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Boise, Idaho An apocryphal tale tells that the Lewis & Clark expedition, after trekking for weeks through rough terrain, happened upon the sight of the Boise River Valley. A French guide overwhelmed by the sight of the verdant river yelled "Les Bois! Les Bois!" and this is how Boise got its name. In the 1820’s French fur trappers set traps in the area where Boise now lies. Though mostly an area of high desert, a prominent landmark was the tree lined Boise River Valley, which they called "La Riviere Boise" which means "wooded river." Though the connection between the Lewis & Clark tale and the naming of the city is dubious, it is clear that the area was referred to as Boise long before the establishment of Fort Boise.

The original Fort Boise was 40 miles (64 km) west, down the Boise River, near the confluence with the Snake River at the Oregon border. This fort was erected by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1830s. It was abandoned in the 1850s, but massacres along the Oregon Trail prompted the U.S. Army to re-establish a fort in the area in 1863, during the U.S. Civil War. The new location was selected because it was near the intersection of the Oregon Trail and a major road connecting the Boise Basin (Idaho City) and the Owyhee mining areas, both booming at the time. Idaho City was the largest city in the area, but the new Fort Boise grew rapidly (as a staging area to Idaho City) and Boise was incorporated as a city in 1864. The first capital of Idaho was Lewiston, but Boise replaced it in 1865.

http://www.cityofboise.org/