The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – September 2020: Idaho
KeskusteluMystery and Suspense Extra!
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1bhabeck
Each month, we will visit a different state in the United States of America for the Monthly Reading Challenge in the Mystery & Suspense Extra! Group. This month, we stay in the Pacific Northwest and travel to Idaho.
The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – September 2020: Idaho
History
Idaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Its capital and largest city is Boise. Idaho is ranked 14th in area at 83,569 square miles (216,443km square) and is the 39th in population with approximately 1.8 million residents as of 2019 (it is 44th in terms of density).
The origin of the state's name is a mystery. In the early 1860s, when the US Congress considering organizing a new territory in the Rocky Mountains, the name "Idaho" was suggested by George M. Willing, a politician posing as an unrecognized delegate from the unofficial Jefferson Territory. Willing claimed that the name was derived from a Shoshone term meaning "the sun comes from the mountains" or "gem of the mountains", but it was revealed later that there was no such term and Willing claimed that he had been inspired to coin the name when he met a little girl named "Ida". Since the name appeared to be fabricated, the U.S. Congress ultimately decided to name the area Colorado Territory instead when it was created in February 1861, but by the time this decision was made, the town of Idaho Springs, Colorado had already been named after Willing's proposal.
The same year Congress created Colorado Territory, a county called Idaho County was created in eastern Washington Territory. The county was named after a steamship named Idaho, which was launched on the Columbia River in 1860. It is unclear whether the steamship was named before or after Willing's claim was revealed. Regardless, part of Washington Territory, including Idaho County, was used to create Idaho Territory in 1863. Eventually, the name was given to the Idaho Territory, which would later become the U.S. state.
Human have been present in Idaho for as long as 14,500 years. Excavations in Wilson Butte Cave in 1959, revealed evidence of human activity, including arrowheads, that rank among the oldest dated artifacts in North America. American Indian peoples in the area included the Nez Perce in the North and the Northern and Western Shoshone in the south.
As part of the Oregon Country, Idaho was claimed by both the US and Great Britain until the US gained undisputed jurisdiction in 1846. The area was first part of the Oregon Country, then part of the Washington Territory and finally the Idaho Territory. Idaho finally achieved statehood in 1890.
Idaho was one of the hardest hit of the Pacific Northwest states during the Great Depression. Prices plummeted for Idaho's major crops. In recent years, Idaho has expanded its commercial base as a tourism and agricultural state to include science and technology industries. Science and technology have become the largest single economic center (over 25% of the state's total revenue) within the state and are greater than agriculture, forestry and mining combined.
Geography
Idaho is bordered to the west by Washington and Oregon, to the south by Utah and Nevada, and by Montana and Wyoming to the east. Idaho also shares a short border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north.
Idaho's landscape is rugged with some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the US. At 2.3 million acres, the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area is the largest contiguous area of protected wilderness in the continental US. The state has snow-capped mountain ranges, rapids, vast lakes and steep canyons. The waters of the Snake River run through Hells Canyon – the deepest gorge in the US (at 7,900 feet deep, it's deeper than the Grand Canyon). Shoshone Falls falls down cliffs from a height greater than Niagara Falls.
Fun Facts
Idaho has 2 time zones with the dividing line approximately midway between Canada and Nevada. Southern Idaho is in the Mountain Time Zone while northern areas of Idaho are in the Pacific Time Zone.
In the late 1880s, there were several sightings of strange creatures in Bear Lake (on the Idaho/Utah border). The serpent like monsters were up to 90 feet in length, could move faster that running horses and were witnessed by several different people. To this day, there are still those who refuse to night fish on the lake.
The world's first nuclear power plant is located at the Idaho National Evironmental Engineering Laboratory (INEEL), near Arco, Idaho. The Atomic Energy Commission offered the town of Arco electricity generated by atomic energy in 1953.
Between 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the bill making Idaho a Territory and statehood (27 years later), the Idaho Territory had 16 governors – 4 of which never set foot in Idaho.
Known as the "Gem State," Idaho produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world. The Silver Valley in northern Idaho has produced more than $4 billion in precious metals since 1884, making the area one of the top 10 mining districts in the world. One of the largest diamonds ever found in the US, nearly 20 carats, was discovered in Idaho.
In 1953, the engineering prototype of the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus, was built and tested in the Idaho desert.
The longest main street in American – 33 miles long! – can be found in Island Park, Idaho.
American Falls is unique from most communities because the entire town was moved in the mid-1920s when the original American Falls Dam was constructed.
Idaho grows approximately 27 billion potatoes annually – representing nearly one-third of America's potatoes. Idaho produces other crops besides potatoes – the state is known as the "Lentil Capital of the World." It is also known for having one of the larges hops farms in the US. Additionally, 85% of all commercial trout sold in America comes from Idaho.
The state's capitol building is the only state capitol that is kept warm using a renewable source of energy. It is called geothermal water, which mean the hot water that sits 3,000 feet underground is used to produce heat.
There is a ski resort in McCall, Idaho that is home to the Brundage Bra Tree. The name is known throughout Idaho because it is where many women through their bras as they ride the chairlift.
Notable Residents
Though not originally from Idaho, Ernest Hemingway arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1939 to work on his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Idaho offered wide open spaces for Hemingway to indulge his passions for hunting, skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities. Hemingway is buried in Ketchum, Idaho where he died July 1961.
Well-known people from Idaho include Actors: Patty Duke, Margaux and Mariel Hemingway, Josh Hammond, George Kennedy and Lana Turner. Musicians: Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, Gene Harris (jazz), and Norma Zimmer.
The list of athletes that hail from Idaho is impressive: Picabo Street (world and Olympic champion skier), Larry Jackson (Baseball – 5-time all-star), Gary Stevens (jockey – 3-time winner at the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and 2-time winner at the Preakness Stakes), Dean Oliver (winner of 8 world calf roping titles and 3 world all-around championships), Dee Wilde (archery), and Kristin Armstrong (2-time gold medalist in women's cycling).
In honor of IDAHO, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover;
• A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
Happy Reading ❤
The Americana Series Monthly Challenge – September 2020: Idaho
History
Idaho is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Its capital and largest city is Boise. Idaho is ranked 14th in area at 83,569 square miles (216,443km square) and is the 39th in population with approximately 1.8 million residents as of 2019 (it is 44th in terms of density).
The origin of the state's name is a mystery. In the early 1860s, when the US Congress considering organizing a new territory in the Rocky Mountains, the name "Idaho" was suggested by George M. Willing, a politician posing as an unrecognized delegate from the unofficial Jefferson Territory. Willing claimed that the name was derived from a Shoshone term meaning "the sun comes from the mountains" or "gem of the mountains", but it was revealed later that there was no such term and Willing claimed that he had been inspired to coin the name when he met a little girl named "Ida". Since the name appeared to be fabricated, the U.S. Congress ultimately decided to name the area Colorado Territory instead when it was created in February 1861, but by the time this decision was made, the town of Idaho Springs, Colorado had already been named after Willing's proposal.
The same year Congress created Colorado Territory, a county called Idaho County was created in eastern Washington Territory. The county was named after a steamship named Idaho, which was launched on the Columbia River in 1860. It is unclear whether the steamship was named before or after Willing's claim was revealed. Regardless, part of Washington Territory, including Idaho County, was used to create Idaho Territory in 1863. Eventually, the name was given to the Idaho Territory, which would later become the U.S. state.
Human have been present in Idaho for as long as 14,500 years. Excavations in Wilson Butte Cave in 1959, revealed evidence of human activity, including arrowheads, that rank among the oldest dated artifacts in North America. American Indian peoples in the area included the Nez Perce in the North and the Northern and Western Shoshone in the south.
As part of the Oregon Country, Idaho was claimed by both the US and Great Britain until the US gained undisputed jurisdiction in 1846. The area was first part of the Oregon Country, then part of the Washington Territory and finally the Idaho Territory. Idaho finally achieved statehood in 1890.
Idaho was one of the hardest hit of the Pacific Northwest states during the Great Depression. Prices plummeted for Idaho's major crops. In recent years, Idaho has expanded its commercial base as a tourism and agricultural state to include science and technology industries. Science and technology have become the largest single economic center (over 25% of the state's total revenue) within the state and are greater than agriculture, forestry and mining combined.
Geography
Idaho is bordered to the west by Washington and Oregon, to the south by Utah and Nevada, and by Montana and Wyoming to the east. Idaho also shares a short border with the Canadian province of British Columbia to the north.
Idaho's landscape is rugged with some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the US. At 2.3 million acres, the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area is the largest contiguous area of protected wilderness in the continental US. The state has snow-capped mountain ranges, rapids, vast lakes and steep canyons. The waters of the Snake River run through Hells Canyon – the deepest gorge in the US (at 7,900 feet deep, it's deeper than the Grand Canyon). Shoshone Falls falls down cliffs from a height greater than Niagara Falls.
Fun Facts
Idaho has 2 time zones with the dividing line approximately midway between Canada and Nevada. Southern Idaho is in the Mountain Time Zone while northern areas of Idaho are in the Pacific Time Zone.
In the late 1880s, there were several sightings of strange creatures in Bear Lake (on the Idaho/Utah border). The serpent like monsters were up to 90 feet in length, could move faster that running horses and were witnessed by several different people. To this day, there are still those who refuse to night fish on the lake.
The world's first nuclear power plant is located at the Idaho National Evironmental Engineering Laboratory (INEEL), near Arco, Idaho. The Atomic Energy Commission offered the town of Arco electricity generated by atomic energy in 1953.
Between 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the bill making Idaho a Territory and statehood (27 years later), the Idaho Territory had 16 governors – 4 of which never set foot in Idaho.
Known as the "Gem State," Idaho produces 72 types of precious and semi-precious stones, some of which can be found nowhere else in the world. The Silver Valley in northern Idaho has produced more than $4 billion in precious metals since 1884, making the area one of the top 10 mining districts in the world. One of the largest diamonds ever found in the US, nearly 20 carats, was discovered in Idaho.
In 1953, the engineering prototype of the first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus, was built and tested in the Idaho desert.
The longest main street in American – 33 miles long! – can be found in Island Park, Idaho.
American Falls is unique from most communities because the entire town was moved in the mid-1920s when the original American Falls Dam was constructed.
Idaho grows approximately 27 billion potatoes annually – representing nearly one-third of America's potatoes. Idaho produces other crops besides potatoes – the state is known as the "Lentil Capital of the World." It is also known for having one of the larges hops farms in the US. Additionally, 85% of all commercial trout sold in America comes from Idaho.
The state's capitol building is the only state capitol that is kept warm using a renewable source of energy. It is called geothermal water, which mean the hot water that sits 3,000 feet underground is used to produce heat.
There is a ski resort in McCall, Idaho that is home to the Brundage Bra Tree. The name is known throughout Idaho because it is where many women through their bras as they ride the chairlift.
Notable Residents
Though not originally from Idaho, Ernest Hemingway arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho in 1939 to work on his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Idaho offered wide open spaces for Hemingway to indulge his passions for hunting, skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities. Hemingway is buried in Ketchum, Idaho where he died July 1961.
Well-known people from Idaho include Actors: Patty Duke, Margaux and Mariel Hemingway, Josh Hammond, George Kennedy and Lana Turner. Musicians: Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, Gene Harris (jazz), and Norma Zimmer.
The list of athletes that hail from Idaho is impressive: Picabo Street (world and Olympic champion skier), Larry Jackson (Baseball – 5-time all-star), Gary Stevens (jockey – 3-time winner at the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes and 2-time winner at the Preakness Stakes), Dean Oliver (winner of 8 world calf roping titles and 3 world all-around championships), Dee Wilde (archery), and Kristin Armstrong (2-time gold medalist in women's cycling).
In honor of IDAHO, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover;
• A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
Happy Reading ❤
2bhabeck
Brenda's September 2020 Americana Challenge - Idaho
1 of 3 complete
In honor of IDAHO, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover;
Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine; 9/6/20; 4 stars
• A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
Murder and the Monkey Bank by Dianne Harman; 9/--/2020; -- stars
1 of 3 complete
In honor of IDAHO, read a Mystery/Suspense book (any sub-genre will do!) that satisfies one or more of the following:
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover;
Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine; 9/6/20; 4 stars
• A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
Murder and the Monkey Bank by Dianne Harman; 9/--/2020; -- stars
3Carol420
📌 - ★
3/3 - Done 9/15
Carol's Going To Hang Out With The Strange Creature in Idaho (Hope he likes to read)
📌1. A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover.
Hell Island - Matthew Reilly - ★5
📌2. A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
The Empty House: and Other Ghost Stories Alagernon Blackwood - 4.5★
📌3. A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
From The Grave - David Housewright - 4★ (D & H)
5Sergeirocks
Saving a place - will be back anon...
19 September 2020 - Windermere Witness - Rebecca Tope 3.5★s (Lake on the cover)
21 September 2020 - Gently Where the Roads Go - Alan Hunter 4.5★s (Author's initials in IDAHO
19 September 2020 - Windermere Witness - Rebecca Tope 3.5★s (Lake on the cover)
21 September 2020 - Gently Where the Roads Go - Alan Hunter 4.5★s (Author's initials in IDAHO
6gaylebutz
I'm going to read The Double-Jack Murders by Patrick F. McManus. The story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest - Idaho.
7jguidry
Jaret visits Idaho:
completed (2/3)
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover;
• A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher 4 stars 9/12/2020 supernatural occurance
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett 2 stars 9/15/2020 initials in iDaHo
completed (2/3)
• A Mystery/Suspense book with "Hell," "Monster," "River," or "Northwest" in the title or has a waterfall, a lake, a gem or a monster on the cover;
• A Mystery/Suspense book in which something supernatural occurs, or has a character who lives in an isolated/wilderness area or the story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest;
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher 4 stars 9/12/2020 supernatural occurance
• A Mystery/Suspense book where the author's initials (BOTH the first AND last) can be found in IDAHO.
Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett 2 stars 9/15/2020 initials in iDaHo
9gaylebutz
Done - The Double-Jack Murders by Patrick F. McManus
The story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest - Idaho.
The story takes place in the US Pacific Northwest - Idaho.
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