Territory and State.—A Territorial government is not democratic in spirit. It imposes its authority without the consent of the governed. It is in conflict with the principle that "taxation without representation is tyranny." During the twenty-seven years of Territorial rule the people of Idaho were not, for instance, permitted to vote for the President of the United States, who, with the approval of the Senate, appointed their chief judicial and executive officers. Nor did their delegate to Congress have a vote in that powerful body which could annul any enactment of the Territorial Legislature.

While some of the officials who were appointed from outside the Territory to administer the affairs of the Territory were notably able and upright men, yet others were unfamiliar with or indifferent to the needs of the people and merited the uncomplimentary title of "carpetbag rulers."

It was to remedy these undesirable conditions and to substitute a system of local self-government for alien rule that active steps were taken to procure Statehood for Idaho in the year 1889.

Governor Issues Call for Constitutional Convention.—One of the last official acts of Territorial Governor Edward A. Stevenson (1885-1889) was to issue a call for a constitutional convention. On April 2, 1889, by formal proclamation, he recommended that the people of the Territory on the first Monday in June (1889) elect seventy-two delegates to a constitutional convention to meet at Boise City on the following July 4. On May 11, 1889, Governor George L. Shoup indorsed the action of his predecessor by issuing a supplementary proclamation setting forth at greater length the reasons why Idaho should have a State government.

The Constitutional Convention.—A future generation can well be proud of the body of delegates1 who framed Idaho's Organic Law. It is doubtful if a more distinguished group of men have ever been assembled in Idaho during the history of our commonwealth.

A glance at the roster of the delegates who framed Idaho's State constitution were:
John S. Gray, Ada County;
B. Moss, Ada County;
Edgar Wilson, Ada County;
John Lemp, Ada County;
W. C. Maxey, Ada County;
Chas. A. Clark, Ada County;
I. N. Costin, Ada County;
P. J. Pefley, Ada County;
Frank Steunenberg, Ada County;
Jas. H. Beatty, Alturas County;
A. J. Pinkham, Alturas County;
O. R. Batten, Alturas County;
L. Vineyard, Alturas County;
P. McMahon, Alturas County;
J. W. Ballentine, Alturas County;
J. L. Underwood, Bear Lake County;
W. H. Savidge, Bingham County;
F. W. Beane, Bingham County;
H. B. Kinport, Bingham County;
J. T. Morgan, Bingham County;
H. O. Harkness, Bingham County;
Ralph Anderson, Bingham County;
Sam F. Taylor, Bingham County;
Fred Campbell, Boise County;
George Ainslie, Boise County;
John H. Meyer, Boise County;

those delegates reveals the name of a former delegate to Congress from Idaho as well as a former delegate to Congress from an adjoining Territory; a congressman from an Eastern State; a former chief justice of the Territorial supreme court; also the names of former members of the Territorial Legislature. In that body there were men who were later destined to honor their State as United States senators, governors, congressmen, judges, and as leaders in professional and business life.

William H. Clagett of Osborne, Shoshone County, was by acclamation elected president of the convention. Prior to coming to Idaho he had been delegate to William H. Clagett, Congress from Montana. While President Idaho state constitutional serving in that capacity he had procured the passage of the act which established the Yellowstone National Park.

The New Constitution.—On August 6, 1889, after a session lasting thirty-four days, the constitution was framed and signed by the delegates.

H. S. Hampton, Cassia County;
J. W. Lamereaux, Cassia County;
O. J. Salisbury, Custer County;
A. J. Pierce, Custer County;
A. J. Crook, Custer County;
Jas. M. Shoup, Custer County;
F. P. Cavanah, Elmore County;
A. M. Sinnott, Elmore County;
Homer Stull, Elmore County;
Henry Melder, Kootenai County;
Albert Hagan, Kootenai County;
W. A. Hendryx, Kootenai County;
Willis Sweet, Latah County;
W. J. McConnell, Latah County;
J. W. Brigham, Latah County;
W. D. Robbins, Latah County;
H. B. Blake, Latah County;
A. S. Chaney, Latah County;
N. I. Andrews, Lemhi County;
Thos. Payeatt, Lemhi County;
John Hagan, Lemhi County;
J. M. Howe, Lemhi County;
Jas. W. Reid, Nez Perce County;
J. W. Poe, Nez Perce County;
J. S. Whitton, Logan County;
Henry Armstrong, Logan County;
W. C. B. Allen, Logan County;
S. J. Pritchard, Owyhee County;
C. M. Hays, Owyhee County;
J. I. Crutcher, Owyhee County;
W. B. Heyburn, Shoshone County;
W. H. Clagett, Shoshone County;
Wm. H. Hammel, Shoshone County;
S. S. Glidden, Shoshone County;
W. W. Woods, Shoshone County;
A. B. Bevan, Shoshone County;
A. E. Mayhew, Shoshone County;
G. W. King, Shoshone County;
Sol Hasbrouck, Washington County;
E. S. Jewell, Washington County;
Frank Harris, Washington County;
A. F. Parker, Idaho County.

In its main outlines, our constitution was modeled after those of older States. When viewed in the light of the period in which it was written, it was rather progressive in tone. Its several articles and clauses are ably and skillfully drawn and couched in clear language. It is briefer and less burdened with details than are several of the more recently framed constitutions of other States. Up to 1918 24 amendments had been added to this document.

The Constitution Adopted.—On November 5, 1889, the constitution was ratified by an overwhelming majority. The final count showed that 12,398 votes had been cast in favor of the adoption measure, and only 1,775 votes against it.

Idaho Admitted to the Union.—The Statehood Admission Bill passed the National House of Representatives on April 3, 1890, and the Senate the following July 1. Late in the afternoon of July 3, the engrossed bill was presented to President Harrison. Territorial Delegate Fred T. Dubois was present and handed the President the pen which enrolled Idaho as the forty-third State in the Union.

The First State Governor.—On July 3, 1890, in accordance with a provision in the Admission Act, Territorial Governor Shoup became the chief executive of the newly admitted commonwealth. At the special election held October 1, 1890, he was continued in the governorship and to him belongs the distinction of having been the last Territorial and the first State governor of Idaho.

First United States Senators.—Associated with the First Legislature, which convened December 8, 1890, are some of the most sensational political incidents in our history. On December 18, 1890, the legislature elected Governor Shoup and William J. McConnell to fill the vacancies then existing in the United States Senate. The members of the legislature knew that the terms of one of the two senators-elect would expire on March 4, 1891, almost two years prior to the next legislative session (January, 1893). They accordingly proceeded on the same day that Mr. Shoup and Mr. McConnell were chosen (December 18) to elect Fred T. Dubois to fill the six-year term which would begin March 4, 1891. Claiming that there was "at least grave doubt" as to the validity of Mr. Dubois's election on February 11, 1891, the friends of William H. Clagett elected him in Mr. Dubois's stead for the long senatorial term (1891-1897). A few weeks later, however, by a vote of 55 to 5, the United States Senate voted to seat Mr. Dubois. Idaho's First Legislature is said to have the unique distinction of having been the only one in our nation's history which at one session elected four, and seated three, United States senators. The population of Idaho in 1870 was 14,999; in 1880, 32,611; in 1890, 88,548; in 1900, 161,772; and in 1910, 325,594.


The State Flower.—In 1893, a committee of Boise women, known as the Columbian Committee, was organized to assist Captain James M. Wells, the Idaho commissioner at the World's Exposition at Chicago, in furnishing the Idaho building. It was this committee which originally selected the syringa as Idaho's State flower. This flower has four white petals and a yellow centre, and flourishes in the mountainous regions of our State. While the syringa has never been given an official status through legislative action, yet by common consent, Idahoans have for a quarter of a century conferred upon it the affectionate title "State Flower"—a distinction it will, doubtless, permanently possess.

[Source: HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME I; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]