BOISE, Idaho — In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed a congressional act claiming Idaho as an official U.S. territory.
27 years later on July 3, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison officially proclaimed Idaho the 43rd state in the Union.
On July 3, 1990, Idaho celebrated its centennial with a massive celebration across the Treasure Valley.
And KTVB was there with wall-to-wall coverage, from noon until midnight.
"We did 12 hours of live coverage with no commercial breaks," former KTVB news director Rod Gramer said. "From noon till midnight, we had seven different live locations. We built three sets. And we hopscotched from event to event."
"We made our coverage available to every TV station in the state of Idaho, regardless of affiliate, and to every cable channel in the state," Gramer added.
Tens of thousands of Idahoans packed into the Treasure Valley throughout the day, which started in Nampa.
Dignitaries and honored guests rode the historic 'Centennial 844' locomotive from Nampa to the Boise Train Depot.
"I was up at the train depot when the old steam locomotive came in," former KTVB reporter Jake Putnam recalls. "There must have been I mean, 10,000 people there easily."
"Andrus was on the train coming from Nampa to Boise and I think Dee Sarton was on the train with him," former KTVB general manager Robert E. Kreuger said.
For the event, KTVB was able to borrow a helicopter from KING-5, our sister station in Seattle.
"That's the first time I ever rode in the helicopter," KTVB meteorologist Rick Lantz said. "It's the first time we ever did weather from a helicopter or any kind of airplane or any sort like that."
That coverage from the air helped KTVB get footage from a 43-gun salute from the top of a parking garage near the statehouse, as well as an F-4 flyover down Capitol Boulevard.
"We flew all around the city in the celebration. And so it was a lot of fun," Lantz said.
The celebration went on through the afternoon and into the evening, complete with two birthday cakes made by the bakers at Albertsons on 16th Street.
It took 600 pounds of cake mix, 110 pounds of eggs, and 300 pounds of icing to make sure everyone got a slice.
The night ended with a spectacular fireworks show.
"We all loved it. I mean, every single second we loved it. And still talking about it, you know, when we get together," Gramer said.
"It was just madness," Putnam said. "But we did something that had never been done."
"I'm so proud of what we did that day," Gramer said.
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