Idaho as a separate country Tom Smith

FWIW there are some curious facts about Idaho history.  It was settled mostly West to East rather than from the East to West.  That is, most Idahoans, in pioneer days anyway, came from the Oregon territory, heading East, rather than from say Wyoming or Montana.  On my mother’s mother’s side, for example, we descend from an Irish member of the US Army, who came West to the Oregon territory in order to liase with the Native American population.

People think of Idaho as a heavily Mormon state, and it is, but that is almost entirely southern Idaho. Idaho also has a substantial Catholic population, consisting of Irish and Germans.  There is also a notable Basque population in Idaho.  The Basques were imported as workers in the big sheep industry, but quickly and successfully moved into other areas.  There are many successful Basques in Idaho in all fields, especially law and politics.  My favorite aunt was married to a big sheep operator, from a Scottish pioneer family.  In fact, her second big sheep operator.  She was a pal of Vardis Fisher, an interesting writer, who wrote the novel Mountain Man, on which the movie Jerimiah Johnson was based.  She died young from the effects of many packs of cigarettes and a bottle of scotch consumed daily.  She used to pick me up from school sometimes, getting me out of detention by telling the nuns outrageous lies.  There has been an influx of Mexican immigrants in recent years, especially to more agricultural towns such as Nampa and Caldwell.

Boise never really suffered in the last recession but is being hit by this one.  I would guess that extractive industries such as mining and logging are in decline in Idaho being replaced by recreation and technology, in fits and starts.  I regard the Idaho recreational fishing industry as a tragedy, the original tragedy of the commons.  If someone has not already done so, somebody should write a book about how private property has preserved trout fishing in Montana and public ownership has destroyed it in Idaho.  That and the hydroelectric dams, which have also killed the salmon.  We should build a few more nuke plants and tear down the dams not needed for irrigation, IMHO.

Idaho is a very beautiful state. (See here, here or here, or here, here or here) It is not quite as rugged as Colorado in the sense of altitude, but has endless heavily timbered mountains in the 5000-9000 foot range or so, some higher, and some large lakes and numerous small alpine lakes.  There is also a lot of starkly beautiful desert country in the southern part of the state.  Although it’s about Montana, not Idaho, the movie A River Runs Through It gives you a pretty good idea what the mountain and river country looks like, as do some of the Clint Eastwood Westerns that were filmed there, such as Pale Rider.  I can barely stand to watch those movies, they make me so homesick, not for the people, but for the country.

People say that Idahoans are more friendly than almost anywhere else.  Honestly, I don’t think that is especially true.  I don’t think they are any friendlier than San Diegans, who granted, are a pretty friendly lot, and in touristy towns, such as McCall, where I usually go in the summer as long as I can manage, I would not say the natives are particularly friendly, but that is because they are understandably sick of Californians such as I am regarded who expect their lattes hot and promptly delivered.  Away from the tourists, the natives are quite friendly. It’s a place where you can be an individualist without standing out.

I’m always trying to get my students to check out Idaho as a place to practice law, but only rarely do I get any takers.  The Idaho bar strikes me closely knit, more like practicing law used to be.  It helps a lot to have your JD from the University of Idaho, of course.