Glacier County chief., 1940-03-08
When Jefferson Valley Had
Ferry, Toll Bridge Trouble

There had been a little rain every
day, and the river was swifter than
ever. The ferry boat was pulleyed to
the rope cable and pushed out into
the water Bruffey, Boggs and Rey-
nolds volunteered to be the first across
the test pilots-and probably no test
pilot was more anxious than they as
the ferry surged out into the swift
center of the Jefferson and the cable
tensed and bowed downstream at the
strain upon it.
The stanchions on either shore
quivered but they were well braced
and the cable had been adjusted to
them we'll. 1t held. and the ferry COM
pleted its first trip amid the cheers
climbed ashore and wiped the sweat
from his face with relief.
Il figured it was built good an
rugged good" he said. But you never
can tell about boats until you've put
them in the water"
Several more trial trips were made
and then the ferry opened for business.
A fee for one wagon and one yoke of
oxen was IS. The owner of the wagon
generally swan the other oxen he had
across. but the ferry carried the chains
and yoke gratis.
By June 20. such was the traffic
damned on the shore, the ferry was
transporting as many as 100 wagons
across every "a hours. In about 10 days
the jam was pretty well relieved and
traffic became normal. There was no
attempt made at once to rebuild the
destroyed toll bridge, since the ferry
carried wagons very satisfactorily.
Boggs had been retained as chief
ferryman, job which he did to the
approval of everyone. About this time
George Bruffey needed BoggS on his
ranch, and called for him. Crawford
did not care to let Boggs go and did
SO only when he was convinced of the
necessity for it.
You're a good man on the boat" he
said. An I'm almost afraid to trust
anybody else with it
oh, it'll be all right" Boggs re-
turned.
New Man Not So Handy
Crawford secured new man and
BoggS instructed him in the care and
handling of the ferry. He was quite
sure things would be all right, but as
events turned out. the new man was
had been, and near tragedy ensued
One day the new man wound up
both guy ropes, when only one should
have been wound up in order to place
the ferry slanting into the river cur
rent that the current might shove it
eiSioSS. Lie leSulI VI "llldllS pOlIl
guy ropes placed the ferry broadside
in the current-and the overhead cable
was not strong enough to withstand
that. The cable snapped suddenly.
The force of the river ahead and
the force Of the cable holding back
made catapult of the ferry. l.
lurched on its side. turned overland
itself right side up! Since this was
return trip, no wagons were on the
ferry, but four men on it were washed
into the river. They at once grabbed
loose, floating puncheons which had
belonged to the boat and sailed down.
stream.
About 20 men were standing on a
dry knoll few feet below the boat
landing, waiting for the ferry to land.
. They shouted encouragement to the
men on the puncheons. Three of them
had managed to hook themselves on
the timber and were fairly safe. but
the fourth had trouble. AS he floated
by the men on the knoll he screamed
I'm gone! I'm gone! Goodby, Jack,
I'm gone"
Hang on to one of them puncheons,
you fool" shouted Jack. The man man.
aged to grab a piece of floating tim
Der. He sailed on in the swift current.
After some time one after another Of
the men came back, for they had been
ullNeIl dSllOTe AMONG The WILLOWS.
Finally the one who had thought he
was going to die, appeared
He turned out to be an Irishman He
said, We'll, boys, I gave myself up
to God, but He sent me back. Have you
got any whisky?"
There was, apparently. plenty of
whisky in the crowd. and the man
soon got over his fright
During the excitement a quiet on
locker by the name of Wickle mounted
a horse and headed downstream to
capture the ferry in case it should come
near the shore. In the excitement sur
rounding the four men in the river,
nobody thought much about the boat,
and by the time they Gained enough
to consider it, Wickle had returned.
Il reckon the ferry's plumb wrecked
somewhere" a man remarked.
Couldn't Let 1t Get Away
Wrong you are" Wickle returned.
I've got her tied up all safe an sound
downstream. You see, I've got a lot
of stuff to ferry across an I couldn't
let my only means of gettin' it across
this river float away"
About three miles downstream the
ferry had touched sharp point pro-
jecting out into the river and had
slowly swung around. The snubbing
rope was still intact, and when Wickle