Rick Just
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Garden of Paradise

5/28/2019

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"Garden of Paradise" was the title Sallie Hume Douglas gave to her composition copyrighted in 1915. Over the years at least four people have taken credit for writing lyrics to that music. With various combinations of verse and chorus "Garden of Paradise" was called "Our Idaho," "Old Idaho," and finally "Here We Have Idaho," our state song. It's a song that has grown and changed, even going through a period of what you might call juvenile delinquency.

Before it became the state song, "Here We Have Idaho" was the school song of the University of Idaho. They called it "Our Idaho" or "Old Idaho." Even at that time, there was some question over which was the official version and who wrote the lyrics. No one knew who wrote the music. No one, that is, except the composer who discovered her song was being used without permission. She threatened to sue the University of Idaho, and in 1930, they reluctantly purchased rights to the song. In 1931, "Here We Have Idaho" became the state song.
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Over the years there were many arguments over adaptations of the lyrics. The composer of the music threatened another lawsuit. And Idahoans just went on singing... singing of you, Ah, proudly, too, all our lives through, We'll go singing, singing of you, singing of Idaho.
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Sallie Hume Douglas penned Idaho's State Song.
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    Author, Speaker

    Rick Just has been writing about Idaho history since 1989 when he wrote and recorded scripts for the Idaho Centennial Commission’s daily radio program, Idaho Snapshots. One of his Idaho books explores the history of Idaho's state parks: Images of America, Idaho State Parks. Rick also writes a regular column for Boise Weekly.

    Rick does public presentations on Idaho's state park history and the history of the Morrisite war for the Idaho Humanities Council's Speakers Bureau.idahohumanities.org/programs/inquiring-idaho/
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    Check out Rick's history of Idaho State Parks.

    The audio link below is to Rick's Story Story Night set called "Someplace Not Firth"

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