Mother Nature had ways of slowing people down in those days that included low water bridges that dotted the Ozarks. One spring we tried to drive across Moody Creek after a rain when the water was unusually high. A farmer had to come with a team of horses to pull us out after our car stalled in the middle of the low water bridge. Now, there aren’t many low water bridges left because the counties and MODOT built bridges over the offending spots. Can anyone remember the last time he saw an “Impassable during high water” sign? Oddly enough, Moody Creek kept the same crossing intact only with a lot more signs. Ferries over larger bodies of water went the way of the horse and buggy.
As we pulled away from the dock, the engine on the tug lashed to the ferry sputtered to a halt, leaving us adrift with wall-to-wall trucks, cars, and passengers. Who knew if the ferry would cap size or run aground spilling its cargo into the water? The ferryman rushed to tell passengers to stay in their cars and to radio for help that soon arrived in the form of boats pulling alongside. Our floundering in Panther Bay may not have been much of a threat to the adults, but to us, as children with our livid imaginations, it was scary. It ranked up there with having an encounter with goblins, ghosts, and even Raw Head and Bloody Bones. We never learned what happened, but I’m sure the stranded ferry received major attention in the local newspapers.
You won’t see that side of the Ozarks today. Mother Nature was replaced by massive cement and steel bridges that span the lakes and speed traffic to the lucrative tourist areas like Bull Shoals, Table Rock, and Branson. Now, when I think about what happened, it is not so much that we were cast adrift, but the fact that I can remember being on an honest-to-goodness Ozark ferry.
