Celebrating 125 years
<p>Robert Singletary, regional historian and program and marketing director for the Museum of North Idaho, stands in character representing the fur trade time period during the Lewis and Clark Expedition.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - The Museum of North Idaho and the Coeur d'Alene Public Library are collaborating to bring a 10-part lecture series marking the 125th anniversary of Idaho's statehood.
Robert Singletary, regional historian and program and marketing director for the Museum of North Idaho, will be the presenter for the "Idaho 125: Wilderness to Statehood" lecture series. Singletary will dress in character for many of the lectures.
Idaho became a territory in 1863 and a state in 1890. By 1890 most of the major cities had been established, Singletary said. The lecture will not only discuss Idaho's statehood, but also when Kootenai County was established in 1864. Knowing how your town, county, state and nation came about makes a good citizen, he said.
"To understand our present thoroughly, you really need to know your past," Singletary said. "If your culture loses its past, we lose our direction."
Singletary said the lecture series over the years has been a great collaboration between the library and the museum. It will be presented in chronological development of Idaho's history.
All programs are free to the public, begin at 7 p.m. in the Coeur d'Alene library Community Room and will include:
* Native Cultures - Thursday, Feb. 26
* Lewis and Clark - March 26
* Fur Trade - April 23
* Missions - May 28
* Trails and Roads - June 25
* Gold and Silver - July 23
* Indian Wars - Aug. 27
* Railroads - Sept. 24
* Settlements and Towns - Oct. 22
* Statehood - Nov. 12
Throughout the lecture series some of the topics that will be discussed include how Idaho's capital was shifted from Lewiston to Boise, politics in Idaho, gold discoveries, trails talk on the Mullan Road and Native American cultures. The lecture series will also cover the early settlements and towns in North Idaho.
The Native Cultures lecture on Thursday will discuss the types of food Native Americans ate, their relationships, hunting practices, the structures they lived in, how they got along with other cultures, language differences and cultural differences among tribes.
All the topics play a role in where Idaho stands today, Singletary said. "If you know your past, personal, family, community, town - it gives you more of who you are."
Information: www.museumni.org or www.cdalibrary.org