Table of Contents


Usk- Reaction Ferry

Usk, British Columbia, Canada

Usk BC Government Reaction Ferry

Crossing the Skeena River


Commemorative Plaque placed Oct 2013

The Usk Ferry celebrated it's 100th Anniversary in Oct 2013

2 Photos above courtesy McRae Collection, Terrace

Usk Ferrymen

Capt. William Francis Madden became Ferryman after Sternwheelers quit running

1917- the ferryman was named Erickson, the cable broke, and the scow went downriver
Mr. Erickson lost 2 fingers in the accident.

Milo Cecil Kendall

Carl Joseph Halvar Dorum

James William “Jim” Eckert

Frederick Albert “Fred” Stewart

Carle George “Carl” Brechin

Roy F. Fredrickson

Benjamin Felix Seymour

George Edward Wright

George Lester Kellogg

Gunnar Waldeck

Daniel “Dan” Hamilton

If you know of other Ferrymen names please send them in.

Sharon Larose submitted the following names of more Ferrymen, and 1 Ferrywoman, or Ferry Operators?, Aug 1, 2020
Her Great Great Grandparents named Macdonnell, lived in Usk
Willard Seymour
Tim West Johnson
Tom Brophy
Maureen Bostock
Paul Dacey

Below is a history article sent to me by Helene McRae on the Usk Ferrymen

Don’t Forget the Ferrymen at Usk

The Usk ferry recently celebrated a century of service, and while the watercraft was recognized, long-time area residents say it’s the ferryman they will never forget.

Usk (pronounced like “tusk” – without the “t”) sprang up 16 kilometres east of Terrace after the end of the riverboat era and the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad in the early 1900s. Forestry, minerals and agricultural land drew people to the remote spot and sawmills were opened to serve mining businesses, and construct a public school, hotel and other buildings. Back then, the Skeena River and the railway were the only form of transportation in Northwest BC, and the Usk Ferry took residents from the hamlet, located on the north side of the river, to the south side to log, prospect or do other activities.

Crossing in Winter

When the river iced up in winter, the ferryman was still responsible for getting people to the other shore, navigating through ice jams that piled up to six metres high on the banks. To get people across, the ferryman marked a trail, laid down planks with scaffolding, or used a small shallow boat, at times transferring travelers from one section of ice to the other using the skiff.

“I don't know how we survived,” recalls early Usk Resident, Helene McRae, nee Adams. “When the ferry was not in operation, either a small boat was used or one would have to walk across the river on the ice. Using the boat, the ferryman had to dodge debris and ice floes, and when we walked on the ice, sometimes there were patches of water with a board across the opening. The operator set up and maintained this system, often during cold, dark and snowing conditions, and many can assure you, with howling winds along the river.”

Helene’s father, DIck Adams, owned a Sawmill on the south side of the river, which ran from the 1940's until 1960, and most of the crew regularly made the crossing for work. One extra cold day, Helene and the crew started home by boat, and the thick ice floes began to back up, from a blockage further downstream in Kitselas Canyon.

“Luckily we were able to turn back or we would have been caught in the moving ice. For three years, I crossed the Skeena for work – lots of scary times.”

Those scary times included when the backed up ice at the Kitselas Canyon unclogged and the ice at Usk might suddenly evacuate downstream. “One day, I was to cross at 2 p.m., and for some reason I was a bit late finishing up at the office. I looked out the window and the whole river had opened up! George Kellogg, The Ferryman, was frantic and was calling across the river to see if I had started across.”

Coming of the Cable Car ??????

NOTE:

Not sure when this was put in operation- D.O.H. put in new towers etc. Shortly after that, an overhead passenger cable car was installed for when the crossing was hazardous due to ice or water levels. Late 60’S, 70’S???????

When Highway 16 was built in the early 1960s on the south side of the swift Skeena, it improved mobility, and people and businesses established themselves there.

Over time, between two major floods and the draw of opportunities elsewhere, the original hamlet of Usk (on the north side of the Skeena River) dwindled to about 30 people. The provincial government has been operating the ferry since the 1920s, and today the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure provides the service through a contractor, Nechako Northcoast Construction. The free five-to-seven-minute crossing uses the power of the Skeena River, and an overhead cable suspended by towers, to traverse the waterway. The on-demand ferry operates from 6:15 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. – just ring the bell on the south side and the ferryman will get you across.

Dan Hamilton, an Usk ferryman for 10 years whose father was also a ferryman, says that even in the old days of walking or paddling over the ice-choked river, the ferrymen never lost anyone. “Now you wouldn’t even consider doing something like that, but it was commonplace then,” he says.

“The skill and hard work of those people over the past hundred years deserve a mark of appreciation and recognition,” says Helene. Here’s to all the ferrymen – past and present!

Photos below taken Apr 27, 2014 by my daughter Amber Gent


Usk Ferry in for Repairs



Tramway Tower



Usk Ferry Landing, North side of the Skeena River

See my main Usk Page

More Inland Reaction Ferry Pages

and NW BC Logger's Memorial, Usk

Ext Links
Note- not my pages

Gov't Ferry Schedule
http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/marine/ferry_schedules.htm

Ferry Story- Nov 2013
http://tranbc.ca/2013/11/07/saluting-a-century-of-usks-skeena-river-ferrymen/



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