"Here We Have Idaho" is the official state song of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. The music was originally composed by Sallie Hume-Douglas for a song titled "Garden of Paradise," which Hume-Douglas copyrighted in 1915. In 1917, two students at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

used the music for their entry in a campus song contest. McKinley Helm wrote a verse for the song, and Alice Bessee adapted the "Garden of Paradise" music to fit. Under the title "Our Idaho," the song won the contest that year and eventually became the university's alma mater. The university later learned that Hume-Douglas had copyrighted the music, and obtained permission from her to continue using it for "Our Idaho." In the meantime, Albert J. Tompkins, Director of Music in the Boise Public Schools, had written two additional verses for the song. These were combined with Helm's verse (used as a chorus) to form "Here We Have Idaho," which the

Idaho Legislature The Idaho Legislature consists of the upper Idaho Senate and the lower Idaho House of Representatives. Idaho is divided into 35 legislative districts, which each elect one senator and two representatives. There are no term limits for either ...

designated as the Idaho state song in 1931.

Lyrics

References

External links

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Idaho Stat. § 67–4503
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Music of Idaho 1917 songs Songs about Idaho