According to lifetime Whitehorse resident Lloyd Ryder, the ferry in the above photograph is the Takhini River ferry, which was 21 miles from Whitehorse.
He said when he was a kid, a man by the name of Jimmy Adams ran the Takhini Roadhouse at that location.
The photograph was taken between 1935 and 1940.
Lloyd said it appears to be Ollie Erickson’s pickup coming off the ferry, and the lady with the white hat in the foreground is Mrs. Erickson.
It was a cable ferry.
Thanks a lot Lloyd, our river history is interesting.
Also, we have the following responses from Gudrun Sparling and David Silas from Pelly Crossing:
Dear Jim:
Your recent photo in the Yukon News is a photo I took many years ago — probably around 1937-’38.
I believe there still are remains of this ferry system over the Takhini River on the Old Watson Trail.
My father — John Olof Erikson, is driving the old Regina Hotel truck off the ferry.
You will note there are two rowboats, one on either side of the Takhini River. This was to facilitate people who were on the opposite side to where the ferry was docked.
The small child in the background to the right, helping to hold the rowboat, is my brother John Erickson.
The other people are my mother, Mrs. Kristina Erickson, and next to her, with a cap on, is Chuck Chapman, a White Pass employee.
The other person holding the boat is my school chum Evelyn (Babe) Richards.
Someone — who is more mechanically minded than me — can explain the mechanism to the left of the truck.
There is a huge wheel and cables, and this enabled us to cross the river. Hope you can figure this out.
By the way, I took this picture with an old Eastman Kodak that I owned. The camera is now at the MacBride Museum.
Gudrun (Goody) Sparling
Whitehorse
Jim:
I think this ferry was located on the Pelly River, the old crossing before the bridge was built in the 60s, near the local Log Church near the river.
David Silas