Overlooking Moscow Idaho and the University of Idaho (photo by author)

Moscow

Idaho that is

Hog Heaven, Paradise Valley, Moscow.

My little town has gone through a few names since white settlers moved into the Idaho Palouse starting around 1870.

The first settlers brought pigs, which loved the bulbs of a native plant called Camas. Camas was a staple food of the people who lived here first, The Palus and the Nimi’ipuu (Nez Perce) to the south. Thus, Hog Heaven for a while.

No one is totally sure how the name became Moscow, but there is no definitive connection to the one in Russia. The fact that the postmaster at the time who signed the official papers when it came to officially name the town was born in Moscow, Pennsylvania, and moved later to Moscow, Iowa might have a little something to do with it.

Whatever the origin of the name, Moscow is a nice place to live.

Looking towards Memorial Gym and the I Tower at the University of Idaho in Moscow (photo by author)

Moscow is home to the state’s flagship university, the University of Idaho, a land grant institution. The university opened its doors to 40 students in 1892, 2 years after Idaho was admitted to the union as a state.

I was born here, my parents met in college and got married. They graduated after I was born.