New monument commemorates first ferry boat to cross Snake River

A new monument is commemorating the first ferry boat to cross the Snake River.

The monument is located by the boat landing site close to Tildon Bridge, just south of Blackfoot. It was put up by the Blackfoot chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers. The first ferry boat crossed the river around 1840. It opened the Idaho Territory, which was first established by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The crossing plays a significant part in the country’s history.

“This was actually the gateway to the west for thousands of people who came through here on the Oregon Trail,” Rulon Hillam, a member of the Sons of Utah Pioneers, said. “As well as all of the minors that came and discovered the mines and the gold and so forth. It was in the mountains, in the Sawtooth Mountains north of here.”

The ferry remained in use as late as 1891.