By Kayte Casebolt

Yes, Idaho’s got potatoes, but we’ve also got 72 kinds of precious and semiprecious gemstones, earning us the title of the Gem State. 

Idaho may have fields and fields of potatoes, but given its diverse terrain, Idaho is also the home of towering mountain ranges with garnets, opal, jasper, topaz, turquoise, and more. Both the potatoes and gems of Idaho can be linked back to volcanic activity. Volcanic activity makes for mineral-rich soil for potatoes, while also creating mountain veins for minerals to crystalize into dazzling gems. 

Idaho’s title as the “Gem State” goes back even before we officially became a state. In fact, people used to believe that the name Idaho was derived from an Indian word “E-Da-How” meaning “gem of the mountain.” 

In reality, Idaho was just a made up name that was first suggested for the Colorado territory. It was falsely claimed to be an Indian word in order to increase its chances of being picked as a state name. But Colorado stuck with its original name. Instead, the name Idaho was actually used for a steamboat that brought thousands of miners to the mining camps during the Idaho gold rush. Eventually, it became the name for the entire territory, and then the official state name.

While the Native Americans did not have the word “E-Da-How,” they certainly made use of the gemstones in their decorations and ceremonies. By the mid-19th century, these gemstones caught the eye of the gold-seekers, many of whom were brought in by the Idaho steamboat. They realized that there was much more to discover in Idaho beyond the presence of gold. 

Soon towns developed around areas where these gems were discovered. While some of these towns are still inhabited by Idahoans today, others dwindled in population till they became ghost towns. Several of these ghost towns are maintained by Idaho’s Department of Parks and Recreation. They are great sites to visit if you want a look into the life of an Idaho miner.

One such gemstone that gained popularity in the 19th century was the garnet, specifically the star garnet. This gem is a dodecahedron (twelve sided shape), ranging in color from a red to purple. The gem has inclusions that reflect the light and create four to six rays, forming a star. 

The first star garnet found in Idaho was stumbled upon accidentally. A logger named Ed Sexton, or “Shorty” as he was called, found it along the Emerald Creek in 1937. He claimed the plot of land as his own and named it “Shorty’s Diggins.” Nearly thirty years later, he leased a portion of his land to the government so that the public could have digging access. Without the modern day excavation technology, miners used chisels and small picking hammers to extract the gems out of the rock.

The star garnet became the state gem in 1967. While garnets are fairly common, the star garnet in particular is an extremely rare gem, and very specific to Idaho. The only other place to commercially produce star garnets is India. The most valuable Idaho gem ever found is known as the “Star of Idaho,” a 3,322 karat with an estimated value of over a million dollars.

Opal comes in second place for the largest contributor to Idaho gem material, catching the eye of deer hunters near the town of Spencer. This was another accidental find. The deer hunters were following a wounded deer when they happened upon the opal. This explains the nickname of “the lost deer hunters’ mine,” but now you’re more likely to hear it referred to as the “Opal Capital of America.” Opals from this mine were donated to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Today, the Emerald Creek Star Garnet area and the Spencer Opal Mines are tourist attractions. Due to environmental concerns, you can no longer search for these gems along the streams, but at these tourist sites even young miners-in-training can find gems by searching through the sluice boxes for an hour or two.

Idaho’s gems played an important role in the history of our state, as the mining opportunities are what brought so many settlers to Idaho in the first place. It’s really no surprise that the garnet fits right in there with the Appaloosa, the syringa, and of course, the potato — all Idaho staples that would attract just about anyone to settle down in this beautiful state.