Boise wasn’t the first state capital, that honor went to Lewiston in the north with the border of Washington. Back then, Idaho was grouped together in a territory with Wyoming and Montana, but the southern part of the state grew rapidly with the Oregon Trail, logging, and mining.
When people got fed up with having to make the trip up north, they successfully petitioned to have the capital moved southward. The northerners were furious and tried unsuccessfully to secede to Washington state. Depending on who you asked, documents were either stolen or the capital was legally moved.
