Statesman]]|date=February 1, 2022|access-date=February 8, 2022}}</ref> In [[French language|French]], the name of the city is pronounced {{IPA|/ˈbwaz/}} (Bwaz).<ref>{{cite news|first=Joni|last=Auden Land|title='Boy-see' vs. 'Boy-zee': A linguistic debate hundreds of years in the making lingers on|url=https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/boise/article257823873.html|work=[[Idaho Statesman]]|date=February 1, 2022|access-date=March 22, 2024}}</ref>

===Tribes and First Contact===
The area of Boise valley was inhabited by Boise Valley [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] and [[Bannock people|Bannock]] tribes, a part of the "[[Snake Indians|Snake Country]]". According to the City of Boise's "History of Boise" report, "they gathered annually in the valley to participate in trading rendezvous with other tribes and catch salmon in the Boise River runs to help sustain them year-round. They spent winters in the valley where the climate was milder and visited the hot springs for bathing and healing. Castle Rock, called Eagle Rock by the tribes, was and remains a sacred site."<ref>{{cite web |last=Boise |first=City of |url=http://www.boiseuu.org/msearch/brochures/HistoryOfBoise.pdf |title=History of Boise; City of Boise, Boise Department of Arts & History, Idaho Statesman |publisher=City of Boise |date=2013 |access-date=February 6, 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207031522/http://www.boiseuu.org/msearch/brochures/HistoryOfBoise.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2021}}</ref>

Boise Valley [[Bannock people|Bannock]] tribes belonged to the "tuuˀagaidɨkaˀa" (black trout eaters).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=tuuˀagaidɨkaˀa|encyclopedia=Northern Paiute–Bannock Dictionary |date=2012 |last1=Liljeblad |first1=Sven |last2=Fowler |first2=Catherine S. |last3= Powell| first3= Glenda |publisher=University of Utah Press |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |isbn=9781607819684 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U7Nfd8J7FmwC|page=596}}</ref> Boise Valley [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] belonged to the "Yahandeka" (groundhog eaters) grouping. They were among the early mounted Shoshone bands. They traveled over a considerable range by the beginning of the nineteenth century, with their main hunting lands along the lower [[Boise River]] and [[Payette River]]. When Donald MacKenzie developed the Snake country fur trade after 1818, the most prominent of the Boise Shoshone, Peiem (a Shoshoni rendition of "Big Jim", their leader's English name), became the most influential leader of the large composite Shoshoni band that white trappers regularly encountered in the [[Snake Indians|Snake Country]].

In 1811, [[Wilson Price Hunt|Wilson Hunt]], employed as an agent in the fur trade under [[John Jacob Astor]], organized and led the greater part of a group of about 60 men<ref name="bancroft">{{cite book |last1=Bancroft |first1=Hubert Howe |title=History of the Northwest Coast, vol. 2. In Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, vol. XXVIII |date=1884 |publisher=A.L. Bancroft and Company |location=San Francisco |pages=178–235}}</ref> on an overland expedition to establish a fur trading outpost at the mouth of the [[Columbia River]].<ref name=bancroft/><ref name=virginia>{{Cite web |url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/HNS/Mtmen/explore.html |title=Mountain Men: Explorers and Guides |access-date=May 9, 2022 |archive-date=July 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720141022/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/hns/mtmen/explore.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> This expedition passed through the Boise valley, and was the first ever time a white American has entered the region.<ref>“Wilson Price Hunt.” American Western Expansion. Accessed May 6, 2022. [http://thefurtrapper.com/home/wilson-hunt/ Link].</ref><ref>“Wilson Price Hunt Expedition Historical Marker.” Historical Marker, October 18, 2020. [https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=119203 Link].</ref> Because of the [[War of 1812]] and the lack of U.S. fur trading posts in the Pacific Northwest, most of the route was not used in the following two decades, and thus Snake Country remained free of settler incursions.

After the conclusion of the war of 1812, until the 1840s, [[Oregon Country|Oregon]], while officially "jointly administered", was solely dominated by the British [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC), which had a land connection to the inland of the Canadian Prairies via [[York Factory Express]]. Snake Country, including Boise Valley remained independent and relatively free of settler passage and incursion. There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, the general region east of the Cascades and west of the Rockies was described at the time in the media and literature of the eastern US as the "[[Great American Desert]]", an arid unproductive region, unsuitable for habitation.<ref name=Meinig>[[D.W. Meinig|Meinig, D.W.]] (1993). ''The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 2: Continental America, 1800-1867.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. p.76<. {{ISBN|0-300-05658-3}}</ref><ref>Staff (2011) [https://www.kshs.org/teachers/read_kansas/pdfs/m41card01.pdf "Major Long and the 'Great American Desert'"], Kansas Historical Society</ref> This discouraged settlers from traveling to the region of Boise; however, [[Oregon Country]], on the other side of the Cascades, was a desirable destination for them. Nevertheless, the British had an official policy of discouraging American settlers, and settler incursions into Boise Valley along the Oregon Trail remained low until the early 1840s.

The [[Hudson's Bay Company|HBC]] established a fort in the region, the [[Fort Boise#Old Fort Boise (1834-54)|Old Fort Boise]], {{convert|40|mi|0}} west, near [[Parma, Idaho|Parma]], down the [[Boise River]] near its [[confluence]] with the [[Snake River]] at the [[Oregon]] border. The HBC was present at the fort until 1844, and afterward handed it over to the [[United States Army]].

===Oregon Trail===
Starting from early 1840s, developments further West, in modern Oregon, meant significant changes to the region of Boise. At this time, [[Hudson's Bay Company|HBC]] and the British started moving their operations further North into [[British Columbia]], while there was a slow and steady rise in number of settlers in [[Oregon Country]], who demanded annexation. These developments eventually culminated in the [[Oregon Treaty]], in which the British gave the region up to the US, thus ending the era of "Joint occupation". This meant that Boise valley and much of Snake Country was claimed as [[Oregon Territory]].

With the discovery of gold in [[California]] in 1848 and the passage of [[Donation Land Claim Act]], the settler incursions increased exponentially. The increased settler incursions through [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] and [[Bannock people|Bannock]] territories, and their increased exploitation of the valley's game and resources on their trip, resulted in an increasing sense of frustration among the Indigenous bands along the entire Oregon Trail. Thus, starting from early 1850s, to deter settler caravans from using the route and trespassing on their lands, Native peoples along the entire length of the trail, from modern Eastern [[Idaho]] to modern Central [[Oregon]] started staging low-intensity attacks against passing caravans.<ref>Hubert Howe Bancroft, ''History of Oregon, Volume II, 1848-1888'', The History Company, San Francisco, 1888, p.462 note 4.</ref><ref name="Schlicke">Schlicke, Carl P. “MASSACRE ON THE OREGON TRAIL IN THE YEAR 1860.” COLUMBIA: The Magazine of Northwest History 1, no. 1 (1987). [https://www.washingtonhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/01-1_Schlicke-1.pdf Link]</ref>

One such attack, referred to as "Ward Massacre", was in Boise Valley, about 20 miles west of modern Boise. On August 20, 1854, Alexander Ward's five-wagon caravan of 20 emigrants was passing through, when a group of [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] and [[Bannock people|Bannock]] warriors ambushed the caravan. The goal of the ambush was initially to take away the horses of the caravan. However, the shooting of one of the Shoshone warriors with a revolver, resulted in the killing of everyone except for two of Alexander Ward's children by the Shoshone warriors.<ref name="Dave High">High, Dave and Daniel Newcomer. "The Ward Massacre." Clio: Your Guide to History. June 20, 2016. Accessed May 6, 2022. [https://theclio.com/entry/23713 Link]</ref> In response, the [[United States Army]] launched the [[Winnas Expedition]], which involved raids on Native encampments for a period of several months during Summer of 1855. In the period between 1846 and 1856, 700 white settlers were killed along the entire length of the Oregon Trail due to attacks and raids by Native warriors on their caravans while intruding native land. American military intrusion and retaliation only further angered the native tribes and escalated the conflict, which forced the [[United States Army]] to abandon [[Fort Boise#Old Fort Boise (1834-54)|Old Fort Boise]]. Intensified attacks against passing caravans made travel impossible for settlers except with [[United States Army|US Army]] escort, which started from 1858.

===Discovery of gold and silver===
The decline of the California gold rush prompted white settlers to search for gold elsewhere, including much of [[Idaho]]. The 1860 discovery of gold in [[Nez Perce]] territory near [[Pierce, Idaho]] and the resultant arrival of settlers raised tensions significantly.<ref name="KTVB">Holmes, Brian. “During the Gold Rush, Idaho City Became the Largest City in the Northwest.” ktvb.com, August 2, 2021. [https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/during-idaho-territory-gold-rush-idaho-city-became-largest-city-northwest-pacific/277-c9202682-1ca6-4ca9-afdb-6067e751d125 Link].</ref> In September of that year, the [[Utter Party Massacre]] happened about 100 miles Southeast of Boise, where 29 out of a group of 44 settlers were either killed or captured in an intense and organized ambush.

The discovery of gold around the Boise valley in 1863, together with ongoing fighting prompted the US Military to establish a new Fort Boise, where Boise is located today. The new location was selected because it was near the intersection of the Oregon Trail with a major road connecting the Boise Basin ([[Idaho City, Idaho|Idaho City]]) and the [[Owyhee River|Owyhee]] ([[Silver City, Idaho|Silver City]]) [[mining]] areas, both of which were booming. That year, the United States established [[Idaho Territory]], whose boundaries included this region. After a year, with the creation of [[Montana Territory]], Boise was made the territorial capital of a much reduced Idaho in a controversial decision which overturned a district court ruling by a one-vote majority in the territorial supreme court along geographic lines in 1866. There was no treaty and no agreement with any of the native tribes up to this point, and the violent resistance against incursion and settlement onto their territory along the Oregon Trail and at the newly-found gold mines continued unabated. In order to resolve the matter of ownership and sovereignty over land, [[Caleb Lyon]], the second governor of Idaho, negotiated with the Boise Valley [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] Tribe, and concluded the "Treaty of Fort Boise" on October 10, 1864.<ref>Idaho State Historical Society. “Text of the Treaty of Fort Boise, October 10, 1864.” [https://cfw.nwcouncil.org/Content/Committees/Members/meetings/2011_0310/IdahoHistoricalRef-No91_TextOfTheTreatyOfFortBoise_10oct1864.pdf Link], September 1865.</ref> This treaty stipulated that the tribe will give up lands to 30 miles on each side of [[Boise River]], land upon which Boise is located, while allowing an equal right to fishing in the river to both the Shoshone and the settlers. The treaty has not been ratified by the US senate to this date, and the tribe hasn't ever received any treaty payments.<ref>“CALEB LYON OF LYONSDALE AND THE BOISE CLAIM.” Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series, December 1974. [https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0022.pdf Link].</ref>

Backlash from the perceived friendliness of [[Caleb Lyon]] in his dealing with the tribes led to an escalation of pressure and agitation among the White Settlers in Boise and the print media in the city, in demanding either genocide or removal of the tribes. Settler violence against Boise Valley native tribes increased considerably, with some going as far introducing bounties to murder any native.<ref name="idaho powers">Myers, Daniel. “An Archival Review and Ethnographic Study for the Relicensing of the Hells Canyon Complex Hydroelectrical Plants.” Idaho Power, July 2001. [https://docs.idahopower.com/pdfs/relicensing/hellscanyon/hellspdfs/techappendices/Cultural/e04_12.pdf Link].</ref> ''[[Idaho Statesman]]'', the daily newspaper of Boise, which started publishing in 1864, reflected many such incitements and demands:

{{blockquote|...that the military should continue killing Indians 'until the last Indian in the Territories was either on his reservation or enriched the sagebrush with his decaying carcass.' ...if the Indians refused to move there, 'they will be killed or put on the reservation by force, and certainly shot if they don't stay there.' Furthermore, the editor continues, 'The idea that the Indians have any right to the soil is ridiculous. ...They have no more rights to the soil of the Territories of the United States than wolves or coyotes...'|David B. Madsen's quotation of the opinion column in ''Idaho Statesman'' on July 29, 1867|<ref name="idaho powers"/>}}
{{blockquote|This would be our plan of establishing friendship upon an eternal basis with our Indians: Let all the hostile bands of Idaho Territory be called in (they will not be caught in any
other manner) to attend a grand treaty; plenty of blankets and nice little trinkets distributed among them; plenty of grub on hand; have a real jolly time with them; then just before the big feast put strychnine in their meat and poison to death the last mother's son of them.|A "Letter to the editor" that was printed in the ''Idaho Statesman'' newspaper on October 6, 1867|<ref name="idaho powers"/>}}

At the same time, native warriors around the valley, under the leadership of Howluck also known as "Bigfoot" among white settlers, among others, waged an escalating and intensified guerrilla campaign of harassment of passerby caravans along the Oregon Trail. The [[United States Army]] also escalated and intensified "punitive expeditions" against formations of warriors and against civilian communities as well. This marked the start of the "unofficial" [[Snake War]] in 1866.<ref name="idaho powers"/> This war lasted until 1868, and is statistically the deadliest of the Indian Wars in the West in terms of casualties. In the end, 1,762 men were counted as the casualties of this war from both sides.<ref>Michno, Gregory, '''The Deadliest Indian War in the West: The Snake Conflict, 1864-1868'''. Caldwell: Caxton Press, 2007. pp 345-346</ref>

In 1868, [[Fort Hall Indian Reservation]] was established in Southeastern Idaho, about 220 miles upstream, according to the terms of [[Fort Bridger Treaty Council of 1868|Fort Bridger Treaty]]. The Boise Valley [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] and [[Bannock people|Bannock]] Tribes were not party to this treaty. Nevertheless, in April 1869, the [[United States Military]] embarked on a campaign of "Removal, rounding up of natives in the region including in and around Boise, and expelling them with cavalry escort to [[Fort Hall Indian Reservation]]. This period is known among the [[Northern Shoshone|Shoshone]] and [[Bannock people|Bannock]] people as '''Idaho's Trail of Tears'''. Some of the natives managed to escape, and they ran to either [[Duck Valley Indian Reservation|Duck Valley]] or [[Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe|Fort McDermitt]] in Nevada.<ref>Murray, Crystl. “Idaho Natives: Shoshone-Bannocks Tribes.” IDAHO NATIVES | SHOSHONE-BANNOCKS TRIBES. Accessed May 9, 2022. [http://www.buffalogirlsproductions.com/idahonatives/bannock/boise.html Link].</ref><ref>Smith, Justin. “Idaho's Trail of Tears.” Idaho State Journal, February 21, 2020. [https://www.idahostatejournal.com/opinion/columns/idahos-trail-of-tears/article_5ecbc45a-b5a2-569e-881c-60cbdde63435.html Link].</ref>

=== Incorporation and growth ===
[[File:Main Street, Looking East, Boise, ID.jpg|thumb|left|Main Street in 1911]]

Boise's early growth was significantly driven by its role in supplying the nearby gold towns that sprung up in the 1860s northeast and then southwest of the town. Miners sometimes wintered in Boise and a number of early prominent businessmen were miners who settled in town in the years after the gold rush waned.<ref name="MacGregor2006">{{Cite book |last=MacGregor |first=Carol Lynn |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/69423136 |title=Boise, Idaho, 1882-1910: prosperity in isolation |date=2006 |publisher=Mountain Press Pub |isbn=0-87842-522-5 |location=Missoula, Mont. |oclc=69423136}}</ref> By 1864 substantial agricultural production was underway on easily irrigated lands near the river and three canal companies had been incorporated.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Early Irrigation Canals Pre-Project Ventures |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0171.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |location=Boise, Idaho |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |issue=171}}</ref> Early transportation improvements were largely a result of toll road franchises awarded by the territorial legislature starting in the 1860s. These first ran from Fort Boise to the mining centers in the Boise Basin and east to Rocky Bar and to Rattlesnake Station where they connected to the Oregon Trail.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=South Boise Stage Lines |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0465_South-Boise-Stage-Lines.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |location=Boise, Idaho |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |issue=465}}</ref>

Territorial census records from a special 1864 enumeration list the population of Boise as 1,658, and an act of December 12, 1864, was the first attempt by the Idaho Territorial Legislature to incorporate the city.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Census of 1864 |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0130.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |issue=130}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Territorial Legislative Apportionment |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0046.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |issue=46}}</ref> This was rejected by voters the following March. Two more unsuccessful attempts were made to organize a city administration by election before the 1866 version of the city charter was approved by voters on January 6, 1868. The growing number of homes and businesses, for which owners wanted proper legal title, may have contributed to the eventual success of incorporation. All of these rejected efforts to incorporate the city came ''after'' Boise had been controversially made the state capital in 1864 over strong opposition from northern Idaho interests. This decision reflected the rapid shift of population growth from north to south after the discovery of gold in southern Idaho.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Boise City Charter |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0030.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |issue=30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Location of Idaho's Territorial Capital |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0344_Location-of-Idahos-Territorial-Capital.pdf |journal=Idaho Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |issue=344}}</ref> By 1868 Boise had over 400 permanent buildings with a wide range of commercial services. 1868 also marked the formal beginning of a long advocacy for railroad connections to other Idaho communities and, just as importantly, to other growing cities in the west such as Portland, Oregon.<ref name="Wells2000">{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=Merle W. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46835336 |title=Boise : an illustrated history |date=2000 |publisher=American Historical Press |others=Arthur A. Hart |isbn=1-892724-13-8 |location=Sun Valley, Calif. |oclc=46835336}}</ref> Competing railroad and western state government interests frustrated these efforts for many years.

Designed by [[Alfred B. Mullett]], the [[Assay Office (Boise, Idaho)|U.S. Assay Office]] at 210 Main Street was built in 1871 and today is a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Survey |first=Historic American Buildings |title=U. S. Assay Office, 210 Main Street, Boise, Ada County, ID |url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/id0033/ |access-date=June 11, 2020 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> It first began accepting gold and silver for purchase on March 2, 1872, largely eliminating the need to transport ore to the mint in San Francisco.<ref name="Wells2000"/> A territorial penitentiary, now known as the [[Old Idaho State Penitentiary]], opened the same month several miles east of town.<ref name="Wells2000" /> Mining continued to be important to Boise's economic growth and periodic booms contributed to population growth as well, though production of gold and silver probably peaked in the 1860s. 1882's gold and silver production of $3,500,000 declined to $1,488,315 (including lead) by 1899.<ref name="MacGregor2006" />

Boise began to earn its ''City of Trees'' nickname in this period with a popular focus on a range of tree planting projects. Thomas J. Davis planted several thousand fruit trees in 1864 and several other early businessmen either founded nurseries or orchards of their own. In the 1870s tree planting began in earnest in downtown Boise led by prominent hotels as well as businessmen and residents. In 1907 Davis donated 43 acres of his orchard property to the city for use as a park in the name of his wife Julia.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Trees in Early Boise |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/0031.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |issue=31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Julia Davis Park |url=https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/julia-davis-park/ |access-date=March 8, 2023 |website=City of Boise}}</ref> Commercial agriculture continued to expand, but was slowed by the lack of reliable rail links to regional and national markets and by a lack of large scale irrigation projects, which themselves were often tied to hoped-for railroad projects for financing. A.D. Foote, a successful mining engineer, drew up plans to irrigate up to 500,000 acres immediately south of Boise in 1882, but progress was halting and smaller farms were the norm until after the turn of the century with most located near to the river bottom where soil was productive and irrigation more easily achieved.<ref name="Wells2000"/> Fruit orchards proliferated and sugar beets, still an important agricultural industry in Idaho, began to be widely cultivated in the 1890s. Cattle and sheep farming became increasingly important as the century closed. With the exception of dairy, most livestock products were exported from Idaho, unlike other agricultural products which were still largely scaled to support local markets. The timber industry also increasingly thrived in the Boise market in the 1880s and 1890s. Large quantities of timber were exported from elsewhere in Idaho, but a growing Boise supported the expansion of Alexander Rossi's sawmill, first established in 1865. Prominent early Boisean William Ridenbaugh had inherited control of the canal now bearing his name from his uncle William Morris in 1878 and later partnered with Rossi to expand the sawmill capacity under the name Rossi and Ridenbaugh Lumber Company. Their materials supported bridge building and the rapid expansion of Boise in the 1890s.<ref name="MacGregor2006" />

As with many early infrastructure ventures, electrification succeeded only after at least one false start. July 4, 1887, marked the start of electrical transmission from a plant located on the Bench. William Ridenbaugh provided expertise and manpower for the water supply and several months were spent rigging poles and lines from the Bench to the service area across the river.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1977 |title=Boise Electric Plant |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0492_Boise-Electric-Plant.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |publication-date=1977 |issue=492}}</ref> Additional electrical supplies allowed the building of an electric streetcar line in 1891. This ran without interruption until buses replaced the lines in 1927, tracking—and sometimes driving—the development of Boise and nearby communities. This system expanded over several decades, reaching into the North End, South Boise and across the river on Front St. A loop line, completed in 1912, ran as far as Caldwell and Nampa, providing transport throughout the valley. Three early trolley companies merged in 1912 to form the Idaho Traction Company with a depot at 7th and Bannock Streets downtown.<ref>{{Cite web |access-date=April 13, 2023 |title=Trolley Town |url=https://www.boisestate.edu/sps-urban/urban-resources/trolley-town/ |website=Boise State University |series=Urban Studies and Community Development}}</ref>

Additional services and urban amenities arrived in the 1890s as Boise grew. Exploratory drilling for hot water was successful in 1890 and by the end of the decade many homes along Warm Springs avenue were being heated by this source.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1977 |title=Boise Natural Hot Water Heating System |url=https://history.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/0500_Boise-Natural-Hot-Water-Heating-System.pdf |journal=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series |publisher=Idaho State Historical Society |publication-place=Boise, Idaho |issue=500}}</ref> A natatorium was built in 1892 close to the source of the hot water near the Idaho State Penitentiary. Churches serving several denominations, a Jewish synagogue, a major hardware store and department store, a Masonic hall, the Columbia Theater, Saint Alphonsus' Hospital, a number of parochial and secular schools, a City Hall and a new Union Pacific passenger station, constructed when service was finally extended to downtown, were all built during the 1890s. Falk's Department Store sponsored a semi-professional baseball team representing Boise from at least 1892 and the city supported other organized sports as they became popular.<ref name="Wells2000" /> The 12th Census of the United States lists the population of Boise in 1900 as 5,957, up from 2,311 in 1890, when Idaho was admitted as the 43rd state.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 28, 1900 |title=Population of Idaho by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1900/bulletins/demographic/18-population-id.pdf |access-date=April 13, 2023 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |place=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>

=== 20th and 21st centuries ===
[[File:Idaho - Boise through Boise River - NARA - 23939399 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|View of Boise, 1932]]
In 1925, with the construction of [[Chicago]]-[[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] railway line, [[Boise Union Pacific Depot]] was established in the city. This train station served passengers until 1997.

A "homosexual panic" erupted in the city in 1955 during the [[lavender scare]]. Police interrogated hundreds of Boise citizens, arresting sixteen men whom police believed were part of a "homosexual ring." Arrests included prominent citizens, including a bank vice president. Their trials, which received sensational coverage in the local press, resulted in lengthy prison sentences; one man was sentenced to life in prison.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lavender Scare |first=David K. |last=Johnson |date=March 22, 2023 |isbn=978-0226825724 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |oclc=52197376 |page=98}}</ref>

In 2019, the city council approved the renaming of a park and natural preserve to names in the [[Shoshoni language]] to recognize their significance to local indigenous peoples.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wright |first=Samantha |date=May 9, 2019 |title=It's Official: New Names For Boise Park and Reserve |url=https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/arts-culture/2019-05-09/its-official-new-names-for-boise-park-and-reserve |publisher=[[Boise State Public Radio]] |accessdate=September 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 13, 2019 |title=Boise parks renamed to honor indigenous past |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/may/13/boise-parks-renamed-to-honor-indigenous-past/ |work=The Spokesman-Review |accessdate=September 4, 2023}}</ref>