Boise (/ˈbɔɪziː/, BOYZ-ee locally /ˈbɔɪsiː/ (listen), BOYSS-ee[4]) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. As of the 2020 census,[5] there were 235,684 people residing in the city. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level.
The Boise metropolitan area, also known as the Treasure Valley, includes five counties with a combined population of 749,202, the most populous metropolitan area in Idaho. It contains the state's three largest cities: Boise, Nampa, and Meridian. The Boise–Nampa Metropolitan Statistical Area is the 77th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States.
Downtown Boise is the cultural center and home to many small businesses and a number of high-rise buildings. The area has a variety of shops and restaurants. Centrally, 8th Street contains a pedestrian zone with sidewalk cafes and restaurants. The neighborhood has many local restaurants, bars, and boutiques. The area also contains the Basque Block, which showcases Boise's Basque heritage. Downtown Boise's main attractions include the Idaho State Capitol, the classic Egyptian Theatre on the corner of Capitol Boulevard and Main Street, the Boise Art Museum on Capitol in front of Julia Davis Park, and Zoo Boise on the grounds of Julia Davis Park.
The origin of the name is uncertain. One account credits Capt. B. L. E. Bonneville of the U.S. Army as its source. After trekking for weeks through dry and rough terrain, his exploration party reached an overlook with a view of the Boise River Valley. The place where they stood is called Bonneville Point, located on the Oregon Trail east of the city. According to the story, a French-speaking guide, overwhelmed by the sight of the verdant river, yelled "Les bois! Les bois!" ("The woods! The woods!")—and the name stuck.
The name may also derive from earlier mountain men who named the river that flows through the city. In the 1820s, French Canadian fur trappers associated with the British-owned Hudson's Bay Company set trap lines in the vicinity. Set in a high-desert area, the tree-lined valley of the Boise River became a distinct landmark, an oasis dominated by cottonwood trees. This led the French trappers to call the area "la rivière boisée" ("the wooded river").[6]
Most local and longtime residents use the pronunciation /ˈbɔɪsiː/ (BOYSS-ee),[7] as given on the city's website.[4] The pronunciation is sometimes used as a shibboleth, as outsiders (and newcomers) tend to mispronounce the city's name as /ˈbɔɪziː/ (BOY-zee).[8][9]
The area of Boise valley was inhabited by Boise Valley Shoshone and Bannock tribes, a part of the "Snake Country." According to the City of Boise's "History of Boise" report, "they gathered annually in the valley to participate in trading rendezvous with other tribes and catch salmon in the Boise River runs to help sustain them year-round. They spent winters in the valley where the climate was milder and visited the hot springs for bathing and healing. Castle Rock, called Eagle Rock by the tribes, was and remains a sacred site."[10]
Boise Valley Shoshone belonged to the "Yahandeka" (groundhog eaters) grouping. They were among the early mounted Shoshone bands. They traveled over a considerable range by the beginning of the nineteenth century, with their main hunting lands along the lower Boise River and Payette River. When Donald MacKenzie developed the Snake country fur trade after 1818, the most prominent of the Boise Shoshone, Peiem (a Shoshoni rendition of “Big Jim”, their leader's English name), became the most influential leader of the large composite Shoshoni band that white trappers regularly encountered in the Snake Country.
In 1811, Wilson Hunt, employed as an agent in the fur trade under John Jacob Astor, organized and led the greater part of a group of about 60 men[11] on an overland expedition to establish a fur trading outpost at the mouth of the Columbia River.[11][12] This expedition passed through the Boise valley, and was the first ever time a white American has entered the region.[13][14] Because of the War of 1812 and the lack of U.S. fur trading posts in the Pacific Northwest, most of the route was not used in the following two decades, and thus Snake Country remained free of settler incursions.