Interview with Harrison Broce

Partial Transcript: We run the ferry on the Kentucky River.

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about growing up near Oregon, Kentucky. He mentions a family ferry and the flood of 1937.

Keywords: 1937; Lock 6; Lock 7; Old Owl Distillery; Oregon, Kentucky

Subjects: Ferries--Kentucky River (Ky.) Floods--Kentucky River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: I got going with my wife so I was close to the river again.

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about hunting in the Oregon, Kentucky area.

Keywords: Beaver; Fox; Hunting; Muskrat; Oregon, Kentucky; Raccoon

Subjects: River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: How long did your dad operate that ferry there?

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about growing up around the family ferry. They operated it for 15-20 years.

Keywords: Cummins Ferry; Oregon, Kentucky

Subjects: Ferries--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Back in them days, there was a lot of steamboats on the river.

Segment Synopsis: Broce names and describes several boats that he remembers from the Kentucky River.

Keywords: Excursion boat; John A. Preston; John J. Kelly; McCamp Ferry; Steamboat; The Kentucky; Willard's Ferry

Subjects: Boats and boating--Kentucky River (Ky.) Ferries--Kentucky River (Ky.) River steamers--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Are there any fellows that you think are alive now that are from this area that would remember when the log rafts came down?

Segment Synopsis: Broce describes seeing timber rafts coming down the river and catching loose logs. He also talks about local sawmills.

Keywords: Eversole, Bill; Log raft

Subjects: Kentucky River (Ky.) Sawmills--Kentucky Timber rafting

Partial Transcript: I tell him one time, about us kids.

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about camping and cooking as a kid. He says that the banks have changed since he was young. They were fertile and used for crops and now they are overgrown.

Keywords: Camping

Subjects: River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Do you remember the 1930 drought?

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about the drought of 1930 and the flood of 1937.

Keywords: 1930; 1937

Subjects: Droughts--Kentucky Floods--Kentucky Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Has there ever been like, uh, a community called Oregon that ever had many people that lived there?

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about the town of Oregon, Kentucky. He says that it was a good sized river dock and had a large store.

Keywords: Oregon Church; Oregon, Kentucky; River dock

Subjects: River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: So the biggest tide you ever saw then was later than 37?

Segment Synopsis: Broce compares water levels between the 1937 and 1978 floods. He says that they saved a gosling from the 1937 flood and it became a pet.

Keywords: 1937; 1978; Flood damage

Subjects: Floods--Kentucky River life--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: I guess you have heard of a lot of drownings down there at Oregon, haven't you, over the years?

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about a drowning that he remembers. He also tells a story about a load of cattle jumping off of the ferry.

Keywords:

Subjects: Drowning victims--Kentucky River (Ky.) Ferries--Kentucky River (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: Well, time gets away from you, doesn't it?

Segment Synopsis: Broce talks about getting older and retiring from a distillery.

Keywords: Distillery

Subjects: