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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Owyhee County, Idaho.
Official Website
This area was the territory of Western Shoshone, Northern Paiute, and Bannock peoples and their ancestors for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Americans. Conflicts over land use and resources led to the indigenous peoples being pushed aside.
On December 31, 1863, Owyhee County became the first county organized by the Idaho Territory Legislature. The name "Owyhee" derives from an early anglicization of the Hawaiian term "Hawaiʻi." When James Cook encountered what he named the Sandwich Islands (now the Hawaiian Islands) in 1778, he found them inhabited by Native Hawaiians, whom the Anglo-Americans referred to as "Owyhees." Noted for their hardy physique and maritime skills, numerous Native Hawaiians were hired as crew members aboard European and American vessels. Many Owyhee sailed to the American Northwest coast and found employment along the Columbia River, where they joined trapping expeditions or worked at some of the fur trade posts.
In 1819, three Owyhee joined Donald Mackenzie's Snake expedition, which went out annually into the Snake country for the North West Company, a Montreal-based organization of Canadian fur traders. The three Hawaiians left the main party during the winter of 1819–20 to explore the then unknown terrain of what since has been called the Owyhee River and mountains. They disappeared and were presumed dead; no further information regarding their whereabouts has been found. In memory of these Native Hawaiians, British fur trappers started to call the region "Owyhee" and the name stuck.
Owyhee County's history is closely linked to the mining boom that dominated Idaho Territory in the second half of the 19th century. Silver City and Ruby City developed as boom towns. At its height in the 1880s, Owyhee County was among the most populous places in Idaho. Today it is among the least populous, at 1.4 persons per square mile.
Because of pressure from miners and settlers, the federal government made a treaty in 1877 with the Western Shoshone to cede land, and established what is now known as the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in this county and across the border in Elko County, Nevada. The reservation was expanded in 1886 to accommodate people of the Northern Paiute. In the 20th century, the tribes combined and are federally recognized as a single government; the majority of the people live on the Nevada side of the reservation.
Adjacent Counties
- Canyon County
- Ada County
- Elmore County
- Twin Falls County
- Malheur County, Oregon
- Elko County, Nevada
- Humboldt County, Nevada
Cities, Towns & Communities
- Bruneau
- Claytonia
- Dewey
- Grand View
- Grasmere
- Homedale
- Marsing
- Murphy
- Murphy Hot Springs
- Oreana
- Reynolds
- Riddle
- Ruby City
- Silver City
- Wickahoney
Cemeteries
Links
National Register of Historic Places
Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Owyhee Historical Society & Museum
