Tom Zumwalt - Realtor? - Silvercreek Realty

Boise's trees in the high desert setting inspired French Canadian fur trappers to name the river and valley after them (boise translates to wooded in English) The Boise valley remained merely a corridor through which emigrants passed until gold was discovered in 1862. Enterprising developers founded the town to provide the many nearby mining camps, and to serve as a governmental center. A fort was founded in 1863, and in 1864 Boise was made the territorial capital. Railroads arrived in the 1880's, an irrigation system in the early 1900's, and the rest is history.