FERRY BOATS ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

By Capt. Fred A. Bill
7-12-1924
Burlington Saturday Evening Post  

Transcribed by Georgeann McClure

First installment  

  St. Paul , July 7, 1924.-Editor Post:  Captain F. A. Whitney in your issue of the 28^th of June rather took advantage of us when we were not looking by intimating that we might finish his partial history of ferries on the Mississippi , Dubuque and above.  Well we figure that our memory is pretty good-considering-but in historical events we have learned that no one’s memory is to be depended upon to any great extent so far as absolute accuracy is concerned, so if errors are found in the following, it will be entirely the fault of Captain Whitney in wishing this job on us!

  Somewhere we read that the first ferry on the upper Mississippi, at least above Keokuk, was about Andalusia, Illinois to the Iowa sore not far from Buffalo.  We do not vouch for the correctness as the original statement may have been “from memory.”

  The first ferry at Dubuque , of which we have personal knowledge, was the big side wheel A. L. Gregoire, built for and owned by Chas. H. Merry a prominent citizen of what was then Dunlcith, in 1855.  During our recollection she was commanded by Captain Yates, a bluff skipper of the old school and well known in the vicinity for many years.  Later she was bought by Hanson & Linehan of Dubuque who replaced her in 1876 by the modern ferry Key City , a propeller, and she ran until the building of the high bridge and the disappearance of business on the Dubuque levee rendered her useless.  After the death of Captain Yates, Norman Tibbals was in charge and handled her until she went out of commission, as we remember.  “Norm” was a brother of Captain W., Tibbals now living at Dubuque and the present “Dean of rivermen” having just celebrated his 92^nd birthday.

  Just when there was a ferry started at Eagle Point-now in the corporate limits of Dubuque -we do not know but in 1870 the J. A. Rhomberg was built for that business.  She was replaced by a little sidewheeler, called the Eagle Point, in 1884 and she was in service, we believe, until the building of a high bridge at that point.  These ferries were the means of a great amount of business getting to Dubuque from Wisconsin that would have been lost as much of it would not have gone the circulations route to Dunleith.

  Twelve miles above Dubuque , and nearly opposite the old town of Potosi , in Wisconsin , was a place known as Well’s Landing, in our early day on the river.  Here was a ferry running across the river and up a canal to the old time village of Potosi and we used frequently to get shipments of lead at Wells that came from the old mining district adjacent to Potosi .  In the early “70’s the name of this place was changed to Specht’s ferry and John Specht brought out a serviceable ferry known as the James McMurchy in 1872.  She was in operation as late as 1899 and further we cannot say.  She bore the name of a well known engineer of the early days and a man who was at one time U. S. Inspector of steam vessels, Chief engineer of the Davidson Line and later of the Diamond Jo Line Steamers, one of God’s nobleman who died in Webster City, Iowa, October 13, 1905.

  After the building of the Chicago , Dubuque and Minnesota Railroad-now a part of the Milwaukee system-above Dubuque , a ferry was established at Cassville that transferred business between that place and the Turkey river station on the railroad in Iowa .  This was really a big flat boat with side wheels driven by horse tread power, a very nice arrangement as the horses were hitched to the wagon on landing and the balance of the trip to the station made by land.  This proved reasonably satisfactory as it was only in the windiest days that the boat was unable to make her trips.  She went out of commission on the completion of the Burlington on the east bank of the Mississippi .

  There was a similar ferry running for many years between Guttenburgh and Glen Haven, going through most of the time what was known as the “Cut off” between the two places, thus saving many miles of distance which a trip around the head of the island entailed.

( to be continued)  

FERRY BOATS ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

By Capt. Fred A. Bill
7-19-1924
Burlington Saturday Evening Post

Transcribed by Georgeann McClure

  Second Installment  

  Between McGregor and Prairie du Chien a ferry existed even in the days when Jeff Davis eloped with general Taylor ’s daughter, but we cannot recall the names of any of the boats until the Belle of Pepin appears in ser ice about 1886 or 1887.  As this section was on the direct line of travel into Iowa during the early days this ferry must have been a busy property.  We believe that previous to the construction of the railroad bridge a car ferry was operated between Prairie du Chien and North McGregor .

  Between Lansing and De Soto a ferry was operated for many years but we cannot say when it was first started.  The writer’s first knowledge was on completion of the rail line on the west bank of the river.  The Belle of Pepin, Captain P. H. Tuttle, operated here between 1883 and 1886.  it went out of business with the completion of the road through De Soto .  

  La cross was a good ferry town for many, many years, the business being between that place and la Crescent, some three miles above and on the Minnesota side of the river.  According to Capt. Goerge B. Merrick one Bates established a tread mill ferry in 1853 the motive power being one mule.  Old timers differ as to the name of the vessel:  Wild Cate-Wild and Wild Cat being given.  Merrick suggests that the motive power may have been Wild Kate.  This craft was replaced in 1856 by the Honaeyem or honeyeye, purchased in Pittsburg by a singular syndicate of la Cross “Mes”_ Thomas McRoberts, William McConnell and John B. McCann.  She was cut down by ice in the spring of 1857.  She had a long and successful career and was lost in the ice in the spring of 1878.   At one time she was controlled by the townsite company that attempted to to build a city at La Crescent .  This company was very much from the “make” or thought it was – and did not encourage steamers to land at La Crescent , preferring to have the earnings the ferry would get in bringing the people and goods from La Crosse .  The Warsaw next name into use and we believe continued in service until the wagon ridge was built.  The eastern end of the Southern Minnesota Railroad-now a part of the Milwaukee system-was at a point near the mouth of Root river, a little below and opposite La Crosse , and the place was known as Grand Crossing.  Here was a dock and transfer inline and an oar ferry was operated to the railway in La Crosse until the building of the railroad bridge at La Crescent .  The steamer McGregor, owned by Captain Isaac h. Mouton, was the only one operated in this trade that we remember.

  A couple of miles above Tempealeau, on the Minnesota side used to be a landing known as la Mollie.  There was a pretty fair agricultural section behind t and just inland was a water power on Pickwick creek-or river-where a flour mill was in operation where we used to get flour quite frequently.  A tread mill power ferry was in operation between the two places for a good many years but the volume of business was not at all commensurate with the convenience of the ferry gave.

  The first mention of a ferry at Winona we find that is a franchise was given to S. D. Van Gorder in 1865.  He bought the Turtle-and she was correctly named-and placed her in operation.  He connected with bottom land in Wisconsin and the venture was a losing one for several years until Van Gorder at his own expense made some business possible by constructing a road thru the bottom to the high land.  Later he was well paid for the investment.  The Turtle burned in 1871 and he then built the S. D. Van Gorder, a model ferry that lasted until the construction of the wagon bridge.  The Burlington system, after constructing its east side line, established a car ferry from the lower end of Winona to a point to Wisconsin about where was once the Green Bay and Winona railroad town of Eastmoor .  This ferry ran until the construction of th4e Burlington at about the same point. 

  Opposite Wabasha and Read’s Landing is the vast bottom of the Chippewa river , always rich in timber and grass.  Although a spasmodic attempt at a road thru this bottom was made by Wabasha in the early days and a rope ferry established at that place, little business was done during the summer time but during the winter good business was done by ferries t both places.  Running a ferry in the winter with ice three feet or more thick in Lake Pepin, just above, and the entire Chippewa river closed by ice nearly as thick may seem a little ludicrous, but true never the less.  Whether it is on account of the rapidity of the water out of the Chippewa or the, perhaps, warmth of the water coming from Lake Pepin, or both, we will not attempt to say but it is a fact that the Mississippi is always open at Read’s Landing-except perhaps for a day or two during the coldest portions of the winter-and rarely freezes at Wabasha, three miles below.  Hence ferries at both these places were in operation during the winter for many years during which wood and hay could be brought over from the almost impassable bottoms in the summer.  Construction of a good road across the bottom from Wabasha in recent years has made possible the operation of a municipal ferry at Wabasha the entire year.  This is the only point on the river above St. Louis where there is no bridge that continuous communication is possible  

( to be continued)

FERRY BOATS ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER

By Capt. Fred A. Bill
7-26-1924
Burlington Saturday Evening Post  

Transcribed by Georgeann McClure

Final Installment

  We are reminded that the winter ferry at Read’s landing was the cause of the construction of the smallest steamer ever inspected by the U. S. Inspectors, probably.  Capt. E. E. Heerman, now of Devils Lake , N. D. was running this ferry was of the wing type and moved back and forth, on a wire rope, propelled by the current.  He built a little boat about 25 feet long and 7 or 8 feet beam, modeled at each end, with a propeller likewise at each end, and lashed her on the lower side of the boat, it worked nicely and the Captain congratulated himself on the scheme.  But, Uncle Sam heard of the little boat-which the Captain had named Joker-and along came his Inspectors who ruled that the boat was propelled in whole by steam and therefore must e inspected and have licensed officers notwithstanding, she was never loose from her barge.  So, she was duly considered a “steam vessel” and doubtless is of record in the annals of Uncle Sam as the smallest in the list.  She did her work for many years. 

  About a mile above Read’s Landing, just where Lake Pepin ends and the Mississippi gets its current again, is a place known once as Shaw’s Ferry.  Here Samuel Shaw ferried for many years.  He had a flat boat that would carry one or two teams.  Originally he used the “Armstrong movement” for power.  The boat, with its load, would be poled up stream the proper distance, then headed across the river-which is very narrow at his point-and with good luck would drift down to the proper place and land on the Wisconsin side.  With a little up stream or no wind, this worked very well, but with adown stream wind, it was at all times hazardous.  Later the tread power was established and Mr. Shaw did a fairly good business for many years.

  The Belle of Pepin appeared in 1877, in command of her owner, P. H. Tuttle.  She ran until 1883 between Read’s Landing and Pepin, a distance of 5 or   miles.  Well perhaps this might be called a “trade” it is, we consider, really a ferry.  She continued in the basic lington road through Pepin put a quietue on the business. 

  At lake City is another of the old time ferries still in existence.  The run is to Stockholm almost directly across Lake Pepin , a distance of about 2 ½ miles.  Sometimes goodly sized steam vessels have been used and sometimes the business has been handled on a barge pushed by a small boat.  In 1890 Captain John S. Howard, now living at Hastings , was interested in the trade and the Ethel Howard was in service.  For many years this ferry was run by a well known and popular man who put in nearly his entire adult life on lake Pepin-Capt. L. Y. Lenbart-who died April 27, 1922.  His last steamer was the Verana built in 1905.  She is still in service but recently the motive power has been changed from steam to the more modern oil burning engine.

  The mind of men runneth back a long way but we do not know of one who can tell us when the first rope ferry was started at Red Wing.  Anyhow the writer remembers it the first time he ever saw the place.  The narrowness of the river at his point was ideal for the operation of such a ferry and it was successfully run until the high bridge put it out of commission.

  Across the foot of Lake St. Croix at Prescott is a similar situation and Captain Merrick can probably tell us that there was a ferry from that place to the lower end of the point at Point Douglas, Minn., when he first struck the place many moons ago.  It continued in operation until a modern draw bridge was constructed in 1923.

  What was one to do when he got to Point Douglas in the early days when there were no roads north or west of the place?  Go across the Mississippi to the Hastings side, of course.  This created the necessity for a ferry from Point Douglas across the Mississippi and for many years such as one existed, of the “Rope” type until the building of roads out of Point Douglas made it possible to connect with the high bridge at Hastings a couple of miles up the river.

  When will ferries be obsolete on the upper Mississippi ?  Perhaps Captain Whitney can tell you as to his section of the river!  As to ours the writer pleads ignorance as to what has been going on in the way of bridge building in recent years, except in the immediate vicinity of the Twin Cities and adjacent territory.  Modern engineering make possible the bringing of almost anything, the only question being of expediency, or does the traffic requite it?  If there is no highway bridge at this time between Prairie du Chien and the Minnesota shore, it would seem to us that one would be demanded in the near future and other Mc Gregor or North Mc Gregor must be the gateway for a lot of business between the two states.  Coming up the river we feel that communication is now fairly well taken care of by existing facilities and that no more bridges will be demanded for many years, as we feel that it well be a long  time before Wabasha and Lake City while called upon to relinquish the old time, perhaps somewhat antiquated but nevertheless reliable ferry system.

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