During the gold rush, Idaho City became the largest city in the Northwest
In 1862, gold was discovered in the Boise Basin and the town of Idaho City sprung up and quickly became a boom town.
Author: Brian Holmes
Updated: 5:24 PM MDT August 2, 2021
IDAHO CITY, Idaho — Gold was first discovered in North Idaho, near present-day Pierce, Idaho in 1860, and miners seeking their fortune flooded into the Idaho Territory from across the world. But that wasn't the only place in the Gem State that experienced a gold rush at the time.
As the story goes, George Grimes and Moses Splawn were the first to discover gold in the Boise Basin. Splawn was apparently told by a Native American that there was so much gold just laying around it could be picked up by the fistfuls.