Q 01/05

By the best-known story, a French-speaking guide named Boise by shouting what at the sight of the river valley?

A) The woods!

B) The water!

C) The valley!

D) The green!

Answer · why

A) The woods!

"Les bois! Les bois!" is the tale told of Capt. Bonneville's party at what is now Bonneville Point on the Oregon Trail; an alternative version credits...

Q 02/05

How do most longtime Boise residents pronounce the city's name?

A) BOY-zee

B) BOY-see

C) BWAH-zay

D) BOH-eez

Answer · why

B) BOY-see

The pronunciation works as a shibboleth: outsiders tend to say BOY-zee, and in French it is simply Bwaz.

Q 03/05

Boise is the county seat of which Idaho county?

A) Canyon

B) Boise

C) Ada

D) Owyhee

Answer · why

C) Ada

Confusingly, Boise County lies to the northeast around Idaho City; the capital sits in Ada County, the state's most populous.

Q 04/05

Which city was briefly Idaho's territorial capital before Boise took over in 1864?

A) Idaho City

B) Pocatello

C) Coeur d'Alene

D) Lewiston

Answer · why

D) Lewiston

The move followed the population shift south after gold strikes; the decision was so contested that it went to the territorial supreme court.

Q 05/05

What is Boise's long-standing arboreal nickname?

A) City of Trees

B) City of Oaks

C) Garden City

D) Orchard City

Answer · why

A) City of Trees

The name took root in the 1860s and 1870s when early settlers planted orchards and downtown hotels led tree-planting drives in a high-desert valley.