Editing Idaho County, Idaho (section)

==History==
Discovery of gold occurred in succession at Elk City, Newsome, and Florence during the spring and summer of 1861.<ref name=lofgold>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e7peAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qTAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4424%2C161512 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |last=Adams |first=Ann |title=Lure of gold built Idaho County |date=February 1, 1962 |page=3, section 2}}</ref> At the time, all of the settlements were within [[Shoshone County, Idaho|Shoshone County]], [[Washington Territory]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mining in Idaho. Number 9. 1985.|url=https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0009.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520142028/https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0009.pdf|archive-date=May 20, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Thousands flocked to Florence. As a result, Idaho County was founded {{Years or months ago|1861}} as a region of Washington Territory on December 20, 1861,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elliott |first=W.W. |title=History Of Idaho Territory, Showing Its Resources And Advantages |publisher=Wallace W. Elliot & Co. |year=1884 |pages=240}}</ref> named for a steamer called ''Idaho'' that was launched on the [[Columbia River]] in 1860. It was reorganized by the [[Idaho Territory|Idaho Territorial Legislature]] on February 4, 1864. In this context, the Idaho Territory and the State of Idaho are both preceded by the county name.

Settlements at [[Cottonwood, Idaho|Cottonwood]], Mount Idaho, and Warrens were established in 1862. The Warrens settlement was a fractured settlement as a result of settlement there by both Union and Confederate affiliated miners. The Union affiliated miners on the northern edge of the settlement named their portion of the settlement Washington while the Confederate affiliated miners named their portion Richmond. Richmond dwindled by 1866 and Washington went on to become the county seat in 1868 and was the name of the settlement used in most government documents during the period of settlement. Out of all these settlements, only Cottonwood went on to eventually become one of Idaho County's seven incorporated cities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series: SITE REPORT - WARRENS|url=https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0197.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-date=February 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209031218/https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0197.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Historic Mount Idaho|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=za9fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zzIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1966,3929135|publisher=Lewiston Morning Tribune|access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref>

Idaho Territory conducted a census in 1863 and another in 1864. Population data was returned for both years for Warrens (660/521), Florence (575/254), Elk City (372/219), Slate Creek (216/117), Clearwater Station (212/76), and Newsome (62/24). For 1864, data was also returned for the settlements of Mount Idaho (74), Miller's Camp (36), and Cottonwood (17). Between 1863 and 1864, Idaho County saw a decrease from 1,601 residents to 955.<ref>{{cite web|title=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series: Census of 1863|url=https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0129.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228041012/https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0129.pdf|archive-date=December 28, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series: Census of 1864|url=https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0130.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209035510/https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0130.pdf|archive-date=February 9, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Settlement at [[White Bird, Idaho|White Bird]] occurred some time prior to 1870 as a precinct under the same name is listed with 71 inhabitants at the 1870 census. Efforts to force White Bird's band of Nez Perce tribesmen to the Nez Perce Reservation led to the [[Battle of White Bird Canyon]] in 1877.<ref name=lofgold/> The town was established in 1891.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ninth Census-Volume I|date=1872|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington|page=107|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a-01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051108174045/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a-01.pdf |archive-date=November 8, 2005 |url-status=live|access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Indians and Whites in the Nez Perce Country|url=https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0089.pdf|publisher=Idaho State Historical Society|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204212107/https://history.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/reference-series/0089.pdf|archive-date=February 4, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Grangeville emerged as a town at the 1880 census with 129 residents.<ref>{{cite book|title=Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Tenth Census|date=1882|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington|page=130|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413081350/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-01.pdf |archive-date=April 13, 2005 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was incorporated as a city in 1904.<ref>{{cite book|title=Twelfth Census of the United States, Taken in the Year 1910|date=1913|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington|page=112|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/36894832v2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912170833/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/36894832v2.pdf |archive-date=September 12, 2015 |url-status=live|access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref>  Ferdinand and Kooskia were settled starting in 1895 and along with Cottonwood and Stites, were all incorporated prior to 1920.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920|date=1921|publisher=Government Printing Office|location=Washington|page=391|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084484v1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810065118/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/41084484v1.pdf |archive-date=August 10, 2010 |url-status=live|access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref>  Development of Riggins started prior to 1930 with Riggins Village being incorporated in 1948.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Report of the Seventeenth Decennial Census of the United States|date=1952|publisher=United States Government Printing Office|location=Washington|pages=12–16|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912173656/http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1.pdf |archive-date=September 12, 2015 |url-status=live|access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref>

Idaho County's boundaries have changed more times than any other Idaho's county with changes occurring on 20 separate dates over the county's first 57 years. The majority of those changes were from boundary realignment with only three counties taking territory from Idaho County at their creation. Originating at 75,789 square miles, its original boundary under Washington Territory contained the southern portion of Idaho County, Idaho's 34 southern counties, part of Ravalli County, Montana, and parts of Fremont, Lincoln, Park, Sublette, and Teton counties in Wyoming. Boise was partitioned off in January 1863 with the Payette River being the primary dividing line. In 1864, two separate acts transferred the portion in Montana to Missoula County, established the southern boundary at 44° 30' latitude, and made slight adjustments in the northern boundary to define the county as one of Idaho Territory's seven original counties. Three boundary adjustments were made with Nez Perce and Ada between 1866 and 1867 and Lemhi was created in 1869 from territory east of the junction of the Middle Fork and main Salmon Rivers. In 1873, the southern border was moved north to the divide between the main Salmon River with the Payette River and Middle Fork of Salmon River, bringing the county to its smallest historical land area of 2,901 square miles. The boundary adjustment of 1875 created a county very similar to present Idaho County containing an area of 8,165 square miles. Between 1879 and 1885, one change added territory on the Camas Prairie from Nez Perce while another brought back territory in present-day Adams, Valley, Custer, and Lemhi counties in the south. In 1887, territory was exchanged with Boise County dividing present Valley County between the two counties. One change in 1889 transferred territory to Custer County while another change finalized the county's northern border at its present location. The southern border began to take shape after two changes in 1891 and 1895 exchanged territory between Washington and Idaho counties. Adjustments with Lemhi in 1903 and 1911 and the creation of Valley County in 1918 brought the county to its present boundary.<ref>{{cite book|title=Idaho Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|date=2010|publisher=The Newberry Library|location=Chicago|pages=95–114|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/downloads/states.html|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-date=June 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619133351/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/downloads/states.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Idaho County is one of seven counties in the United States that has the same name as the state in which it lies. The other six are [[Arkansas County, Arkansas|Arkansas]], [[Hawaii County, Hawaii|Hawaii]], [[Iowa County, Iowa|Iowa]], [[Manhattan|New York]], [[Oklahoma County, Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], and [[Utah County, Utah|Utah]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Joseph Nathan Kane|author2=Charles Curry Aiken|title=The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950–2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yC9vFvCuW84C|year=2005|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5036-1}}</ref>