Shoshone County, Idaho
| Shoshone County, Idaho | ||
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 Location in the U.S. state of Idaho |
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 Idaho's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | February 4, 1864 | |
| Named for | Shoshone tribe | |
| Seat | Wallace | |
| Largest city | Kellogg | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 2,635 sq mi (6,825 km2) | |
| • Land | 2,634 sq mi (6,822 km2) | |
| • Water | 5.5 sq mi (14 km2), 0.2% | |
| Population | ||
| • (2010) | 12,765 | |
| • Density | 4.9/sq mi (2/km²) | |
| Congressional district | 1st | |
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 | |
| Website | www |
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Shoshone County is a county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,765. The county seat is Wallace, and the largest city is Kellogg. The county was established in 1864, named for the Native American Shoshone tribe.
Shoshone County is commonly referred to as the Silver Valley, due to its century-old mining history. The Silver Valley is famous nationwide for the vast amounts of silver, lead, and zinc mined from it.
Shoshone County was formed under the Territory of Washington on January 9, 1861. Washington Territory legislators established the county in anticipation of the gold rush that occurred after the discovery of gold at Pierce in October, 1860. Their location of the northern boundary at a line drawn due east from the mouth of the Clearwater River, unknowingly placed the emerging mining settlement at Pierce outside of the county's boundaries while residents of the new Mormon settlement at Franklin were unknowingly within the established boundaries. Regardless of the geographic reality, the county seat was at Pierce. Growth at Pierce was so rapid that Shoshone County boasted the largest vote of any county within Washington Territory at the territorial election of July 8, 1861. In less than a year, Shoshone County contained additional settlements at Lewiston, Elk City, Newsome, and Florence. On December 20, 1861, Nez Perce and Idaho counties were created from most of the original territory of Shoshone County. On the following day, Shoshone's boundaries were shifted northward, containing most of present-day Clearwater County and a portion of present-day Shoshone County.
This new boundary alignment left the existing settlement at Pierce and the new settlement of Orofino as the county's only settlements. The county's population dwindled as prospectors abandoned Pierce for gold prospects at Elk City and Florence. Idaho Territory was created in 1863 and the first census of the territory in that year enumerated only 574 residents in Shoshone County. The county boundaries were expanded to include the Silver Valley by the legislative assembly of Idaho Territory when it officially created Shoshone County on February 4, 1864. The expanded territory contained no population at the second census of Idaho Territory in 1864. All of the county's 276 residents were located at Pierce and Orofino.
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