Glenns Ferry, Idaho: The Railroad Kept the Ferryman's Name

Glenns Ferry, Idaho, kept the name of a river crossing the railroad made unnecessary: the ferry Gustavus Glenn ran across the Snake River from 1870. When the Oregon Short Line put a station there, the old name stayed.

A shortcut on the Kelton Road

Before the railroad, freight and stagecoaches reached Boise on the long road from Kelton, the nearest railroad. The Idaho State Historical Society’s 1982 report on Snake River ferries quotes the Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman of November 1, 1870:

“Messrs. Glenn and Moody have established a new ferry on Snake river, just above the Three Islands, and a little below King Hill, on the Kelton Road. Twenty miles of travel are saved by going this route…”

That was the pitch, and it worked. Freighters started using the new route right away, though John Hailey didn’t move his stage line to it until 1879. Not long after the ferry opened, Gustavus B. Glenn bought out Moody’s share and ran it alone.

Seventy-five cents for a horse and rider

The county set the prices. On October 8, 1878, the Alturas County commissioners renewed Glenn’s franchise for eight years and set his tolls: 75 cents for a horse and rider, 25 cents for someone on foot, $1.50 for a wagon with two horses, mules or oxen, and 5 cents for each sheep or hog. So if you’d crossed with a hundred sheep, that was $5.

The crossing was a busy spot long before Glenn. James H. Hawley, who edited a 1920 History of Idaho, says the Oregon Trail split near the present town, with one branch following the south side of the river. By 1880 the stage line between Boise and Kelton was crossing the Snake “at Glenns Ferry,” Hawley writes, and he uses the name with and without the apostrophe.

The station that inherited the name

The railroad finished the ferry off. The historical society says the completion of the Oregon Short Line in 1883 “greatly diminished the need for the ferry,” and it was abandoned in the later 1880s. Hawley explains what happened to the name: when the line was built down the Snake River Valley in the early ’80s, “a station was established at the ferry and the old name was retained.” By his day the village was a freight division point on the Oregon Short Line, 30 miles (48 km) by rail from Mountain Home, the county seat. So the town you drive into today is named for the business the trains replaced.

Quick answers

Who was Glenns Ferry, Idaho, named after?

Gustavus B. Glenn, who ran a ferry across the Snake River there. He opened it with a partner named Moody in 1870 and later bought him out, according to the Idaho State Historical Society.

Is Glenns Ferry named for the railroad?

No. The ferry came first. Hawley (1920) says the Oregon Short Line put a station at the ferry and “the old name was retained.”

What happened to Glenn’s ferry?

The railroad made it much less useful after 1883, and it was abandoned in the later 1880s, says the historical society’s 1982 report.

Key dates

1. 1870November 1: the Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman reports that Glenn and Moody have opened a new ferry on the Snake River.
2. 1878October 8: the Alturas County commissioners renew Glenn's ferry franchise for eight years.
3. 1879John Hailey moves his stage line to the route over the ferry.
4. 1883The Oregon Short Line is completed, and the ferry is soon much less needed.

Getting there

Open Glenns Ferry in Google Maps

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Opens in a new tab. The pin is the center of Glenns Ferry in the USGS place-name record.

The closest airports, Amtrak stations and intercity bus stops, measured in a straight line from the center of Glenns Ferry.

Airports

• Joslin Field/Magic Valley Regional (TWF) Twin Falls 53 mi 85 km
• Boise Air Trml/Gowen Field (BOI) 63 mi 101 km

Intercity buses

• Salt Lake Express Glenns Ferry (Veltex) under 1 mi 0.2 km

Distances are as the crow flies, not by road. We don't list schedules or fares because they change; check with the airline, Amtrak or the bus company before you go. Official data (FAA commercial service airports (2025), FAA airport locations, Amtrak stations and Intercity Bus Atlas) from the FAA and the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, checked Nov 6, 2026.

Historical Sources & References

• Idaho State Historical Society, Snake River Ferries, Reference Series no. 54 (1982), pp. 7-8. The Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman of November 1, 1870, and April 29, 1871; Gustavus B. Glenn’s purchase of Moody’s share; the franchise and tolls of October 8, 1878; the effect of the Oregon Short Line.
• James H. Hawley, ed., History of Idaho, vol. 1 (1920). The Oregon Trail dividing near Glenns Ferry (p. 79); the Boise-Kelton stage crossing there in 1880 (p. 420); the ferry “by a man named Glenn” and the station that kept its name (p. 778).
• GNIS feature 372857 (U.S. Geological Survey). The government’s record for Glenns Ferry, in Elmore County.