Ghosts of the River

 Step Back in Time...

      Imagine, if you will, that you are standing at the banks of the Willamette River in the 1850s. Oregon is a frontier region full of rivers, and the familiar West Hills are patrolled by cougars. But at the moment getting your wagon across the river is your biggest worry. Yet where you see a problem, others see a business venture: you ring the bell, and wait for the ferry, run by Alphonso Boone to take you across. Bridges are expensive, and for the thousands of residents of what would become the Portland area, it wasn't worth it. 
     Ferries were a fact of life for 19th Century Oregonians: at one point, the state had over 500 of them. As the population grew, bridges were built at river crossings closing many routes and the survivors fell under control of local governments. Today, only three remain. Some were decommissioned before they could be photographed, or the photos are hard to find. But Boone's Ferry outside of what is today Wilsonville is well documented. Perhaps the name "Boones Ferry" sounds familiar. It should: it is the namesake for the road crossing southern Portland, founded in the late 1800s by a descendent of the fabled Daniel Boone. When I-5’s Boone Bridge opened over the Willamete, she was no longer needed, and made her final voyage in 1954. Pictures like this are haunting to me. The boat is frozen in time as she lands on the south bank of the Willamette, and one could just step into the picture and travel across the river to see a version of Portland long gone. Much had changed since it stopped running, but did anything remain of it? I could never ride the ferry myself, but perhaps I could find whatever artifacts time had left behind.

Finding Boones Ferry

     It’s been over sixty years since the ferry was decommissioned, and in that time the city has expanded outward. Driving southbound on Boones Ferry Road, it’s clear that it is no longer the country road that it once was. Neighborhoods and shopping centers line busy intersections, and in one place, I-5 replaced Boones Ferry Road entirely. The only way to follow the route is through a business park. Yet in between the suburban sprawl, the countryside remains: open fields lined with white picket fences, barns, and old churches. It’s not difficult to imagine an old ’52 pickup in high gear flying toward the ferry terminal. At last, the road heads into Wilsonville, running through old neighborhoods, before arriving at Boones Ferry Park.

The abandoned stretch of Boones
 Ferry Road, leading down to the
 ferry landing. Today, this is a
path in a public park, and
 the landing is long abandoned.
In the wikipedia picture, this
spot is in the upper left, near
the two fir trees.

     The December afternoon was humid and cool, and the earthy smell of wood smoke hung in the air. The park is a small plot of land with a network of paths and a playground. Amid the attractions sits an old house once owned by one of the ferry’s operators, and a grove of ancient fir trees they planted. Running through the middle of the property, a winding path heads downhill and out of sight. I followed the tattered asphalt as it curved downhill past basalt boulders mats of ivy and gnarled tree trunks to the waters edge, where it ended at a drop-off amid rubble of concrete blocks and boulders. Little remained from the scene in the pictures--the white picket fences lining the road’s shoulder, the well-kept road, and the pier where the ferry unloaded--all reduced to rubble, or gone entirely. I travelled up the road a bit into town to try to capture more of the scene, but when I starting shooting pictures of old houses and street signs, I was met by a few raised eyebrows so I decided to call it off. It was hopeless: sixty-years later, all you can do is imagine the scene. Imagination though can never replace the experience of actually boarding the ferry and crossing the river. 

The Canby Ferry M.J. Lee, and a single
 pickup approach the south bank of the
 Willamette River. The Canby Ferry is one
 of three left in operation on the
  Willamette, and the only one in the
 Portland area.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to. 

     Fourteen miles downstream, the Canby Ferry is one of three Willamette ferries that has survived to the present day, a safe distance from any bridges that would render it obsolete (though the county is considering building one.) It first ran in 1914, and like the final version of the Boones Ferry, it is a cable ferry in a rural community. For any Portlander who wants to journey back in time to make a river crossing by ferry, this is your best bet. I got back in the truck and plugged Canby, Oregon into my GPS, which ironically took me over the very bridge that replaced Boones Ferry, on my way to ride on one of its surviving cousins.

A plaque onboard the ferry
commemorates the route's 
centennial.

     I spent the three-minute river crossing leaned against the railing, feeling the cool algae-scented air off of the river. The ride is slow, pleasant and relaxing. The only sound is the hydraulic motor holding tight to its cable, lest the sluggish current of the Willamette River drag her downstream. Unless you have business in Canby, the main reason to ride the ferries is for the experience. There is a certain romance in the trip, one you can’t get from a bridge. For the three minutes it takes, you don’t have to drive, and can just enjoy the ride, and on either side of the ferry, the country roads are breathtaking.

     After 100 years the Canby Ferry carries on its tradition, and may continue to run for many years, but it’s hard to say. The county is looking into possible alternatives including a toll bridge or free bridge, with or without an operational ferry. I suppose that in the future, the Canby Ferry might go the way of the Boones Ferry, and another young man may visit, and wonder what the ride was like. In the meantime though, the ferry will continue to do what she does best, and what her siblings have been doing for centuries. She’s a survivor of a way of life that is slowly fading away. -KP

Sources:
Canby Ferry Website, Clackamas County

"Hundreds of ferries once served Oregonians; now there are just three", by John Terry for Oregonlive. Oct. 15, 2011

Boones Ferry article from Interactive Oregon, Archived

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