At the time Atchison county was settled, railroad transportation by steam was not a new thing, although it was in its primitive stages. Navigation of the inland waterways had reached rather a high state of development, and the matter of transportation then was just as essential to the purposes of civilization as in this day of the railroad and the automobile, but it was many years before the steam railroads made the steamboat traffic of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers obsolete. The tremendous subsidies granted by the Government in later years for railroad building, however, and the splendid opportunity for piling up wealth in the projection of new railroads and the operation of them, without Governmental restrictions, together with the advantage of speedier transportation facilities, completely overshadowed the steamboat business, and as a result, our great inland waterway system has grown into practical disuse. Shortly after Atchison county was organized, and the city of Atchison laid out, agitation was started for railroad connections with the East. One of the first ordinances passed by the city council in 1858 provided for an election to submit a proposition to take $100,000.00 of stock in railroad. At that time the only means of communication to the outside world Atchison had was by steamboats to St. Louis. It was in October, 1855, that George M. Million, Lewis Burnes, D. D. Burnes, James N. Burnes and Calvin F. Burnes commenced the operation of a ferry across the Missouri river. Their dock on the Kansas side was at the foot of Atchison street. Their charter was secured from the legislature under the terms of which a bond of $1,000.00 was required to insure the faithful performance of their operations. Although there was no public utilities commission in Kansas in 1855, the legislature took upon itself the task of fixing the rates to be charged by the ferry owners, in order that the public would not be robbed. They were as follows: Two-horse wagon, or wagon and one yoke of oxen (loaded) $1.00 Two-horse wagon, or wagon and one yoke of oxen (unloaded) .75 One additional pair of horses or oxen .25 Loose cattle or oxen, per head .10 Sheep and hogs, per head .05 Man and horse .25 Foot passengers .10 One horse and buggy or other vehicle .50 Two horse buggy or carriage .75 The original promoters operated the ferry but a short time, and early in the following year, they disposed of their interests to Dr. William L. Challiss, and his brother, Luther C. Challiss, and Willis E. Gaylord, and the ferry, under Dr. Challiss, and subsequent owners, continued in operation until 1875, when the present bridge was built.