Idaho Becomes 43rd StateJuly 4, 1890 parade; Good Templars's Hall near 6th and Main Street, Boise.
......On July 4, 1890, Boise's Idaho Statesman published the text of a telegram that Idaho's territorial delegate to Congress, Fred Dubois, had sent to territorial governor George L. Shoup the day before: "The President has just signed the bill making Idaho the forty-third State. Present my congratulations to the good people of Idaho. Turn the eagle loose."
A page earlier in the paper, a news story dated July 1 reported that the Senate had passed Idaho's statehood bill that same day. The story also reported that Dubois planned to ask President Benjamin Harrison to sign the bill into law on July 4--"the anniversary of American independence, and a date, which...will be doubly celebrated for years to come in the Territory soon to become a State."
Why did Harrison sign the bill a day earlier than Dubois wanted? Because of a section of federal law. Whenever a new state comes into existence, a new star is added to the flag. But the new star is official on the Fourth of July after the president signs the statehood bill. Rather than wait a full year for Idaho's star, Harrison signed the bill in time to make our 43rd star official the next day