Branting said that while the old cemetery site had been considered for a hospital or church, the city decided to make it into a park to avoid accidentally digging up the unmarked graves in the future.

"Early cemeteries were unkempt areas and at the time, it was not unusual for the city to handle it that way," he said.

Using old newspapers and records, Branting and the students compiled a list of well over 100 people who died before 1889 and were buried in Lewiston but whose graves can't be located.

Branting said there are no plans for students to conduct actual excavations — which would require permits and cooperation by the state of Idaho — but the city of Lewiston is considering erecting a new historical marker at the park to better interpret the original city cemetery.

Branting, Ebel and Wagner traveled to Washington, D.C., last month after the students were named finalists in the History Channel's Save Our History national awards contest. They didn't win, but have been invited to speak to various groups of history buffs about their project and findings.

Ultimately, they hope their work will result in proper honor for the dead.

"People just kind of left the graves for somebody else," said Ebel. "So now we're having to go back and figure out what happened because nobody cared."