Walters' Bluff Ferry

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Walters' Bluff Ferry. Now settle in, because this one's got some good details hiding in it. Out on the Sabine River, at a crossing folks had been using since the early days, there sat a ferry that stitched two whole counties together.

Upshur to the north, Smith to the south, and in between, that river rolling along like it had all the time in the world. The man who set this thing in motion was Robt. Walters, a veteran of the Texas Revolution, and he had the ferry running before 1849.

Before 1849. That means settlers heading into the Texas interior were trusting this crossing while the ink on a lot of things was still pretty fresh. The town of Florence once stood near that south bank of the Sabine, right there in the shadow of the ferry landing.

Towns have a way of growing up around the places where people have to stop and wait. Now, if you want to know what it cost to cross in 1860, the marker was kind enough to write it all down, and I am delighted to share it with you. A wagon drawn by two horses or oxen, that'll run you fifty cents.

You've got more than two animals pulling your wagon, now you're into seventy-five cent territory. Traveling in a pleasure carriage, which sounds considerably more comfortable, forty cents. A man and his horse, just ten cents.

And if you're moving loose livestock across, five cents a head. Every head. You can do the math on a big herd yourself, but I suspect that nickels added up in a hurry.

Walters' Bluff Ferry kept on carrying people and animals and wagons across that Sabine for decade after decade, until finally, in 1903, a bridge was built and the ferry's work was done. Some crossings, once you put a bridge over them, lose their story. This one kept it.

What the marker says

Located at a noted early-day crossing on Sabine River, this pioneer ferry carried settlers traveling north or south into Upshur or Smith counties. It was begun before 1849 by Robt. Walters, a Texas revolutionary veteran, and used until a bridge was built, 1903. Town of Florence was once situated near ferry on south bank of the Sabine. Ferriage rates in 1860 were 50 cents for a wagon drawn by two horses or oxen; 75 cents for a wagon and more than two animals. A pleasure carriage was charged 40 cents; a man and horse, 10 cents; loose livestock, 5 cents per head.