Emma Edwards

The sign takes years off her. Emma Edwards was born in Stockton, California, in 1856, so she was about 34 when she stopped in Boise in 1890 on her way home from the Art Students League in New York, stayed and began teaching. The new legislature's competition drew entries from artists across the country, and on May 5, 1891, Governor Willey gave her the $100 prize. She chose the motto, Esto perpetua, and set the miner and the woman on either side of one shield. She remains the only woman to have designed an American state seal.

What the plaque says

Emma Edwards A talented artist, Emma Edwards went to work in 1890 to design Idaho's state seal when she was only 18 years old. Although her father had moved to California after serving as governor of Missouri (1844-1848), Emma preferred to spend much of her time in Idaho. After her marriage to John G. Green, a Boise Basin miner, they took up a land claim along Emma Creek and Green Creek in 1906 and lived here for many summers. Her seal design designated Syringa, which blooms on these hills, as Idaho's State Flower. 442 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Kirkham Hot Springs — 0.8 mi
  Hot water pours off a ledge into pools at the edge of the South Fork Payette, a staircase down from the highway.
• Pon Yam House — 23 mi
  The store of Idaho City's king merchant, where the Chinese of the Boise Basin bought cuttlefish, incense and firecrackers.

More markers nearby

• Lowman — 4.1 mi
• Emile Grandjean — 16 mi
• Idaho City — 23 mi
• Grimes' Creek — 32 mi