Idaho Experience

Idaho Experience looks at the lives of Harry Magnuson, Joe Albertson, and J. R. Simplot to see ways they helped change the state of Idaho. Will there be another generation of titans?

“Taking the Reins” traces the remarkable paths of two Idaho women: Katherine Caroline Wilkins, born to fortune-seeking pioneers in Oregon Territory, was one of the most successful horse-sellers in the United States. And May Arkwright Hutton became one of the richest women in the American West, using her newfound wealth to promote suffrage and later running for the Idaho Legislature.

In 1870 nearly one-third of the Idaho Territory’s population was Chinese. Most of these individuals were men who worked in mines, though a handful of Chinese women found their way to Idaho. Although the majority of the workers ultimately returned to China, they left a substantial impact on the American West, through the infrastructure they built and the Western culture they influenced.