Clearwater man builds replica of Mississippi River ferry

By ADAM COUZENS, St. Cloud Times

CLEARWATER, Minn. (AP) — When he's not restoring old homes in Clearwater, carpenter Steve Houle spends his time trying to revive and preserve the local legacy of the Mississippi River.

A resident for all of his 55 years, Houle has recently led an effort to build a riverworthy replica of the ferries that once transported people, vehicles and supplies across the Mississippi at Clearwater.

And now he has completed a book, called "Ferries in Minnesota," detailing the history of the Clearwater ferry, as part of a broader account of river ferry operation in Minnesota.

Houle said the book grew from his research into how to construct the replica. It was built with the support of his Clearwater Masonic Lodge and public donations in an attempt to reconnect locals with the iconic waterway right at their doorstep.

"It's exciting to think about making the Mississippi River part of our future again as well as our past," Houle said.

"It's funny we live here on the Mississippi River and most of us take it completely for granted. We just drive across it in our cars and look at it once in awhile, and that's it. We just don't have a lot of opportunities for it to be a factor in our lives."

The ferry operation at Clearwater is thought to have been the last and longest-running, swing-cable ferry business on the Mississippi, Houle says.

It ran not far from the current crossing along Minnesota Highway 24, he says, operating from 1856-1930, then again from 1943 to the early 1950s, after ice knocked down the first bridge.

Houle says the dozen or so vessels known to have operated at Clearwater were ingeniously designed to be driven only by river current, running along a guide cable anchored at each side of the river.

"They were actually mechanical marvels of their times," he said.

"You'd get on the ferry, turn a wheel, push down a lever and away it would go.

"Then when you got to the other side, you'd turn the wheel back the other way, push down another lever and it would come back."

The original vessels were often more than 60 feet long and designed to be able to "haul a heavy wagon with a six-mule team," Houle said.

In contrast, the replica is about the size of small pontoon boat.

Houle made it to be portable by boat trailer and capable of floating downstream, instead of across the river, with just a few standing passengers aboard.

The replica sits outside Clear Waters Outfitting in Clearwater, within yards of the riverbank from which the actual ferries once operated.

Last month, Clear Waters Outfitting owner Dan Meer helped launch it downriver from St. Cloud to Clearwater as part of a local river cleanup day.

Meer and the Masonic lodge have adopted that stretch of the river from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to promote its use and care.

Meer said the replica was a reminder of an important period of Clearwater's history on the river and an interesting attraction for visitors.

"It's part of Clearwater ... and it's fun to talk to people about, and they're usually pretty interested when they hear that it was the last location on the river where there was a (swing-cable) ferry operational," he said.

Meer and Houle both said they hoped to organize more "joy rides" with the replica in future, with the next outing most likely in August as part of the annual Clearwater Heritage Days festival.

As for Houle's book, to date a small number of self-published copies are available from Clear Waters Outfitting for $18, while North Star Press of St. Cloud considers whether enough interest exists to publish it formally.

"The historical quality of the work is excellent," North Star Press business manager Seal Dwyer said. "The thing that's holding us up is the fact that Clearwater has about 2,000 people and we're trying to find enough market for it."

Dennis Miller, the last surviving ferryman to work the Mississippi River ferry at Clearwater, returned June 12, to attend the 58th annual Clearwater Gathering Potluck.

Miller, who is now 85, ran the ferry in 1947 just to "get started" after returning from military service in the South Pacific during and after World War II.

He paid ferry owner Charles Stickney $5 to lease the operation when the river was ice-free from April to November. Miller went on to farm with his father in 1948.

The ferry operated from "about 7 a.m. till dark," recalled Miller, who relocated to California in 1955 with his wife but regularly visits Clearwater.

"It was fun; you met lots of people."

Of the ferry itself, he added: "It worked easy. The current just pushed it back and forth across the river."

At that time, crossing the river one way cost 35 cents for a car, and 15 cents for a pedestrian, according to Clearwater historian Elaine Paumen.

She has organized the Gathering Pot Luck for the past seven years and spoke at this year's event about Lloyd Laughton, who was the ferryman at Clearwater in the mid-1940s and in 1951-52.

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Information from: St. Cloud Times

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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