Boise, ID

We left the Clearwater River Casino restaurant east of town and headed across Memorial Bridge to Lewiston. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Lewiston was named after Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame, and Clarkston the reverse. Back In the 1860’s Lewiston was a thriving trading center for the mines of such places as Orofino, Peirce and Florence. Turning west at the far end of the bridge, we headed for the downtown area. The short drive was like opening a time capsule into the 1900’s. (Lewiston/Clarkston Image in Public Domain

We first passed the historic Lewiston Depot-formerly the Camas Prairie Railroad Depot. It’s a magnificent two story brick building, but on this day it seemed all but deserted, except for a lone scraggly mutt looking for his master. One could imagine a horse and buggy arriving any minute, to dislodge it’s occupants. All that was lacking was a steam whistle, announcing the arrival of a train, headed to Portland. (Jack Delano, 1914-LC-DIG-fsac-1a34699)

All of the buildings we noted on our drive seemed to be of the same era. A lot of them were brick and showed signs of a bygone era. Downtown Lewiston it seemed, had been left in the dust of time. As we neared the end of the downtown strip, I saw a sign that said museum. I turned back towards the river and several blocks later, came upon a small wood structure. A sign outside stated it was the Nez Perce Historical Museum. (Street Scene, Lewsiton-104965 U.S. Copyright Office.
Copyright by F. Palmer, Spokane).

We took note of it’s location and planned a return trip after lunch. Finding what few eateries downtown were packed, we opted to head back towards the Memorial Bridge. Just as we arrived, my aunt happened to notice a Shari’s Restaurant sign, located above the Nez Perce Grade. Who knew she carried Shari’s coupons in her purse!! For anyone looking for a great meal, a terrific view and good service, try Shari’s in Lewiston!

After lunch, we headed back to the Art Deco wooden building that was the Nez Perce Historical Museum. Almost immediately upon entering the doors, I was surprised to see the extent of a massive collection of local history. The tiny building housed more items than I have seen in museums twice it’s size!

Each room was a look into a different era. Lewiston as a trading post-with canvas covered roofs over log walls. A hint that permanent structures of that time were illegal on Indian lands.

Another told of the seventy some year rain of steamboats on the Clearwater and Snake rivers. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-17964, No known Restrictions) For years they brought miners to Lewiston looking to make a fortune on the placer gold of Idaho. Along with them, came the ruthless, looking to make their fortunes, by relieving those minors of their gold dust.

Other rooms told of logging operations, Lewiston’s attempt to become Idaho’s permanent capital-losing out to Boise in the end, and a litany of events into the 1900’s- including a WWI display of a local soldier.

After nearly two hours inside this amazing museum, we left for our next trip, which was to Moscow and points North.

To read the previous post in this series, go to Idaho Adventure Part 3.