Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/670

 588 HISTOKY OF GOODHUE COUNTY FERRIES. The history of transportation across the Mississippi river has ever been an interesting one, from the time of the Indians who paddled their canoes from the foot of Barn Bluff to the islands of what is now the Wisconsin shore. So near as can be learned the first means of communication between the two shores, aside from canoes and skiffs, was a horse ferry between Red Wing and Trenton, operated by Captain Edward Speck, under a charter held by Francis Ives. This was in the late fifties or early sixties. The ferry was an old flat boat, with two side wheels, each wheel provided with a tramway, worked by a horse. Two round trips a day were made and the charge was one dollar a trip, each way. Later Mr. Speck installed steam as motive power in his boat. About 1866 the ferry flat boats came into existence as a means of transportation here. One ferry was operated from the foot of Broadway. Red Wing to the Island, which was crossed by a rude road, swampy and often flooded during the wet seasons. Across the Wisconsin channel another ferry was in operation. The charter for these ferries was held by William Howe and T. B. Sheldon, and among the early operators were D. W. Carson, J. Van Sherk. William Hutchesoi) and Allen Adams. These ferries, it should be 'noted, were simply flat boats attached to cables, by which they were pulled across. The city records con- tain accounts of appropriations for the purchase of cable, and for the building of roads and bridges across the island. In 1868, a steamboat, the Nellie Sheldon, was operated, with David Hancock as captain, and the following year with J. C Hawes as captain, but this venture did not prove a success. The next plan proposed was the digging of a canal into Mud lake. The plan of building a pile bridge across the island to be oper- ated in connection with the ferries tnel with greater favor than the canal project, and as outcome of this preference, the Red Wing cV Trenton Transit Company came into existence February 15, l s 75. The corporation was to commence business April 1, 1875, and the capital stock was fixed at $50,000, divided into 2.000 shares of $25 each. The incorporators were William P. Brown. 1). C. Hill, T. K. Simmons. E. L. Baker. C. Cogel, Jesse Mclntire. J. ('. Pierce, T. B. Sheldon and J. M. Hodgman. The first directors were Messrs. Sheldon. Cogel, Simmons. Baker. Brown and Hill. T. B. Sheldon was the first president and W. C. Williston, secretary and treasurer. On December 31, 1877. after obtaining the necessary legislative consent, the city of Red Wing voted to issue bonds to the company for the sum of $25,000 and thus began the connection of the municipality with the corpora-