The Bleriot Ferry, which is an integral part of the Dinosaur Trail on Alberta Highway 838 has been operating now for 100 years.
Some time in 1912, Andrew Bleriot started the Bleriot Ferry. He let others in the area use it free of charge. Mr. Bleriot himself, brought the lumber for his home down the river from Red Deer on a raft. It proved to be quite an undertaking as they were often stuck on sand bars and a great deal of time was lost. He also brought household furnishings, including a piano on the same raft. Feed and likely seed were also a part of the load.
In the following year, 1913, the Government of Alberta deemed it a necessity to install a larger ferry at the same site. This ferry was a free ferry and it had a full time operator.
The first operator was Emil Perreal, who later bought land in the Morrin district. Next was Magnus Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Andy Sutherland, Jimmy Tucker of the Orkney district, Charlie Lewis, Ben Miller from Munson, Bill Henderson from Munson, Jack Lynch, then John Jacobsen from around Pine Lake. When the Dinosaur Trail traffic became heavy in about 1955, the Government hired a second man. Mr. Heaton as foreman and Mr. Lynch as second man, or ferryman’s assistant.
When the ferry was first installed by the Province, it was called the West of Munson ferry, and was listed by that name until 1966. It was officially named the Bleriot Ferry to honour its first ferrymen Andre Bleriot.
The Stanger family history, written by James Stanger, provided some insight on the local importance of the ferry. He noted that in the summer of 1913, they started to improve the Bleriot Hill, so they could get a road to Munson. Before they started to go to Munson for their goods, they usually went to Carbon, and sometimes to the Ghost Pine Store.
Area residents donated the work on the Bleriot Hill and the business people of Munson donated the grub and tobacco. In the fall of 1912 there had been a contractor with a bunch of mules staying in Munson till the river froze up so he could cross. The people of Munson hired him to do some work on the east side of the river, he worked about three days and made a kind of track, but it was very steep and took four horses to pull an empty wagon up. The road was surveyed in 1914 and again, local residents donated some work on it. They got the Munson ferry put in about the 12th of August 1914.
The Bleriot Ferry continues to be an important link for area residents, and today, an even more important tourist attraction. The current ferry was commissioned in June of 1997, and was designed by Navel Architects Brandlymr Marine. The current ferry is 27.6 meters in length and is 10.36 meters wide. The ferry weights 115 tonnes (230,000 lbs) and can accommodate 99 passengers and one crew member. It has a load capacity of 62.5 tonnes (137,800 lbs) and can take a single vehicle up to 25 meters in length. It now takes just one minute and 22 seconds to cross at high speed. In an average year, the ferry accommodates 83,500 passengers and 28,500 vehicles.
The Ferry usually operates from about mid-May until the end of October. The Ferry had a simple start to accommodate local transportation needs, and it continues to be one of just 7 operating ferries in Alberta. Starland County is proud to acknowledge the innovation of Andrew Bleriot, and the hard work of local residents since who kept this important historical link alive and well.
