Doc Billum's Ferry
The railroad had not yet arrived at Chitina, just upriver from Nicolai's camp at Taral, and downriver from Doc Billum's home, where the Tonsina River meets the Copper River. The problem was how to cross the Copper River. Enter Doc Billum and his small ferry that was available for a sliding fee to all comers who wished to prospect in the Chitina River drainage along the south slopes of the Wrangell Range. If The Doc believed the person was broke, the fee to cross was only a quarter. But for those of means, crossing from the west to the east banks of the Copper River could require as much as ten dollars
Billum's Ferry
Showing the various proposed railroad routes to the Bonanza Mine--later to become Kennecott--as of 1906.
TARAL
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Enter Mike Tucker, an old collector of Copper River-related relics who found what he claims is the original Doc Billum ferry in the woods near Chitina in the early 1980s. He offered to provide it to Ronald Simpson, owner, so that it could be saved into the indefinite future, and made available for public viewing.
IS it the real Billum Ferry? We'll never know for sure, but it definitely meets the description and the photos. So here it is where YOU can view it for yourself.
In remarkable condition considering it is nearly 125 years old.
