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Cassia County is located in south-central Idaho along the Snake River. It has more pioneer trails going through it than any other county in the United States. Called the "Crossroads of the Pioneers," the area was recognized for its beauty and diversity by California- and Oregon-bound travelers who stayed to develop communities that are as varied as the county's geography. As time and progress came to the area, the railroads, dams, and irrigation played an important part in the development of the county. What was first seen as desert and sagebrush became rich and abundant farmland. Cattle ranching, sheepherding, mining, farming, and industry learned to work together to make this corner of the Wild West prosper.

Sun Valley and Ketchum are in Idaho's Wood River Valley, gateway to backcountry and wilderness areas. Settlers first arrived in the early 1880s, attracted by a silver rush. In 1883, the railroad connected the valley to the world beyond its borders and brought in outside capital. During the silver depression of the 1890s, mining was replaced by sheep raising, and the area later shipped more sheep than anywhere except Australia. In 1936, during the Great Depression, Union Pacific board chairman Averell Harriman built Sun Valley, the country's first destination ski resort, spending $2.5 million in two years ($45 million today). Sun Valley offered a lavish lifestyle, a luxurious lodge, Austrian ski instructors, and chairlifts invented by Union Pacific engineers. Known as America's St. Moritz, it was a magnet for beautiful people and serious skiers. It had a monopoly on grandeur for decades and influenced ski areas that developed later. Subsequent owners Bill Janss and the Holding family expanded and improved Sun Valley, making it one of the world's premier year-round resorts.

The Farragut Naval Training Station, located near Coeur d' Alene, Idaho, was only operational between 1942 and 1946, but during that time it was the largest city in Idaho, the largest business in Idaho, and the second-largest U.S. naval training station. Named for Civil War hero Adm. David G. Farragut, it trained sailors from 23 different states and by June 15, 1946, the day its doors closed, a total of 293,381 recruits, or "boots," and over 25,943 service-school sailors had passed through its doors. At least two Medal of Honor recipients and one Navy Cross recipient, along with a future governor of Idaho, spent time at the station. After its decommissioning, it served as the Farragut College and Technical Institute. Today it is the site of Farragut State Park and a small U.S. Navy acoustic research detachment.

Although far from the front lines of war, the people of Idaho contributed to the US effort in World War II in myriad ways. Entrepreneurs perfected the dehydration of potatoes and onions that became staples of the rations that sustained Allied troops stationed around the globe. Idahoans mined rare metals and manufactured them into weapons and munitions that allowed US forces to compete with the technologies of their opponents. Local communities organized USO huts that provided coffee, cookies, and warm smiles to homesick troops in transit to and from the war. However, World War II also left an indelible mark on the state of Idaho. On the one hand, the federal government's ambitious construction of airports, buildings, and roads to support the war effort transformed a rural state that had lacked infrastructure. On the other hand, Idaho soil housed detention camps where American citizens were denied fundamental rights. And loss and heartbreak impacted nearly every community.