One of the most absurd advertising taglines ever conceived to appear on a license plate has to be the one chosen for the drivers in Idaho: "Famous Potatoes." Arguably, the Gem State contains the highest concentration of eye-popping scenery in the US, with its soaring, snowy mountains, plunging canyons, and roaring, raging rivers - and the best sales pitch its boosters and marketing folks could come up with was...famous potatoes?

Standing in Idaho City's dirt-lined, deserted Main Street, it's tough to imagine how it was 140 years ago. With more people than Portland and over 250 thriving businesses, it was a bawdy, lusty town where whisky was cheaper than water - and life cheaper still. Why did more than 12,000 (mostly) men rush to this nascent - and very temporary - metropolis? The same lure that drew thousands to Alaska and the Yukon. Up in them thar hills, in 1862, prospectors discovered gold...