After trekking for weeks through the desolate Snake River plain in 1833, Capt. B. L. E. Bonneville and his exploration party reached an overlook with a view of the Boise River Valley. The place where they stood is called Bonneville Point, located on the Oregon Trail east of the city. According to tradition, a French-speaking guide, overwhelmed by the sight of the tree-lined river, yelled "Les bois! Les bois!" ("The woods! The woods!")--and the name stuck.

The Boise Valley was inhabited by the indigenous Shoshone and Bannock peoples for thousands of years. They spent winters in the valley where the climate was milder, caught salmon in the Boise River runs to help sustain them year-round, and visited the hot springs for bathing and healing. Castle Rock, called Eagle Rock by the tribes, is still considered a sacred site.

A record-breaking six ton potato has been spotted in Idaho just south of downtown Boise. Okay, it's not a real potato--it's the retired spokespotato of the Idaho Potato Commission's Big Idaho Potato Tour. After traveling the country for seven years, the legendary potato has been brought to its final resting place in Boise. You can even spend the night inside the giant spud, which comfortably sleeps two in its chic interior.

A blue football field was unheard of when it was installed at Boise State University's Albertsons Stadium in 1986. The athletic director of Boise State at the time, Gene Blaymeier, once told the Fort Collins Coloradoan that he had a hard time writing a $750,000 check for a green carpet that no one would really notice. So he called and asked if it came in blue! Sometimes referred to as "Smurf Turf," it was the first non-green playing surface (outside of painted end zones) in football history and remained the only one among NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision schools for almost 20 years.

Buster Bronco wears a #0 Boise State football jersey for football games and a #54 orange basketball jersey for basketball games. The idea to have a Bronco as a mascot originated during the first year of classes (1932-33). Students picked the Bronco because it represented the wild horses that roamed the Owyhees.

Boise's ethnic Basque community is one of the largest in the United States. (Basques are indigenous to and primarily inhabit a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.) A large Basque festival known as Jaialdi is held in Boise once every five years, and downtown Boise features a vibrant section known as the "Basque Block".

Although Lewiston briefly served as Idaho's capital from the formation of Idaho Territory in 1863, the territorial legislature moved it to Boise on December 24, 1864. Construction of the first portion of the capitol building began in the summer of 1905, fifteen years after statehood.

In 1939, Joe Albertson founded Albertsons in Boise. The store was filled with what were then brand new perks: free parking, a money-back guarantee, and even an ice cream shop. Today, Albertsons is the second largest supermarket chain in North America after Kroger.

Boise has long been known as the "City of Trees" and continues to deserve the nickname with more than 43,000 trees in its jurisdiction.

You don't need to break any laws to get inside the Old Idaho Penitentiary--it's open for tours to the public. But beware! The Old Pen's former inmates are said to haunt the facility. Visitors report strange events such as feeling touches from invisible entities, sudden overwhelming feelings of dread or despair, and disembodied whispers in the hallways.