Historic Firsts of Lewiston Idaho ─ Unintended Greatness

When a group ofintrepid gold prospectors set up camp at the fork of the Snake and ClearwaterRivers in 1861, they expected to make camp for a night and move on. Instead,they made a town. It was an important—if unintended—accomplishment. And it wasonly the beginning of a long line of historic firsts for Lewiston, includingthe first capital, police department, newspaper and post office. Lewiston alsoboasted the state’s first brewery and first vigilante association, both foundedin the same year, appropriately enough. Join local historian and lifelongeducator Steven D. Branting as he offers the first-ever chronology ofunprecedented events, accolades and incidents that shaped Lewiston and Idahofrom the city’s founding to the present day.