If the video does not show on your device, here is the link on YouTube:
The pictures you see are scans of old postcards as well as pictures from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and Baxter County Historical Society
Bounded on the east by the Mississippi River, with several major waterways- including the White River and the Arkansas River, running through it; the easiest method of moving goods and freight in Arkansas was by water. Before bridges, the best way to cross waterways too deep for teams of oxen or horses and wagons was to cross by ferry.
- Only one ferry is still operated by the AHTD (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department). Known as the Peel Ferry it is operated during daylight hours only crossing Bull Shoals Lake on State Highway 125.
- Ferries were the only means of crossing many rivers in Arkansas.
- The White River had at least 75 known ferry crossings from the upper to the lower part of the river.
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| Facsimile of a Ferry Rate card |
As you can see by the ferry rate card, rates for ferry transport were set by local county governments. High water rates (due to flooding) could double. Ferry operators became quite skilled in using the currents of the river to move their cargo from one side of the river to the other, but high water from heavy rains could certainly make that job much more difficult.
Historically, most major rivers in Arkansas were crossed by ferry. As some of those rivers were dammed and lakes created, they were crossed by public ferries. Many early ferries were operated by private individuals who charged in accordance with state and local regulations for their services.
Ferry operators were required to be bonded and licensed by county courts. Bond was $500 and license fees were from ten to thirteen dollars.
Service charges collected by the operators were also mandated by the county courts. Rates were from 10 cents for a head of cattle to 75 cents for a wagon and 4 oxen or horses.
Many old ferry locations still bear the name of the ferry including, in Baxter County, Denton Ferry and Shipps Ferry. The crossing on Highway 14 over the Buffalo River is also still known as Dillard’s Ferry.
The Beaver Ferry was replaced by a one-lane suspension “swinging” bridge still in use today on Arkansas Highway 187.
The ferries on US Highway 62 and Arkansas State 101 just east of Mountain Home ran until 1983 when the bridges now there replaced them. To see a video of the last ferry ride visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anqgla2z7iY
Sources:
Steamboats and Ferries on the White River: a Heritage Revisited ©1998 University of Arkansas Press by Huddleston, Dwayne; Rose, Sammie Cantrell; Wood, Pat Taylor
http://m.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media/?type=Category&item=Waterhttp://www.baxtercountyhistory.org
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