At certain places on the Sabine River, I try to keep an eye out for evidence of the ferries that once allowed people (and wagons and livestock) to cross the river before bridges became an option.
If the water in the Sabine wasn’t so brown and murky, you could probably locate some of the old ferries decaying on the riverbed, where they sank after being abandoned in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I heard about them from my friend and collaborator Jacob Botter, whose ancestors operated a ferry at the end of what is now Waldons Ferry Road, a dirt trail in rural Harrison County. His great-great-great-great-grandpa (give or take a great or two) ran a rope from one side of the river to the other and used the rope to pull himself across whenever a paying customer wanted passage.
I’m not sure when that ferry ceased to exist, but Gaines Ferry, the last ferry on the Sabine River, operated until 1937. It transported travelers along the old Camino Real, where Texas Highway 21 meets Louisiana Highway 6. The ferry was replaced by a bridge, which was inundated by the creation of Toledo Bend Reservoir a little more than half a century ago.
I was reminded of the Sabine River ferries when my friend Sean Kimmons shared photos from his recent crossing of the Rio Grande. Sean and his parents loaded their car onto a ferry in Los Ebanos, Texas, and were pulled across the river by a team of men tugging a rope stretched from one bank to the other.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the Los Ebanos Ferry is the only remaining hand-pulled ferry on the Texas-Mexico border.
The Los Ebanos Ferry is a popular tourist attraction since it is the only remaining hand-pulled ferry on the U.S.-Mexico border. It can accommodate only three cars and 12 pedestrians at one time.
The crossing is also known locally as Los Ebanos-San Miguel Camargo, Ferry Gustavo Díaz Ordaz and Ferry Díaz Ordaz-Los Ebanos.
Although the crossing has been in operation since the 1950s, the current ferry has been operating since 1979. It was recognized with a state historical marker in 1975.
And here’s a photo of a Sabine River ferry taken in 1916.
Here’s a random video that shows how the Los Ebanos Ferry works.
3,941 responses to “Hand-pulled ferries across the Sabine and Rio Grande”
Your articles are extremely helpful to me. May I ask for more information?
You’ve been really helpful to me. Thank you!
Based on my observation, after a foreclosed home is marketed at an auction, it is common for any borrower in order to still have any remaining balance on the personal loan. There are many lenders who make an effort to have all fees and liens paid back by the upcoming buyer. Having said that, depending on specified programs, restrictions, and state guidelines there may be several loans that aren’t easily fixed through the shift of lending options. Therefore, the responsibility still rests on the debtor that has had his or her property foreclosed on. Many thanks sharing your opinions on this blog.
May I request more information on the subject? All of your articles are extremely useful to me. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your ideas. I’d also like to mention that video games have been ever before evolving. Better technology and innovations have aided create practical and fun games. These entertainment games were not as sensible when the actual concept was first being experimented with. Just like other areas of technological know-how, video games also have had to advance via many ages. This itself is testimony towards fast progression of video games.
Spot on with this write-up, I really assume this website wants way more consideration. I?l in all probability be again to read much more, thanks for that info.
Thank you for writing such an excellent article, it helped me out a lot and I love studying this topic.
Thanks for the help
Thank you for your help and this post. It’s been great.
You should write more articles like this, you really helped me and I love the subject.
Please provide me with additional details on the matter
Thank you for posting this post. I found it extremely helpful because it explained what I was trying to say. I hope it can help others as well.
It? actually a cool and helpful piece of info. I? glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
I? have to test with you here. Which isn’t one thing I normally do! I get pleasure from studying a put up that may make individuals think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
you’re really a good webmaster. The site loading speed is amazing. It seems that you’re doing any unique trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork. you have done a fantastic job on this topic!
Thank you for your articles. I find them very helpful. Could you help me with something?
I really enjoyed reading this article
Thank you for another informative web site. Where else could I get that kind of information written in such a perfect way? I’ve a project that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such information.
I enjoyed reading your piece and it provided me with a lot of value.
Thank you for sharing this article with me. It helped me a lot and I love it.
What is it about? I have some questions dude.
I’ve learned some new things by means of your website. One other thing I want to say is that newer pc operating systems are inclined to allow additional memory to be used, but they also demand more memory space simply to operate. If people’s computer cannot handle more memory along with the newest program requires that memory increase, it can be the time to shop for a new PC. Thanks
Thank you for your post. I really enjoyed reading it, especially because it addressed my issue. It helped me a lot and I hope it will also help others.
It was really helpful to read an article like this one, because it helped me learn about the topic.
Please provide me with more details on the topic
Thank you for writing such a great article. It helped me a lot and I love the subject.
Your articles are extremely helpful to me. Please provide more information!
Please tell me more about this
May I have further information on the topic?
Your articles are extremely beneficial to me. May I request more information?
Please tell me more about this. May I ask you a question?
Thanks for your help and for posting this. It’s been wonderful.
Thank you for being of assistance to me. I really loved this article.
Thanks for your help and for posting this article. It’s been great.
Thank you for posting this. I really enjoyed reading it, especially because it addressed my question. It helped me a lot and I hope it will help others too.
How can I find out more about it?
It was really helpful to read an article like this one, because it helped me learn about the topic.
You’ve been great to me. Thank you!
Thanks for your help and for posting this article. It’s been great.
Thank you for writing this post!
Coming from my notice, shopping for gadgets online can for sure be expensive, yet there are some tips that you can use to help you get the best deals. There are continually ways to discover discount deals that could help make one to ge thet best electronics products at the lowest prices. Good blog post.
Please provide me with additional details on that. I need to learn more about it.
Thank you for writing this post. I like the subject too.
Thanks for your post, it helped me a lot. It helped me in my situation and hopefully it can help others too.
You’ve been a great help to me. Thank you!
Thank you for writing so many excellent articles. May I request more information on the subject?
Thank you for writing the article. I like the topic too.
You should write more articles like this, you really helped me and I love the subject.
Thank you for your articles. They’re very helpful to me. May I ask you a question?
Thank you for your post. I really enjoyed reading it, especially because it addressed my issue. It helped me a lot and I hope it will help others too.