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Roosevelt County - Transportation Around the Missouri River

Background Info/ Historical Story:

“The first ferry to cross the Missouri River below Brockton was built and owned by a group of southside farmers and ranchers. It was a cable ferry, built about 1908. There was a one and a half inch cable strung across the river about 15 feet in the air. The boat was attached to the cable with two pulleys riding on the cable. The boat was pushed across the river by the current. One end of the boat was pulled up close to the cable, the other end was let out from the cable. Archie Curran ran it two or three days a week. They had a lot of trouble with the cable ferry, the river went up and down and the sandbars shifted. When the river was low they couldn't run it at all so in a few years they attached a paddle wheel and gasoline engine on it. Bill Breeze with the help of deck hand Ralph Boyce ran it. When the pontoon bridge was built to cross the river at Wolf Point, a group of Brockton businessmen bought the Wolf Point Ferry. It was operated by Charlie Rowe. In 1928 Lars Larson brought the Fawn up from Elbow Wood, North Dakota. The Fawn was the largest ferry boat to run on the river in our area. It was driven by a Doman Marine motor with a T head, a regular boat motor with a reverse switch making it possible to cross the river back and forth without turning the boat around. Lars cut about 20 feet off the Fawn to make it more navigable in the Missouri River. By 1942 Lars Lar on sold the Fawn to Bill Fisher. Bill ran it for a few years but it was growing old and the fear of dumping a truckload of good spring wheat in the Missouri River convinced him to junk it out in 1946. He sold part of it, the paddle wheel, rope, anchor, etc. to the Poplar Ferry and took to forging the river a new way. Bill built his own first autoboat and used it to cross the river until he purchased a factory model in recent years.”- Roosevelt County’s Treasured Years

“Roosevelt County owes much of its growth and development to the availability of the east and west

markets for both grain and cattle. Steamboats and freighters could provide only seasonal transportation,

with terminal markets in St. Louis, Missouri. Although agriculture had not yet taken on much importance in

eastern Montana, large numbers of cattle, sheep and horses were shipped to market each year from this area. Ferrying animals across the Missouri, followed by trail herding to Glendive or Miles City to reach the Northern Pacific railroad provided other means of reaching terminal markets. Mr. James J. Hill was an energetic, as well as far-sighted, young man who watched and learned as rail expansion progressed slowly. In 1865 he entered the transportation field business and by 1878 he had acquired the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. In 1879 the properties were reorganized as the St. Paul, Minneapolis and

Manitoba Railway Company. The western states were rapidly developing and immigration was steadily increasing. Eastern Montana was no exception. With the help of three partners, he decided to extend his railroad westward. He chose a northern route because of its low grades and easy curves. In fact, many miles of this route had already been explored by Lewis and Clark with recorded land data available. Trappers and fur traders were used to the area and some of them acted as guides for the surveying crews. During the summer of 1886, grading crews were strung out at many places along the line, making grades and roadbeds. Other crews were busy building bridges or putting in needed culverts. Steamboats traveling the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers brought ties, rails and other needed supplies. The railroad reached the North Dakota-Montana border on June 13, 1887 and the track was laid through Culbertson on June 23. The first siding, 1890 feet long, was built the next day.”- Roosevelt County’s Treasured Years

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