"Owyhee County was named for the river, mountains and mining area explored in 1919-1920 by Hawaiian fur trappers from the then Sandwich Islands. Hawaii and Owyhee are different spellings of the same word. It was the first county to be established by the first territorial legislature in 1863. Gold was discovered on Jordan Creek in 1863, and a rush began to the area. The rich Poorman Mine was discovered in 1865 and and millions of dollars of gold and silver were taken from Silver City region until the industry declined in the early 1900s. Irrigation systems were built along the Owyhee and Snake Rivers and other streams in the county. Forage was excellent, and cattle and sheep raising which begain in the late 1860's was, after mining declined, the most important industry in the county. Mining in Delamar was revived in the mid-1970's, but agriculture remained the chief industry." - "The Idaho Almanac," 1977 Edition, State of Idaho."
The county seat is Murphy; other towns are Homedale, Marsing; inhabited places are Bruneau, Grand View, Riddle and Silver City (seasonal). Duck Valley Indian Reservation is partially in this county.
The first county seat was at Ruby City. In 1867 it was moved to Silver City and in 1934 to Murphy.
"Owyhee County was born December 31, 1863. Its limits were set forth in these words: 'That all that part of of said territory lying south of the Snake River and west of the summit of the Rocky Mountains shall be and the same is hereby organized into a county to be called Owyhee.' By 1879 it was reduced to its present limits, making it the second largest county in Idaho." - Mildretta Adams, "Historic Silver City/The Story of the Owyhees," 1969, Schwartz Printing Company, Nampa, Idaho.
Bruneau Dunes State Park is in this county as is J. C. Strike Dam and Reservoir.
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The Owyhee County, Idaho GenWeb Project is part of the USGenWeb Project. We are a group of volunteers working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone.
If you have any Owyhee County related data, photos or web sites that you would like to have added to this site, please contact me. If you have access to records for the Owyhee County area and can perform lookups by request, we need you! Contact Sharon McConnel, County Coordinator. I would like to thank previous coordinators Matt Friend, Jimmy Parker, Charlotte Slater and Kathy Dusek all for the work they did on this site.
Updated November 22, 2023
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