Payette County ID Archives News.....Interesting Historical Episodes—Payette County May 20, 1948 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/id/idfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Patty Theurer seymour784@yahoo.com December 20, 2005, 3:41 am Independent Enterprise May 20, 1948 Independent Enterprise Payette, Idaho Thursday, May 20, 1948 Interesting Historical Episodes—Payette County (By Mrs. May Gilmore) Washoe Ferry The old emigrant trail to the far northwest divided into two forks, one at old Fort Hall, Idaho near the present town of Pocatello. One branch of the trail crossed the Snake River at the Fort and proceeded north on the east side of the river crossing that stream at the Washoe Ferry just below the mouth of the Malheur river, back of the old Stroup home, Idaho Side, leaving this section by way of Tub Springs, Oregon, it passed over the divide into Willow Creek, Ore. One of the first ferrys located on the Snake River was probably the Washoe Ferry, its original location being a quarter of a mile below the Malheur river on the old Oregon Trail. Emmigrants coming on the Old Oregon Trail branched at the Ferry, crossing there to go up the Payette river to Horseshoe Bend and the mining country around Placerville. The parties who established the Ferry belonged to a band of outlaws. The Ferry was established in 1863, owned and run by the Stewart Bros. They were outlaws and were run out of the country by the vigilanties in 1865. When they reached Powder river they met Wm. Packard who bought their interests in the Ferry. Mr. Packard conducted this Ferry until 1872 when he sold it to Wm. Emerson, who had charge for a number of years and then disposed of it to Geo. Brinnon. Mr. Brinnon conducted the Washoe Ferry until 1884, when he sold it to Capt. Payne, a Union Veteran of the Civil War, who had but recently arrived from Illinois. Mr. Payne moved the ferry to a point about one mile above the O. S. L. railroad bridge north of Ontario where it was operated by different owners, among them, Ted Butler, Lew Morton, Frank Draper, Wm. Mink and John Bivens, (6 miles up the river from first location.) Mr. Bivens ran the Ferry until the wagon bridge, 1906, one mile east of Ontario which caused the abandonment of the Ferry. George Clark built and constructed a ferry near the sight of the present wagon bridge east of Ontario which was also abandoned when the bridge was built. The building of the O. S. L. railroad bridge through this section was instrumental in locating the towns of Ontario and Payette and caused the changing of the roads and the Old Oregon trail was practically abandoned at Washoe Ferry and this caused the owner, Capt. Payne, to move the Ferry boat up the river, where it would be in a direct line of travel. At this place the Indians came every year seine salmon they smoked and dried them, I remember in the early eighties my father would take me to watch them, there must have been thousands as they were camped all over the flat by the ferry. The ferry boat and house were on the Oregon side. I always wondered if Mr. Payne built on that side on account of the Indians. Johnson’s History A party of volunteers under the leadership of Jeff Standifer, during the early months of 1863, crossed the Snake River at Washoe Ferry. They were after a band of Piute Indians, who had been raiding the Boise and Payette valley and had returned to the Malheur valley with they plunder. Atty. Carl Pain, with his parents, came to Washoe in 1884 and still owns the old house across the track from Community school, the Scott place. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/id/payette/newspapers/interest75gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/idfiles/ File size: 4.0 Kb