“Modern” Ferry

“Modern” Ferry. Crossing the Gunnison River — 1891. , Commerce at the confluence began with fur trade , beaver fur pelts snagged by trappers working out of Antoine Robidoux's Fort Uncompahgre trading post. Beaver, fox, coyote, muskrat, and other furs continued to be trapped and traded in the environs of the confluence, but large-scale fur trading in the area resumed only in the twentieth century, with mink farmers. , Ferries, fords, and low-water log bridges ruled cross-river-traffic at the confluence until 1911, when Campbell Switch Bridge was built down near the supposed site of old Fort Uncompahgre. On the main road (the old Salt Lake Wagon Trail), its approach hugged the south side of the river almost to the canyon drop-off, ignoring North Delta altogether. If you lived in North Delta and needed a flyswatter or a pound of axle grease, or if you wanted to see Uncle Tom's cabin at the AnnaDora Opera House and the river was too high to ford or the ferry cost too many pennies , you hitched up the buggy and trundled three or four miles downstream and an equal distance back up Main Street. , In 1924, the highway department bridged the Gunnison river with a 608-foot steel structure having four arched spans, linking North Delta to Main Street at last. That bridge served for more than a half century, carrying everything U.S. Highway 50 funneled onto it.