Scarce early original vintage Real Photo Post Card (RPPC) shows the ferry “LITTLE PEARL” docked at Running Water South Dakota on the Missouri River.
Description on back reads, “Ferry @ Running Water @ 1910 or so”.

About January, 1860, Henry Brooks, at one time a member of the territorial legislature and for many years one of the leading citizens of Bon Homme county, settled at what afterwards became known as Running Water on the Missouri River, 14 miles southwest of Springfield, with the hope and confidence that it would one day become one of the large cities on the river, as the crossing point of one or more of the great railroad systems of the northwest.

Up to this time Running Water had consisted of a few frame dwellings, a veterinarian and 30 citizens. Upon the event of the railroad a sudden and remarkable change took place in this unpretentious spot. Rumor had It that the town was on the mainline of the railroad to the Black Hills, the price of land shot up to an exorbitant figure; land speculators and prospectors of all creeds and nationalities came to the neighborhood.

At that time there was a population of 1,800 persons in the neighborhood, composed of cattleman, land sharks, gamblers, a few outlaws and a sprinkling of murderers from Nebraska. In the early 1880 a newspaper was also printed in the town.

In the early 1900s the town contained about 20 houses and a population of perhaps 100. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul line ended at Running Water and ran a passenger and freight train daily.

Today a ferry plies between Running Water and Niobrara, Nebr., in season. Some families live in the village but no businesses are operating.

Real Photo Post Card measures 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches and is in good condition with a couple slight bends in center, thumb tack hole at upper right corner, and a few tape marks on back (see scans). Image is very sharp with good contrast.

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