Archives West Finding Aid

George Laird Shoup was born on June 15, 1836 in Kittaning, Pennsylvania. He was educated at the schools of Freeport and Slatelick, Pennsylvania. George L. Shoup and his family moved to Galesburg, Illinois around 1852, where he raised stock. In 1859, George L. Shoup moved to Denver, Colorado, as captain of a wagon train. He later established a small general store near Denver and was involved in small-scale mining. In 1861, George Shoup joined a company of Independent Scouts of Colorado volunteers. He served in Mexico and Colorado from 1862 to 1863. By 1864, he rose to the rank of colonel in the Third Colorado Cavalry. That same year he attended the first state constitutional convention.

At the close of the Civil War, George Shoup established a general store in Virginia City, Montana. In 1866, he opened a store in Salmon City and moved there permanently in 1867. In 1874, he was sent to the territorial legislature from Lemhi County, where he served in the lower house. He was also a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention and a member of the Republican National Committee, from 1880 to 1884 and again in 1888. From 1884 to 1885, he served as United States commissioner for Idaho at the exposition in New Orleans.

In 1889, George L. Shoup was elected governor of Idaho Territory. He also served as Idaho's first governor, when it became a state the following year. During his tenure as governor, he helped to establish friendly ties with the Indians. He also served as Idaho's first United States Senator, from December 1890 to March 1901. He was defeated in the election of 1900 by Fred T. DuBois. George Shoup married Lena Darnutzer, a native of Switzerland, in 1868. Lena and George Shoup had six children. George Shoup died December 21, 1904 in Salmon City, ID and is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Boise, Idaho.