FERRYBOATS ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER

     In their collaboration on the Columbia River Indian tribes and on their book, Half-Sun on the Columbia, Dr. Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown acquired considerable material, some of which included interviews with several members of my family, including my grand aunt, Cora (Seaton) Rinker, and my mother, Margaret (Seaton) Taschereau.  Although it appears that they must have, I do not know if they personally interviewed my grandfather, Sam Seaton, before his passing in a head-on crash in 1971, but they did have access to many articles published in the Wenatchee World, written by Hu Blonk, a long time family friend who had interviewed Sam and Mary many times, and who's wife was in the same high school graduating class (Almira, 1930) as my mother.

     They expanded their research into the broad spectrum of life on the river, which led to:

Ferryboats on the Columbia River
INCLUDING THE BRIDGES AND DAMS
ROBERT H. RUBY and JOHN A. BROWN
SUPERIOR PUBLISHING COMPANY
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON,   c. 1974

     There are a number of references to Tom Seaton, Sam Seaton, and some other members of the family.  It is a must read book for anyone interested in the history of the area, and life on the Columbia, with much priceless information (even though a few errors crept in during the process of putting the book together).

     Government.  On page 54:

     In May, 1934 the Washington State Department of Public Works denied Sam Seaton a franchise for his ferry at the site of grand Coulee Dam on grounds of slow service and operating seven years without a certificate of necessity.

     There was a lot more involved.  See the posts of May 13 and 16 in this blog on Sam Seaton.  Also, some newspaper articles from that time will be appearing in this blog in the near future.

     Cargoes.  On page 62:

     Tom Seaton remembered a scow ferry at Grand Coulee in the early twentieth century on which hans lange and the Osborne brothers ferried their cattle to summer pastures north of the Columbia.  Their practice was to ferry as many cattle as space would permit; then let the rest jump into the river to follow.

     On page 64:

     From the beginning of "The Ferryboat Era" until its end, of all cargoes ferried across the river, and most eagerly sought by residents, was mail.  From Plum, Sam Seaton in 1915 ferried it across the Columbia to a remote section of the north bank, charging 25 cents a month per family for the thirty boxes he serviced.

     On page 68:

     Sam Seaton believed some ferries had been installed just to run liquor.  "Six ferries," said Sam, "operating within fifteen miles, not only looked suspicious; they were suspicious."

     Passengers.  On page 85:

     One August day in 1926, Sam Seaton landed his ferry on the left bank to board and cross the river a builder of dams to inspect the site where Sam's passenger wished one to be built.  The visitor was engineer, humanitarian and Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.  He seemed to enjoy his hike on the Okanogan County side. . . .  Before he left, he gave the ferryman's son and daughter [Clair and Margaret] each a quarter.  On August 4, 1934, the one to whom Hoover would later yield the Presidency of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, came to the same site to view the newly begun Grand Coulee Dam.

     In his later years, Sam was emphatic that Roosevelt should not be given credit for building the dam, but Herbert Hoover.

   Troubles.  On pages 97-98:

     In 1902, Tom Seaton turned his back from the wheel for just a few moments before detecting an Indian meddling with it causing the ferry to swing squarely against the current.  Seaton jerked him away, frantically reeling the rope to head the boat back to shore.  Suddenly the boat lurched, jerking Sam [should read Tom] over the wheel and pinning him between it and the post on which it was hung.  An Indian turned the wheel extricating Seaton.  Between the two of them they worked the boat ashore.  A Spokane doctor who happend to be traveling that way, patched up Seaton's bleeding arm.

     On page 102:

     On January 13, 1928, Sam Seaton crossed two thousand sheep for Shorty Warden through soft ice.  He also ferried two hundred head of cattle to within 150 feet ofthe west shore.  Unloaded on the ice, the cattle ambled off toward the shore--that is until they ran into some hay around which they clustered to eat.  The massed bovine avoirdupois caved in the ice.  Some managed to swim ashore; some were dragged out by automobiles and five or six drowned.  Horse accidents in icy crossings were common.

     Automobiles. On page 141, the caption under the top picture reads, "THIS IS SAM SEATON'S FERRY."  To be exact, it was the Grant County Ferry, operated by Sam Seaton.

     Page 142 includes pictures of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's visit to the Grand Coulee Dam construction site on August 4, 1934.

     Page 143 provides pictures of bridges built at the beginning of the construction.  The caption at the bottom of the page adds:

     When Grant County established a ferry crossing here in 1921 there was up Grand Coulee only a wagon road which Model-Ts negotiated with great effort.  Sam Seaton, the ferrymnan, supplied timbers for a speaker's platform when congressmen and dignitaries of the U.S. Bureau of Reclemation met here to promote the building of a dam.  Sam had built his house of timbers floated downriver from Fort Spokane.  Seaton was still operating his ferry when on July 16, 1933 Washington State governor, Clarence D. Martin, before five thousand people, turned the first shovelful of earth to mark beginning of construction.

     Page 144 shows a picture of an Indian couple on their horse-drawn wagon crossing the new highway bridge (undated), and of a flock of sheep crossing the top of the Dam in 1944.  Before 1933, these would all have crossed on the ferry.

     Four pictures of the Seaton ferry, proper, established by Tom Seaton (1843-1920), my great grandfather, are shown on page 145.  The caption under the top two pictures mentions:

     On the right is the last ferry run here.  On board are Tom's son, Elmer, the ferryman, and his family and the Vallie Rinker family.*  The Seaton ferry was located some three miles upriver from the head of Grand Coulee on the main thoroughfare from Wilber to Nespelem.  The Colville Indian Agency moved its headquarters from Ft. Spokane to Nespelem in 1913.  Before this, cargoes and passengers bound for Nespelem crossed on the Barry ferry downstream from the head of Grand Coulee.  After 1913, the Nespelem-Wilbur route followed the Tom Seaton ferry crossing.
     Upriver another four miles was the Plum ferry, a ranchers' ferry.  Although M. B. Frank and M. J. Kelly were licensed for a ferry at Plum in 1899, a year after the South Half of the Colville Indian Reservation was opened for mineral entry, no through route was established since the north approach led to the closed-in Swawilla Basin.  In 1917, a ferry was constructed at Plum after the South Half was opened for homesteading the previous year.  Sam Seaton, brother** of Tom, put in a barge and launch. . . .  The crossing, however, was little used.

       *  Tom's older daughter, Cora (1879-1977), married Washington Rinker (1871-1922).
     **  Sam (1886-1971) was Tom's son, not his brother.
     Tom's other children were: Bailis (1880-1905), who died in Spokane: Cleveland (1881-1885), who died in Missouri; Bessie (1882-1970), who married Charlie Dumas, mentioned below; Halley (1883-1887), who died in Missouri; and Elmer (1888-1933), mentioned above.

     The caption over the lower two pictures on page 145 mentions the residence of Charlie Dumas on the Okanogan County side of the river.

     Thomas Seaton located the ferry here in 1899.  The road on the north followed an Indian trail to Nespelem.  In 1915, Tom laid out a wagon road.  On his death the ferry passed to Dumas, a relative.  After Dumas, Elmer Seaton, Tom's son, owned the ferry. Indians had demanded free crossings of Tom Seaton.  He compromised them by charging half fare.  Ferries continued crossing here until Grand Coulee Dam was built when rising waters forced closure of ferry service.

     Demise.  On page 149:

     Aware that a dam was to be built at Grand Coulee, Grant County arranged with Sam Seaton to move his ferry from Plum down there.  Seaton ran the ferry until dam construction began in 1933.  Thinking the money the federal government offered him for his ferry "a mighty puny price," Sam refused the offer.  Although, as he put it, "they lawed up one side and down the other," it was no use.  The day the bulldozers came, Sam found their restraining order a stronger weapon than his shotgun.

     More about the shotgun incident and what became of that shotgun, as well as many other recollections,  may be found in SAM SEATON RECALLS DAYS OF THE OLD FERRY, posted in this blog on May 13.  See also SAM SEATON 1886-1971, posted May 16; Notes for SAMUEL JONES SEATON, posted May 13; and SAM SEATON'S LEGAL CASE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT re: GRAND COULEE DAM, and SAM SEATON'S LEGAL CASE, pt. 2, also posted May 13.