Located in the southwestern part of the state of Idaho and a city in Canyon County, Nampa is situated in the center of Boise Valley. It was the mainline of the Union Pacific Railroad at the junction of a branch going to Boise, which is 20 miles going east, it was considered as a hamlet in the sagebrush desert up until the establishment of irrigation that made farming possible in the 1890s. There was a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains, and dairy products that were then being manufactured by the city and in the surrounding area. Nampa was named after the Shoshone Indian leader, Nampuh or “Bigfoot.” The city became a food-processing and shipping center as well as to the light industry and many technology companies. Nampa holds and sponsors the annual Snake River Stampede, one of the leading rodeos held in the West.