This 62-minute documentary film, which was produced by Lewiston filmmaker Patricia Keith, tells the story of the thousands of Chinese men who in the 1860s joined the rush to Clearwater and Salmon River gold mines. Some of these people helped establish Lewiston, Idaho, as a mining supply center. When the mining boom ended, most returned to China, but some made Lewiston their home, learned English, started families, even became citizens. Several of these Chinese pioneers managed and owned restaurants, enabling them to sponsor later immigrants in the 1970s.

 

Theirs is a story of hard work and isolation; but it is also a story of courage and friendship. Ultimately it is a story of neighbors—neighbors often brought together by food, both Chinese and American food, cooked by Chinese families

of this town at the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, and at the confluence of many cultures.

 

The NPCHS was a source of research and a collaborator on an Idaho Humanities Council Major Grant (2015) and a grant from the Redd Center for Western Studies (BYU; 2015).

 

A DVD of the film is available for purchase at the Museum store or through

the link below.

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If you would like to donate to the Lewiston Chinese Legacy Project, click on

the DONATE link below.