River Ferries

•October 29, 2025•

by Janet Roney

Crossing rivers was a huge problem for the early pioneers and Native Americans who came before them. Rivers acted as barriers between developing communities. It took some effort for neighborhoods on opposite sides of the rivers to mix. (Our modern Lake Shelbyville acts like a barrier today because only three bridges span the lake in thirty or forty miles.)

The Indians worked out a system for crossing rivers in central Illinois. They kept canoes hidden on either side of larger streams at trail crossings. Isaac Hill marked the spot on the “Okaw” where he found canoes hidden along the bank while exploring Montgomery and Bond Counties in 1809.

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