To early pioneers, Wyoming rivers could be the most dangerous adversary they faced. Fording high waters claimed many lives in the early years of the Cowboy State and cut off entire towns from the rest of the world.
The Bighorn River in Thermopolis was one such dangerous waterway.
There were no bridges in the region and the community could not afford to build any. Public ferries were also perilous, and passengers took their own lives in their hands as they risked crossing the turbulent waters, as one family discovered when the ferry they were manning capsized.
It was June 1898, and Jack Ervay had boarded the free public ferry with his wife and baby to head to their camp on the east side of the Bighorn River. Whether it was inexperience or bad luck, the ferry overturned, and the entire family was swept away to their deaths.
After that, the use of the paid ferry increased on the river as ferryman A.E. Adams touted the safety of using his ferry rather than trying to ford during the seasons of high water or crossing on your own.
Today, bridges span the rivers where the ferry was once the only way to get across into the towns. Most motorists take these bridges for granted, not realizing the sacrifices that were made to make travel much easier.
“If we don't remember the past, we don't know who we are really,” local historian Ray Shaffer said. “We need that anchor to say this is where we've come from and where we are now.”
For that reason, 14 years ago, the Washakie Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) worked to erect a marker in memory of one such ferry crossing.
The issue now is that not many people know that the monument even exists, and the sun has nearly destroyed the plaque dedicated to the Roberts/Yates Ferry on the Bighorn River.
Shaffer, as part of the Hot Springs County Historical Society, is leading the charge to bring back attention to the monument and make more people aware of the importance the ferrymen were to the region.
Roberts/Yates Ferry
The Bighorn Basin was isolated from the rest of Wyoming due to poor roads and these wide river crossings. When the river was too high, entire communities would be left without communication, and travelers would have to wait days to cross if there was no ferry available.
In 1905, the stage began running over Birdseye Pass over the east side of the Wind River Canyon and at the end of the trail, the stage line would come to the often-impassible Bighorn River. They would be forced to drive miles out of their way, and that was when one enterprising family saw their opportunity.
In the early 1900s, Henry B. Roberts, who went by the alias Jessie Yates, was running his cattle along the Bighorn River and Buffalo Creek.
When the stage started to run on a twice-daily schedule near his property, he responded by building a ferry and charging a nominal fee for passengers to safely cross rather than fording the high waters.
“Those coming over Copper Mountain and over Bird's Eye pass, they came to the Yates ferry, and that was a safe way of getting across the river,” Shaffer said. “It was a key to getting people into the Bighorn basin, and that was really significant.”
A Decade Of Danger
For 11 years, the Yates Ferry ran, carrying not only the stage across but also pedestrians, livestock and, in the later years, automobiles.
Yates, as he preferred to be known, opened his ferry for business in May of 1906. He had built his home nearby, so he was available at any time, day or night. As the years progressed, he hired others to man the ferry and only ran it when the river was too high to ford, which was usually from early spring until late fall.
After just one year of people paying the high price for the ferry, a movement began to build a bridge instead. However, it would take a decade before that could become a reality. In the meantime, travelers had to rely on the expensive but necessary ferry.
Not everyone was willing to pay the cost to ride the ferry, and a young cowboy nearly paid a higher price instead. According to the Thermopolis Record, in August 1907, J. Roy Huntington decided to ford the river near the Yates Ferry and barely escaped with his life.
He had plunged his wagon and horses into the icy water in his attempt to cross. The current was too strong and tipped the wagon over on top of him.
Huntington held to the lines, barely keeping his head above water. He untied a saddle horse that was being led beside the wagon. Battling against the current and fighting for his life, he held on to the stirrup and the horse carried him to the west bank. The rest of his team went back to the other shore. All survived, but barely.
While there are no records of Yates ever losing a passenger, other ferrymen were not so fortunate, showing that even the ferry could be dangerous.
The same year that Huntington nearly drowned, a ferry capsized further upstream in the Wind River Canyon.
The Shoshoni Capital reported that two miners were on their way to Thermopolis with a team of valuable horses. The horses became frightened during the river crossing and went overboard. The river was so high, that the horses instantly drowned and the buggy was washed into the canyon.
It was these accidents, and the fact that the ferries themselves were becoming old, that made the townspeople desperate for a bridge.
For years, town leaders rallied behind some way to pay for the expensive bridge. Finally, in 1916, a special election was called in Thermopolis to approve a 2-mill tax to pay for a bridge near Yates Ferry and better roads.
“A vote against the tax is a vote to stand still,” the Thermopolis Record editors said. “Standing still while the rest of the state is going ahead is equivalent to going backward.”
Their lobbying paid off and, after the tax passed, it was only four months from the day the tax passed until the bridge was built and ready for use.
In July 1916, the Yates Ferry closed and was replaced by a modern steel bridge, safe for both livestock and the new-fangled automobile. The 1916 bridge on Buffalo Creek Road has since been replaced but it is still vital to the area.
The ferry run by Jessie Yates, traveling across the Big Horn River in 1911. By 1916, a bridge was built and there was no longer a need for the ferry. (Courtesy Hot Springs County Museum) 
The Four Mile Bridge replaced the ferry across the Bighorn River on Buffalo Creek Road. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The fading marker for the ferry crossing that will be replaced by the Hot Springs County Historical Society in partnership with other statewide agencies. (Courtesy Dean King) 
The Birdseye Stagecoach route went over the east side of the canyon before the railroad started hauling passengers in 1913. Autoists who used the pass also used the ferry until the highway through the canyon was built in 1924. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Surveyor Rick Hudson was asked to find the original site of the ferry and used records from 1899 in his research. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Historian Ray Shaffer was with the Roads and Bridge Department in Thermopolis and helped place the rock for the monument fourteen years ago. He is now active in preserving history and spearheading the committee to revitalize the monument and help bring attention to the ferry that was once so vital to the region. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
The Bighorn River was hard to cross, especially in the spring after the snow melt would swell the river. The ferry was necessary before the first bridge was built in 1916. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
Forgotten Monument
For nearly 100 years, the ferry was fading into history when, in 2010, Ruth Clare Yonkee and the Washakie Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) wanted to know where the old Yates ferry crossing was.
They approached local surveyor Rick Hudson who consulted 1899 field notes to locate the ferry crossing.
“I went into the files of the General Land Office original survey,” Hudson said. “They had actually located where the ferry was on the right bank of the river, just down from the Buffalo Creek Road.”
The ferry had been located at what is now the southeast abutment of the Four Mile Bridge and Hudson put a GPS position on it. Since they were unable to put a monument on the bridge itself, they chose a spot just a little further away.
Shaffer was working with the Road and Bridge at the time and was able to help with the original project. He helped build the turn out on Buffalo Creek Road and even hauled in a two-ton rock that had fallen in the Wind River Canyon to use as the base of the monument.
Rededication
Over the years, the metal plaque on the rock monument faded. It had an epoxy finish and a decade and a half of facing the sun caused too much damage. Since the DAR has disbanded, it was up to the Wyoming Historical Society to fix the monument, and they were in luck. The sign was still under warranty.
“They had a 15-year warranty on it,” Shaffer said. “We're in the 14th year so they're going to restore that plaque for nothing.”
The historical group has since partnered with several other statewide agencies including the Wyoming Department of Transportation to redo the monument. In addition to fixing the sign, Shaffer is hoping to build more awareness of the monument. WYDOT has agreed to put up two new informational signs on the main highway to direct people to the old ferry crossing.
“This ferry was a key part of the infrastructure to get into the Bighorn basin that we need to remember,” Shaffer said. “Travel was difficult. When we take for granted a bridge being there, it wasn't always so and it’s important to remember those things.”
As travelers drive over the numerous bridges in Wyoming, it is hard to remember that just one hundred years ago, to cross that same river, you took your life in your hands.
“We need to remember those people that had the foresight to develop our transportation,” Shaffer said as he invites people to take a moment to recognize that we have it easy today because of the hard work of our pioneers.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
