Ferry Boats on the Missouri

Ferry Boats on the Missouri. . , To attract shoppers to Washburn from west of the Missouri River, the Washburn Road installed a cable ferry in May 1902, known unofficially as the General Washburn. Cable ferries were small, unpowered boats attached to steel cables stretched between towers or masts on opposite riverbanks. Cable ferries used the pressure of the river current to propel the boat from one side to the other. , In 1908, local businessmen formed the Washburn Ferry Company and financed construction of the Ruth Clarno, a 74-foot long gasoline-powered boat that could accommodate four wagons and their teams. James McGuire operated it with his son, Charles, who made an agreement with the ferry company and gradually took over its ownership. In 1916, James built a new boat, the 43-foot Vivian. By 1931 the McGuires were ready to get out of the business and struck a bargain with John Larson of Mobridge, South Dakota, who operated a boat named the South Ferry. Larson's boat was considerably larger and able to carry up to 11 vehicles per trip. Larson not only agreed to take over the Washburn ferry business, he also accepted the Vivian as a spare boat, though it was later sold to a Fort Yates ferry operator. , By 1940, Larson was in poor health and after offering his boat and business for sale, agreed to take on Grant Kirk, a local farmer, as a partner. The following season Kirk took over the ferry full time. Williams Sims, another local citizen, became ferry operator in 1947. After just two seasons, Sims complained the business was unprofitable and following a hearing before the Public Service Commission (which regulated ferryboats in North Dakota) at Washburn in May 1949, he was allowed to cease operations. Thus, after 47 years, Washburn no longer had ferry service.