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De Smet, Pierre Jean

(Encyclopedia)De Smet, Pierre Jean pyĕr zhäN də smĕtˈ [key], 1801–73, Jesuit missionary in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, b. Belgium. He emigrated to the United States in 1821, served his novitiate in Florissan...

Benson, Ezra Taft

(Encyclopedia)Benson, Ezra Taft, 1899–1994, U.S. secretary of agriculture (1953–61), b. Whitney, Idaho. An extension economist and marketing specialist at the Univ. of Idaho (1930–38) and executive secretary ...

Digger Indians

(Encyclopedia)Digger Indians, term indiscriminately applied to many Native Americans of the central plateau region of W North America, including tribes in Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and central Californi...

Colorado School of Mines

(Encyclopedia)Colorado School of Mines, at Golden; state supported, coeducational; chartered 1874. It was one of the first mineral engineering schools in the United States. It owns extensive experimental and resear...

Boise, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Boise, river, c.160 mi (260 km) long, rising in SW Idaho and flowing west to join the Snake River at the Oregon line. In 1811 the Boise River, originally called Reed's River, was explored by an expedi...

Family Compact, in French and Spanish history

(Encyclopedia)Family Compact, several alliances between France and Spain in the form of agreements between the French and Spanish branches of the Bourbon family. The first of the three compacts, the Treaty of the E...

Bear, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Bear, river, 350 mi (563 km) long, rising in the Uinta Mts., NE Utah, and flowing in a U-shaped course NW through Wyoming and Idaho, then S into Utah to enter Great Salt Lake. A perennial stream, the ...

wickiup

(Encyclopedia)wickiup wĭkˈēŭpˌ [key], temporary dwelling of nomadic Native North Americans. It is a framework of arched poles covered by brush, bark, rushes, or mats. The wickiup is found among Native American...

Boise project

(Encyclopedia)Boise project, in the Boise, Payette, and Snake river valleys, SW Idaho and E Oregon; developed in 1905 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and recreatio...

Bitterroot Range

(Encyclopedia)Bitterroot Range, part of the Rocky Mts., on the Idaho-Mont. line. The main range, running northwest-southeast, includes Trapper Peak (10,175 ft/3,101 m high); Mt. Garfield (10,961 ft/3,341 m), in an ...