The Boise River flows through the centre of the city, but remains pretty wild and is popular for rafting

Downtown Boise, showing the State Capitol and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains

The basement floor of the Capitol building, in the centre of the rotunda

Looking down onto the ground and basement floors

From the ground floor

The natural lighting was striking

Looking up inside the dome

The stars in the centre represent the 13 original colonies and 43 states at the time of Idaho joining

Emma's instruction was to "look serious and thoughtful", which I didn't manage

I'd only previously seen safe doors like this in spaghetti westerns

Adam and Emma in a committee room in the Senate wing

Emma holding forth under the Great Seal of the State of Idaho

The chamber of the House of Representatives

Each wing has its own smaller dome

Copyright © James Howard 2017