A ferry operated at Vernita before the bridge was constructed. Sheep numbered in the thousands here thanks to sheep farmers. When the state took over the ferry operation, they didn't like the mess the sheep left on the ferry boat when they had to cross. When the sheep herders protested the state, the highway commission reversed previous requirements that forced the sheep herders to use trucks to cross on the ferry. Sheep herders were free to use the ferry again without trucks until the bridge was built.