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Originally a part of Oregon Territory and then of Washington Territory, Idaho became a territory itself on March 4, 1863. Only eighteen years later, a group of early settlers organized the Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers. They wished to preserve their own history, and they wanted their descendants and future residents of Idaho to understand how this place had come to be.
On July 3, 1890, Idaho achieved statehood. Seventeen years later, the Ninth Legislature established the Idaho State Historical Society as a state agency. Its home for nearly fifty years was in a basement room in the Capitol.