North America stayed unexplored for a long time because trappers and explorers explored this new land from the coasts inward. This is why the Shoshone had never met a white man until the summer of 1805. That all changed when the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark travelled through the territory of Idaho that summer. They were helped by the Shoshone Indians who gave them horses and other supplies for their journey over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River. It was in this Idaho territory in 1805 that Lewis and Clark were also given Sacajawea to be a guide to them.
British fur trappers, missionaries and a few hardy settlers came years later, but big settlements did not start until gold was discovered. Thousands of miners came to Idaho in September 1860 when gold was discovered, and merchants and farmers came next, hoping to become rich. By 1880, Idaho had a population of 32,610, and the lower section of the Idaho was mostly Mormons who had been sent from Salt Lake City to start new colonies. The number of Republicans who were against the Mormones grew so much that they wanted to make Idaho a state so that they could have more Republicans in Congress. Their push was granted, and on July 3, 1890, and Idaho became the 43rd state in the Union.
