Following a particularly rainy week, the Saline River at Benton was a swirling mass of brown water as I recently drove to Little Rock on Interstate 30. Every time I see a swollen river, my mind drifts back to the days before our rivers and creeks were bridged--to the days when one drove through waterways (known as fording) or, if they were too deep, crossed on a ferry.
As far as I know, no ferries are still operating in Arkansas, but a century ago ferries were common on the state's major waterways. Seventy-five ferries have been documented on the White River alone.
The first ferry in what would become Arkansas was established about 1803 by William Hix on the Current River in modern Randolph County. This ferry, like many of the others in early Arkansas, was located on the Southwest Trail, the major road leading into Arkansas and Texas. Hix sold his ferry in 1812 to Dr. Peyton Pitman, who in 1837 was described as having "a beautiful plantation, with a handsome dwelling surrounded by a veranda, many outhouses and extensive fields on both sides of the river." Like many ferries and bridges, the Pitman Ferry would later prove to be an important strategic target during the Civil War.
The earliest ferries were crude crafts, sometimes little more than logs lashed together like a raft. These simple ferries were usually powered by poling, with the ferryman using long wooden poles to push the craft through the currents to the far bank. It was hard work, but the financial rewards could be substantial.
Ferries were regulated by the counties, with laws providing that ferrymen must obtain a license, pay a tax, and post a bond. For example, in 1853 Samuel Robinson posted a bond of $500 to operate a public ferry on the Black River at Clover Bend in Lawrence County. As required by law, Robinson posted his charges, which included 75 cents for a "wagon or cart" pulled by four horses or oxen, 50 cents for a two-horse/oxen wagon, and 10 cents per horse with rider. Beef cattle were ferried for 5 cents per head; sheep or hogs cost only 2 cents each. A person on foot paid a 5-cent fee.
As historian Michael B. Dougan has noted, "like everything else in the litigious frontier, ferry law produced controversies." The Murray and Menefee families of Conway County went all the way to the state Supreme Court in 1859 in their fight to gain exclusive rights to the ferry across Cadron Creek. Argued in 1861 during the Civil War, Brearly v. Norris involved a family feud pitting a woman against her son-in-law.
Edmund Hogan, who had a high profile in early Pulaski County, established the first ferry at what would become Little Rock about 1819. Wright Daniel began a ferry a few miles south of Hogan's business at about the same time. Both were taking advantage of the growing number of settlers trekking down the Southwest Trail, which crossed the Arkansas River at the future site of Little Rock often referred to as "the point of rocks."
Ferries grew in sophistication as time passed. Pioneering newspaperman William E. Woodruff--who was extremely diversified, with land speculation being his most lucrative work--ran a ferry in Little Rock which was powered by blind horses walking on a treadmill. David Rorer of Little Rock launched a "novel ferry" in 1832 which was powered by a system of ropes and buoys that used the river current to propel the craft. One witness described the 10-minute crossing as being "very rapid, indeed, almost equal to that of steam [power]."
Rorer's innovative ferry was destroyed in a flood after less than a year of service. But it was soon followed by a steam-powered ferry in 1838.
The state's failure to set up a state highway system and build bridges meant that ferries were ubiquitous in Arkansas well into the 20th Century. Amazingly, the Arkansas River was not bridged until 1873 when European funding made possible the Baring Cross Bridge at Little Rock, which served both railroads and vehicular traffic until it was washed away in the great flood of 1927.
Perhaps the best known ferry in modern Arkansas was the Toad Suck Ferry, connecting Faulkner and Perry counties. The distinctive name derived from the tendency of local river men to suck on liquor bottles until they "swole up like toads." The Toad Suck Ferry was replaced by a bridge in 1970. Just before it closed, movie maker Roger Corman shot a scene on the ferry for his now cult classic Two Lane Blacktop.
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Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living in Hot Spring County. Email Arktopia.td@gmail.com.
Editorial on 04/05/2015