Eastern Washington -- The Littlest Ferry -- Take A Free Ride Across The Columbia River

The good ship Martha. S. is one of Washington's smallest and most unusual ferries.

She serves the "dry side" of the state, not Puget Sound or the San Juans.

She's tiny, just 80 feet long and with room for only a dozen cars, unlike the jumbo ferries of Western Washington.

Best of all, the Martha S. gives everyone a free ride - there's no charge for cars or passengers - and the scenery is as grand as Western Washington's. An endless shuttle

The Martha S. shuttles across the Columbia River in Northeast Washington, 15 miles upstream from Grand Coulee Dam. She serves on what's called the Keller Ferry route, part of the state's highway system since State Route 21 is cut by the waters of the Columbia.

On the north side of the river, the two-lane highway cruises through the lonely, rolling forestland of the Colville Indian Reservation until the pavement disappears into the river.

It's the same on the south side, where State Route 21 practically falls off the high, dry Columbia Plateau in a steep 1,300-foot descent to the river - then ends at the water's edge.

The little ferry, operated by the state's Department of Transportation, crosses the watery gap in the road, continuously shuttling vehicles across 18 hours a day, 365 days a year. It takes about 15 minutes to cross the river, which is 1 1/4 miles wide here and too costly to span with a bridge.

Travelers to and from the town of Republic, the main destination in the area 53 miles north of the ferry, can avoid the Keller Ferry route by detouring west through the town of Coulee Dam. But after hours of driving the long, empty roads of eastern Washington, a ride aboard the little ferry is a welcome break.

The sun almost always shines on the deep waters of the dam-tamed Columbia; basalt cliffs rise in craggy grandeur on the river's edge; and the wind whistling through the river gorge clears the cobwebs from a tired-of-driving brain.

On a hot August weekday when I took the ferry, only one other car was waiting at the north end where a battered picnic table under a lone tree is the sole amenity.

We drove up the wood ramp onto the barge-like ferry, traded smiles with the two crew and stood on the deck by our cars. There's no indoor space, no nothing on this ferry except basic transport.

Driving off on the south side, where there are a few ferry-employee houses and a campground, we traded waves with the drivers of three cars headed north. Old-time ferries

The Martha S. is small, but she's a workhorse. The 50-year-old, diesel-powered ferry made 13,640 round trips last year and carried about 70,000 vehicles.

Her Keller route, named after a now-gone river town, is the oldest state-run ferry service; the DOT took it over in September 1930 from a private company. The state didn't start running ferries on Puget Sound until 1951 (private companies ran them before then).

Ferries on the Columbia have a long history. In the early years of this century - before the Grand Coulee Dam drowned the stretch of river and created today's placid Franklin Roosevelt Lake in its place in the early 1940s - at least 16 little ferries operated on about a 50-mile stretch around the Keller route.

The ferries carried gold miners, white settlers and Native Americans (from the sprawling Colville Indian Reservation which borders the Columbia's north shore) across the river. Some early ferry operators were quirky individuals and laws unto themselves.

"Thomas Seaton, downriver from Keller, would refuse service to anyone who drank alcohol or differed with him politically; he simply told them to `Go back to Keller for your crossing'," wrote Ruth Kirk and Carmela Alexander in their book "Exploring Washington's Past: A Road Guide to History."

The original town of Keller is gone, drowned by the waters backed up by Grand Coulee Dam. The new village of Keller is about 10 miles north of the river along State Route 21.

The maverick ferry operators are gone, too. Today's Martha S. crews are quietly professional state employees. But the dry, rocky grandeur of the land, and the pleasure of riding a little ferry, remain.

IF YOU GO -- The Keller Ferry run operates from 6 a.m. to 11:45 p.m, daily. On a few peak summer weekends there may be short waits. Information: phone the Spokane office of the Department of Transportation, 509-324-6015.

-- The Gifford/Inchelium Ferry is another free ferry that crosses the Columbia River upstream of the Keller route. It's operated through the Colville Confederated Tribes, 6.30 a.m.-10.45 p.m. daily. Information: 509-722-5473.