Idaho Biography

The best collection of biographical materials of Idaho residents is at the Idaho State Historical Society. There is no statewide biographical index, but you can search state, regional, and county histories for biographical information. Some representative histories that are primarily biographical are:

Hawley, James H. History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains. Four Volumes. Chicago, Illinois: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1920. (FHL book 979.6 H2h; Volumes 1-3 on film 1000165; Volume 4 on film 908926.)

An Illustrated History of the State of Idaho. Four Volumes in 2. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company, 1899. (FHL book 979.6 H2ih; film 1000164.)

A biographical index to several statewide and regional histories of Idaho is Marvin E. Wiggins, Mormons and Their Neighbors: An Index of Over 75,000 Biographical Sketches from 1820 to the present. Two Volumes. Provo, Utah: Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, 1984. (FHL book Ref 979 D32w.) This source is indexed on the Internet site of Brigham Young University - Idaho: www.byui.edu.

Brigham Young University has a collection, called:

Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869, which includes information about many Idaho families. It is searchable on their Internet site: http://overlandtrails.lib.byu.edu

At Brigham Young University - Idaho they have a project, Upper Snake River Valley Idaho Histories, in which many diaries and biographical sketches have been collected. These are indexed on their Internet site mentioned above.