Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-01-03
THE ROMANCE OF IDAHO.
How the State Was Named for a Little
Indian Girl.

/ ItVN NMN UNIV W ~ NhIItU kNE n IHIIIo
Indian Girl.
/ In the autumn Of 1866 / resided In
Twenty-second street, New York.
A genial fellow boarder wasa a gentle
man Of about 45 years, who was
putting some mining stock on the
market. His name was Cole. and
he claimed the distinction of having
for initials three Csc. C. Cole-of
being one of the first members of
congress from the new state, and of
receiving the largest mileage ever
paid to member of congress, over
$4,000, his mileage being computed
from Idaho to San Francisco, thence
(around the Horn) by way of New
York to Washington. He was a
pioneer from New York, and for a
time kept a trading store at Fort
Walla Walla.
One evening the strange name of
the new state became subject of
comment, and Mr.. Cole gave me the
following account how the name
came to be adopted, and also the
selected meaning which he and
others concluded 20 give as the In
dian words translation. One bright
morning about 10 O'clock, in conf
pany with another gentleman inter-
ested in the government of the ter
rtory, while riding over some bar
rem mountain tops, or rather hills,
the road became so rough as to COM
pei the slowest travelling. AS they
plodded on, the new name for the
state became u topic of conversation.
While talking over the various
names that had been suggested they
came to the top of small plateau
on the farther edge Of which stood
an Indian hovel or cabin.
The utter lonliness of the spot
suggested to the travellers they had
come upon the hiding place of some |
outlaw, of whom the country boast
ed great number, just before they |
reached, but while in plain view
from the cabin, an Indian came out
and called out several times ia a
high-spirited far-reaching, voice the
word Idaho. The tone was COM
bination of the Swiss yodeler, the
Spanish Indian and Louisiana ne
gress, and, as was supposed, a call
to the squaw's husband. The sound
of the voice as given by Mr.. Cole,
and he had been familiar with the
Indians for some years, was Ee-dah-
hoo-oo-oo-a drop from the first E
to the second, long a, almost as if
ah-ah, and musical, long-drawn-
out dwelling upon the who, using
the full force of the lungs in expira-
tion and in crescendo.
This suaw's call was answered
by the sudden appearance of an In
dian girl about nine years of age.
She was clean and better looking
than most of her race. The infer
ence of both Mr.. Cole and his COM
panion was that Idaho was the
girls name, and the idea of adopt
ing it as the name of the new state
occurred to both men at the same
time, Mr.. Cole claiming to he the
first to spak.--
All effors to find the English of !
the word resulted in failure, and $
finally, reconsideration of the sex
and surroundings of the Indian
whose name had helped solve the
in finding one for the !
new state that of "Gem of the
Mountains was decided upon. The
real meanig of the word Mr.. Cole !
never knew
AS the Idians name their child
ren from physical peculiarities or
circumstanps occurring at their ! {
birth, and IS the child was born
about daylight, the translation of !
Tight of th mountains" was at first !
deemed god one, but its fitness c
as name fir the state had to give
way to the more appropriate one of
"gem OF thmountalns," which was
gwen to .cogress as the translation ,
Of the Inaim word.
L narraRhe tale as / got it from
Mr.. Cole, Ald add what,at the time,
l suggesteh to him-that the state
erect mol hment on the spot where r
the name Vas selected-and as an
amendme1, that Joaquin Miller,
the poetofl the Sierras, write the in 2
scrlpton:-tEdwa NJ. Roche, in
the BosOn Journal.
An exhange says: Did you ever
stop totink what tireless letter I
writer agood local paper is? Week [
after Wek. reaching into wear after \