Steamboats

Boosters called it Lewiston's greatest day. On May 15, 1915, with the Celilo Canal finally open around the falls of the Columbia, some 25,000 people turned out to celebrate an open road to the sea, after the steamer Undine had made the first through trip from Portland. The railroads had already taken most of the freight, and the river trade the canal promised never came. The last sternwheeler, the rebuilt Lewiston, cast off for Portland on February 29, 1940; a new bridge span would not open, the boat lost power, and it had to be beached downstream.

What the plaque says

Steamboats Started May 13, 1861, as a steamboat landing, Lewiston immediately became a primary commercial center for Idaho miners during their hectic gold rush to Pierce that spring. Steamboats continued to dock there until 1940, mainly after Columbia and Snake river channel improvements made navigation practical in 1914. Finally a series of locks and dams made Lewiston a seaport, and large scale river shipping resumed in 1975. 418 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spalding — 9.3 mi
  The Nimiipuu went to St. Louis asking about a book. What came back was a mission, a printing press and a museum.

More markers nearby

• Lewiston Hill — steps away
• Mackenzie's Post — 1.2 mi
• Lewis Clark State College — 1.2 mi
• The First Capital — 1.2 mi