Editing Moscow, Idaho (section)

===Community===
Miners and farmers began arriving in the [[Idaho Panhandle|northern Idaho]] area after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The first permanent settlers came to the Moscow area in 1871. The abundance of [[camassia|camas]] bulbs, a favorite fodder of pigs brought by the farmers, led to naming the vicinity "Hog Heaven." When the first US post office opened in 1872, the town was called "Paradise Valley," but the name changed to "Moscow" in 1875. The name Paradise persists in the main waterway through town, Paradise Creek, which originates at the west end of the Palouse Range, flows south to the [[Idaho State Highway 8|Troy Highway]], and west to Pullman where it enters the South Fork of the [[Palouse River]].

Historians have disputed the precise origin of the name ''Moscow''. There is no conclusive proof that it is connected to the [[Moscow|Russian capital]], though various accounts suggest it purposely evoked the Russian city or was named by Russian immigrants.<ref>{{cite book |last=Monroe |first=Julie R. |year=2003 |title=Moscow: Living and Learning on the Palouse |location=Charleston, SC |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |pages=30–31 |isbn=0738524255 |oclc=52263784}}</ref> Another account claims that the name derives from a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe named "Masco".<ref>{{cite book|last=Gunther|first=John|author-link=John Gunther|title=[[Inside U.S.A. (book)|Inside U.S.A.]]|page=114|location=[[New York City|New York]], [[London]]|publisher=[[Harper & Brothers]]|year=1947}}</ref> Early settlers reported that five local men met to choose a proper name for the town, but could not agree. The postmaster, Samuel Neff, then completed the official papers for the town and chose ''Moscow'' for the name. Neff was born in [[Moscow, Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Homer David|title=Moscow at the Turn of the century|url=https://www.latahcountyhistoricalsociety.org/_files/ugd/c533b2_7434feb27aab4404953977894dfef83b.pdf|year=1979|publisher=Latah County Historical Society|language=en-US|access-date=2022-12-31}}</ref>

By 1875, the town had a business district that was a center of commerce for the region. By 1890, the [[Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company]]'s rail line (later the [[Union Pacific Railroad|Union Pacific]]) and the [[Northern Pacific Railroad|Northern Pacific railroad]] line helped boost the town's population to 2,000.

The capital of the [[Idaho Territory]] was relocated from [[Lewiston, Idaho|Lewiston]] to [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]] in December 1864. In the late 1880s, [[U.S. state|statehood]] for the [[Washington Territory]] was nearing. Because its commercial and transportation interests looked west, rather than south, the citizens of the [[Idaho Panhandle]] passionately lobbied for their region to join Washington, or to form an entirely separate state, rather than remain connected with the less accessible southern Idaho. To appease the residents of the north, the [[Territory (country subdivision)|territorial]] [[legislature]] of Idaho in Boise placed the new [[land grant university]] in Moscow, which at the time was the largest city other than Boise in the state. The [[University of Idaho]] was chartered in January 1889, and first opened its doors to students in October 1892.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schwantes |first=Carlos |title=Brief History of the University of Idaho |work=About the University of Idaho |publisher=[[University of Idaho]] |year=2007 |url=http://www.ucm.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=86022 |access-date=2007-04-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204050404/http://www.ucm.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=86022 |archive-date=February 4, 2007 }}</ref>

In March 1890, Moscow's neighboring city, [[Pullman, Washington|Pullman]], became the home of Washington's land grant institution. The college that became [[Washington State University]] opened its doors in January 1892. Washington entered the union as the 42nd state in November 1889 and Idaho entered next, eight months later, in July 1890.