The First Capital

The capital did not leave quietly. Lewiston sued, arguing that the second legislature had met on the wrong day, and while the case dragged on before a probate judge the town set an armed guard over the territorial papers. Then C. DeWitt Smith, the new territorial secretary and acting governor, arrived on March 2, 1865, rode out one afternoon, returned the next day with soldiers from Fort Lapwai, and left for Boise with the seal and all the papers he could carry. Lewiston locked the rest in the jail. Smith reached Boise on April 14.

What the plaque says

The First Capital The organization of Idaho Territory was proclaimed in Lewiston July 10, 1863 and the first two legislatures met here. When Lewiston served as the capital, Idaho Territory included modern Montana and practically all of Wyoming--an area much larger than Texas. Then in 1864, after Montana was established as a separate territory and most of Wyoming was attached to Dakota, the governor and legislature decided to locate the capital of Idaho in Boise, where it has been ever since. 167 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spalding — 8.1 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

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