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The Ferry at Bonners Ferry: 150 years
celebrated
at the Museum |
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December 20, 2014 |
Fifty cents is what it would cost you to cross
the Kootenai River on Mr. Bonner's original
ferryboat when it was first established by an
act of the Idaho Territorial Legislature back in
December 1864.
That's if you are traveling by yourself. If you
happened to be crossing with your horse, or with
pack animals, or with sheep or hogs, be prepared
to pay additional fares.
Advance the calendar 150 years, and that brings
us to today, December 2014. The Boundary County
Museum marked the Sesquicentennial Anniversary
(that's the 150 year anniversary) of the
beginning of Mr. Edward L. Bonner's ferryboat
business, a business which led to a village
growing up around the ferry site, and that
village eventually becoming the city of Bonners
Ferry, Idaho.
The Museum put together a program commemorating
those 150 years; that program was presented in
the Museum just today, Saturday, December 20.
Cal Russell, of the Boundary County Museum Board
of Directors, officiated at the celebration, and
shared with the assembled congregation the story
of how Mr. Bonner and his two business partners
saw the need for a ferryboat across the river,
and worked to get the ferry operational.
Permission to establish the ferry and set up a
river crossing required an act of the
Legislature, and Mr. Russell read aloud the 1864
Legislative Act authorizing the ferry to be
established.
When the ferry was first up and running, the
charge for person to cross the river was fifty
cents, which the Museum historical staff
calculated to be equivalent to around $7.50
today. Let us think about that as we breeze
easily across the Kootenai River today in a
matter of seconds in a comfortable automobile,
sometimes multiple times in a day.
The old days of the ferryboat came alive as the
Museum staff performed for the audience a short
skit, whose plot centered around various
travelers boarding the ferry with various
animals in tow. The skit was set in modern
times, as if the ferry were still operating
today, the travelers being required to pay their
fares in today's dollars.
Mr. Bonner's ferry operated for 51 years, being
sold to the County along the way, until a wagon
bridge was built across the river.
At the Museum's celebration, Bonners Ferry Mayor
David Anderson read a Mayoral Proclamation,
signed by officials from the City, from Boundary
County, and from the Kootenai Tribe, proclaiming
December 22, 2014 as the Sesquicentennial Day
for the ferry at Bonners Ferry.
Following the reading of the proclamation, Mr.
Russell of the Museum Board led all in
attendance in a sparkling cider toast to the
ferry, and to those who established it, and also
to those who came and settled and made their
lives in this area, those long 150 years ago.
With that toast, the 150 year birthday cake,
specially made to celebrate the ferry and
featuring a picture of the ferryboat on top, was
cut and served to all who were present.
T hanks to the staff at the Boundary County
Museum for preparing and presenting a delightful
program about our area's history and heritage. |
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