>> WELCOME TO "CROSSROADS.

A COUPLE OF CENTURIES AGO GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE ALONG THE SHORES OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN USUALLY MEANT A CIRCUITOUS AND ALL-TO GO INCONVENIENT JOURNEY AROUND THAT 120-MILE LIQUID OBSTACLE.

IT DID NOT TAKE LONG FOR SOMEONE TO SEE THE FOLLY IN THIS AND COME UP WITH AN ALTERNATIVE.

IN FACT, FOR AS LONG AS PEOPLE AND GOODS HAVE HAD TO MOVE BETWEEN NORTHERN VERMONT AND NEW YORK STATE, A FASCINATING SERIES OF CONTRAPTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVISED TO DO THE JOB.

THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN TRANSPORTATION COMPANY RUNS THREE FERRY ROUTES ACROSS THE HEAVILY TRAFFICKED UPPER LAKE, AND THERE IS THE MODERN AREA OF LAKE TRANSIT OPERATED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF A SOPHISTICATED CORPORATION.

AND THEN THERE IS THE FORT TI, THE GRAND DADDY OF THE TRADITION, THE STORY OF THE OLD FORT TI FERRY OFFERS A STRIKING EXAMPLE OF HOW CLOSELY TIED OUR VERMONT'S PAST, THEN PRESENT.

>> LAKE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY IS A BIG PLACE.

IT TAPERS DOWN TO THE NARROWS HERE WHERE THE PACE IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT, SETTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FORESTS AND/ORCARDS AND THE LAKE WAS ONLY A MILE AND A HALF, AN HOUR, SUITS ME FINE, IT'S -- SOME CALL IT SLUGGISH BUT IT'S A PLACE THAT I HAVE FOUND VERY COMPATIBLE.

I HOPE TO CONTINUE SUCH A PACE FOR AS LONG AS I CAN.

>> VERMONT'S APPEAL IS AS MUCH A MATTER OF PACE AS IT IS ONE OF STYLE.

THE SPEED AT WHICH ONE LIVES HIS LIFE IS AS SIGNIFICANT AS THE TRAPPINGS SURROUNDING IT, SO IT IS HERE ALONG THE SO-CALLED LOWER LAKES SECTION OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, A MAN LIKE JIM BULLARD CAN FIND HIMSELF A DELICIOUSLY SIMPLE PACE OF LIFE.

AFTER TEN YEARS SPENT WORKING IN THE AFRICAN BUSH, BULLARD IS BACK IN THE LUSH MOUNTAIN SETTSET --OF HIS HOME STATE.

>> I SPENT SOME TIME IN AFRICA, AND I WAS DOING AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT WORK IN CENTRAL AFRICA AND WEST AFRICA.

I CAME BACK HERE ONE FALL TO VISIT FRIENDS.

I WAS STRUCK WITH THE SENSE THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE.

>> LET'S HAVE A GREAT DAY.

>> HAVING RETURNED FROM AFRICA THREE YEARS AGO, JIM HAS SETTLED INTO A NEW WAY OF LIFE.

HE'S THE PROPRIETOR OF THE FORT TICONDEROGA FERRY, A 110-TON COMBINED BARGE AND TUGBOAT THAT SCURRIES EACH DAY IN TICONDEROGA, NEW YORK, LIKE A MODERN DAY SHARON, WITH MYTHOLOGICAL FERRYMEN OF THE RIVER STICKS, JIM BULLARD OFFERS HIS OWN MODEST RITE OF PASSAGE TO ROAD-WEARY TRAVELERS.

>> I WAS BACK -- CAME HERE TO VISIT SOME FRIENDS, CAME, AND I CAME FROM NEW YORK AND CROSSED VERMONT ON THE FERRY AND THE COLLECTOR CAME TO ME AND TOOK MY MONEY, AND I PRETTY MUCH BLURTED OUT, IS THIS, IS THIS FERRY, BY ANY CHANCE, FOR SALE?

AND HE SAID YES, IT WAS.

THE NEXT SEASON, STARTING IN 1977, I WAS THE FERRY OPERATOR, AND THE FELLOW THAT I HAD ASKED ABOUT BEING FOR SALE WAS MY STAR EMPLOYEE.

>> THERE'S MORE TO THE FORT TI FERRY THAN JUST CARRYING CARS.

SHE'S PART OF A LEGACY DATING BACK TO 1799 WHEN A FRANCHISE FOR FERRY USE WAS GRANTED BY THE VERMONT LEGISLATURE.

BULLARD'S BUSINESS STILL FUNCTIONS UNDER THE SAME FRANCHISE TODAY, MAKING THE FORT TI FERRY ONE OF THE OLDEST BUSINESS THIS IS VERMONT, AND ONE OF TE OLDEST FERRY OPERATIONS IN THE COUNTRY.

THE FERRY'S HISTORY HAS ALWAYS BEEN TIED TO FORT B TICONDEROGA.

ANCESTOR WAS COMMISSIONED TO CARRY TROOPS HEADED EAST OR BACK TO THE FORT, AND EVEN TODAY THE THOUSANDS OF TOURIST WHO IS VISIT OLD FORT TI FERRY ARE SHUTTLED ACROSS THE LAKE IN MUCH THE SAME WAY.

>> THE MILITARY PERIOD THROUGH HERE IN THE 1760'S TO THE 1790'S, THE -- THERE WERE TROOPS TO BE FERRIED.

THE FORT IS NOT FAR AWAY, THE FORT TICONDEROGA IS NOT FAR AWAY, AND THE TROOPS MARCHED HERE TO THIS VERY TURF RIGHT HERE FROM THE NEW ENGLAND STATES BY WAY OF THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY, OLD ROADS ACROSS VER VERMONT, AND THE SITES ARE DISCERNIBLE.

IT COULD BE SHOWN THAT THOSE ARE AUTHENTIC IS, 18th CENTURY SITES DOWN BELOW.

>> THE FORT TI FERRY'S EVOLUTION PARALLELS THE HISTORY OF PROGRESS IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY.

>> THE FIRST COMMERCIAL VENTURE I AM TOLD IN THIS AREA WAS A TAVERN OPERATED BY THE A MAN NAMED RALEIGH.

THIS WAS KNOWN AS RALEIGH'S POINT.

WE BECAME MORE ORGANIZED, AND IN 1790, AND A MAN NAMED ALEXANDER TRIM BULL HAD A STORE DOWN ON THE POINT, PROBABLY, PRETTY MUCH ON THE SITE OF WHERE THE PRESENT STORE IS NOW.

HE ASKED THE VERMONT LEGISLATURE AND, AND IN 1799, I GUESS IT WAS, FOR A FRANCHISE, AND WAS REFUSED BECAUSE IN MY OPINION, BECAUSE HE WAS A NEW YORKER.

THE FOLLOWING YEAR THE NEXT SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE, A MAN NAMED JOHN S. LARRABEE JR.

WAS AWARDED THE FRANCHISE, WHICH WAS, FOR ALL INTENSE AND PURPOSES, THE SAME FRANCHISE IN EFFECT TODAY.

THE HEYDAY OF THIS AREA BEGAN IN ABOUT 1822, AND THE CANAL WAS CUT THROUGH TO THE HUDSON RIVER.

RIGHT AWAY, THE COMMERCIAL LIFE BLOSSOMED HERE.

THE TAVERN DEVELOPED INTO QUITE A, YOU WOULD HAVE TO CALL IT A RESORT HOTEL FOR ITS TIME, AND I BELIEVE IT WAS IN 1845, IT WAS BUILT.

THE UNITED STATES HOTEL STOOD HERE, THE PART THERE, FALLING DOWN, AND THESE LOCUST TREES WERE A PART OF IT.

THE ORIGINAL LANDSCAPING, THE OLD CELLAR WAS THERE, AND IT WAS A GREAT, A GREAT PLACE IN ITS TIME.

IT HAD A PORT, IT HAD THREE OR FOUR STORIES, AND IT HAD LARGE DINING ROOMS, AND THE FAMOUS PLACE UP AND DOWN.

>> IN 1866, THE UNITED STATES HOTEL MYSTERIOUSLY BURNED TO THE GROUND, WITH IT WENT THE ROLL OF LARRABEE'S POINT AS THE SOCIAL HUB OF THE LOWER CHAMPLAIN VALLEY.

BUT THE STUBBORN CONVEYANCE CALLED THE FORT TI FERRY PERSISTED BREATHING COMMERCE IN WHILE PROVIDING ITS OWNERS OVER THE DECADES WITH AN UNCOMPLICATED WAY OF LIFE.

>> WE OPERATE ABOUT 200 DAYS A YEAR BETWEEN MAY AND THE END OF OCTOBER AND THE DAYS DON'T VARY THAT MUCH.

YOU CAN CHECK THE OIL AND PUT A LITTLE FUEL AND, AND SWEEP HER OFF A BIT AND OPEN UP THE GATE AND WAIT FOR SOMEBODY TO COME ALONG.

THERE IS A LEARNING SPURT OF TRAFFIC OF PEOPLE LINED UP TO GO ONE WAY OR THE OTHER TO THEIR JOBS.

AND THEN IT SLOWS DOWN, AND WHEN THE DAY PROGRESSES WE START SCUTTLING AROUND THE DECK UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON.

AGAIN, AS PEOPLE BEGAN TO GO HOME AND SO FORTH, AND WIND DOWN OURSELVES.

>> THE BARGE THAT WE HAVE AT PRESENT IS ABOUT 25 YEARS OLD.

IT WAS BUILT IN RHODE ISLAND AND TOWED AWAY THROUGH LONG ISLAND SOUND BUT UP THE CANAL SYSTEM, AND IT'S PRETTY NEARLY IDEAL FOR ITS JOB.

NAMED AFTER HIS MOTHER, THE ADDIE B. IS THE LATEST MANIFESTATION OF A LONG LINE OF TECHNICAL EVOLUTION DATING BACK TO THE LATE 1700s.

>> THE ORIGINAL FERRYINGS FERRY- FERRIES, THERE WAS KEYBOARDS, A LEE BOARD IS A TEMPORARY KEEL, TO KEEP THE VESSEL ENCORES.

THE LANDINGS DID NOT EXIST, THERE WAS A RANCH ON EITHER END, AND THE RAMP, YOU COME TO SHORE, AND THE RAMP WAS LET DOWN, AND THE PASSENGERS AND THEIR VEHICLES DEPART, AND THE SAIL SWUNG AROUND, AND SOMEBODY GIVES IT A PUSH, AND THE WAY YOU GO BACK TO THE OTHER SIDE.

>> STEAM WAS THE FIRST, WAS FIRST MENTIONED IN AN 1890 FRANCHISE, WHICH WAS IN THE NAME OF ZEB MARTIN OF TICONDEROGA.

THE STEAM GAVE WAY TO GASOLINE, THE GASOLINE ENGINE WAS PREDOMINANT UNTIL 1946, WHEN AN OLD LANDING CRAFT WAS ADAPTED TO DRIVE THE FERRY.

THE EQUIPMENT GOT VERY FANCY AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR, AND THE FIRST CABLE SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED, WHICH ELIMINATED THE NEED FOR THE BOARDS AND THE STEERING ORE AND THE CABLE STRETCHED FROM SHORE-TO-SHORE, DID THE STEERING, AND THAT'S STILL WHAT WE USE TODAY.

>> ONE OF THE MOST APPEALING ASPECTS OF THE FORT TI FERRY IS THAT UNLIKE MODERN DAY TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, THIS ONE DOESN'T FOLLOW ANY SCHEDULE.

ON A BUSY DAY, THE FERRY WILL SHUTTLE BACK AND FORTH REGULARLY.

BUT ON SLOWER DAYS, CARS STRANDED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE LAKE MUST ALERT THE DISTANT FERRYMEN BY MEANS OF A HOMEMADE SIGNALING CONTRAPTION.

YANK ON A ROPE AND AN ORANGE SQUARE APPEARS, ONLY THEN DOES JIM KNOW TO HEAD OVER.

PART OF THE CHARM OF A BUSINESS, WHOSE OWNER LIKES TO TAKE THINGS AS THEY COME.

>> THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DESIGNATED LANDING AREAS AT THE END OF EITHER ROAD ON EITHER SIDE OF THE LAKE, BUT THE WAY THE WIND IS AROUND HERE, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN MEANTIMES WHEN THE BARGE CAME TO LAND, PRETTY MUCH WHERE THE WIND WANTED IT TO AND NOT WHERE THE OREMEN WANTED IT TO.

I THINK IN 1949 OR 1950 WHEN THEY FIRST HAD THE CABLE SYSTEM, THE GUIDANCE SYSTEM, IT BROKE ONE DAY WITH TWO CARS ONBOARD AND THE TUG DRIVING WENT AROUND AND AROUND IN CIRCLES AND WOUND UP A GROUND OVER NEAR, ON THE NEW YORK SIDE.

ONE CARLOAD WAS A PAIR OF NEWLYWEDS.

THEY WERE FERRIED TO SHORE, CAME BACK FOUR OR FIVE DAYS LATER AND GOT THEIR CAR AND THEY ALSO CAME BACK30 YEARS LATER AND TOLD THE OPERATOR, A FRIEND OF MINE, ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE.

>> BYE!

>> WITH ALL THE CHANGES OF THE PAST 225 YEARS, ONE CORNER OF THE WORLD HAS MANAGED TO REMAIN JUST ABOUT THE SAME.

VERMONT'S MOUNTAINS WOULD STILL BE FAMILIAR TO THE 18th CENTURY TRAVELER.

AND THE BUILDINGS ON LARRABEE'S POINT DEFY THE EROSION OF TIME, YOU ABOUT THE CURRENTS HERE ARE SLOWER, COMPATIBLE WITH THE LIFESTYLE.

IT TAKES ABOUT SIX MINUTES TO CROSS, AND OF COURSE, THE VAST VARIETY OF PEOPLE COMES FROM REALLY FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, EVERY STATE AND SEASON, THERE IS EVERY STATE, AND 25 COUNTRIES.

I GET A LITTLE LANGUAGE PRACTICE.

FROM TIME TO TIME, ONE OR TWO THINGS, AND WE HAVE THE PEOPLE FROM FAR AWAY AND THE LOCAL FOLKS AND THEIR WEDDINGS AND WE HAVE THEIR FUNERALS NOW AND THEN, AND WE HAVE PEOPLE CROSS ON THEIR PRENATAL VISITS, AND THEY COME BACK WITH THEIR NEW BABIES.

AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, ANYTHING BUT BORING.

>> DRIFTING ALONG THE NARROWS OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN, THE FORT TI FERRY ENABLES JIM TO MAKE A LIVING AT A PACE OF HIS OWN CHOOSING.

THERE IS NO RUSH.

NO URGENCY TO GET THINGS DONE.

IT'S A WAY OF LIFE THAT SEEMS TO HAVE LEFT THAT WORLD BEHIND.

AND TO TRAVELERS WHO RIDE JIM'S FERRY BETWEEN THE TWO STATES, EITHER ON ROUTE 2 TO REDISCOVERING OLD, FORGOTTEN PAST OR JUST AS A DAILY COMMUTE, THE SIX-MINUTE RIDE IS A WELCOME RESPITE.

JIM BULLARD JUST WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY.

AS THE NORTHERN WINTER BEGINS ITS RELENTLESS ALTERATION OF OUR EVERY DAY LIVES, EVEN THE MOST PRACTICAL DOMESTIC CHORES BECOME MAGNIFIED OUT OF PROPORTION.

FOR EXAMPLE, WE VERMONTERS HAVE BUILT AN ENTIREETHIC AROUND THE VERY MUNDANE SUBJECT OF FIRE FOOD.

IN FACT, THE BACKYARD WOOD PILE IS BECOMING A MAJOR ARENA OF SELF GLORIFICATION AND COLD WEATHER MACHO, HAVING HAD HIS CLOSE BRUSHES WITH THE MASCULINE ALLURE OF WOOD SPLITTING, OUR RESIDENT LIFESTYLE COMMENTATOR, JIM, PLAYS A TRIBUTE TO THE VERMONT INSTITUTION OF WOOD PILE MANAGEMENT.

>> A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO I WAS OUT HERE SPLITTING WOOD USING NOTHING BUT THIS AXE.

A NEIGHBOR STOPPED HIS CAR AND TOLD ME, DROP BY THE HOUSE.

I HAVE SOMETHING FOR YOU THAT WILL MAKE THAT JOB A LOT EASIER.

I FELT PRETTY GOOD AT THAT.

I THOUGHT HE MIGHT HAVE ONE OF THOSE HYDRAULIC WOOD SPLITTERS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUSH A BUTTON AND A LOT COMES FLYING APART OR MAYBE ONE OF THOSE CONTRAPTIONS THAT YOU SEE AT THE FAIR WHERE YOU CAN JAM A PIECE OF WOOD ONTO THE AXLE OF THE CAR AND STEP ON THE GAS AND THE THING GOES SPLINTERING, AND WHEN I GOT UP TO HIS HOUSE, HE GAVE ME THIS.

AN EIGHT POUND SLEDGEHAMMER, AND A WEDGE.

THIS IS HARDLY STATE OF THE ART.

IT'S NOT EVEN A SPLITTING WEDGE.

BUT, YOU KNOW, THROUGH THE YEARS I HAVE CONTINUED TO USE THIS WAY TO SPLIT MY WOOD FOR ONE VERY GOOD REASON.

IT LOOKS GOOD.

I MEAN, LET'S FACE IT, MOST OF US DON'T JUST SPLIT OUR OWN WOOD FOR ECONOMIC REASONS.

OR JUST BECAUSE WE WANT TO GO AND WORK UP A SWEAT.

WE DO IT TO LOOK GOOD.

SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO FOR YOU TODAY IS GIVE YOU A FEW HINTS ON HOW TO LOOK GOOD WHILE YOU ARE OUT THERE SPLITTING YOUR FIREWOOD.

BUT THE FIRST HINT MIGHT SEEM LIKE A DETAIL BUT IT'S IMPORTANT.

IT'S THIS.

KEEP AN EYE ON THE SIZE OF THE CHIPS OF WOOD THAT ARE ON THE GROUND AS YOU ARE SPLITTING.

REMEMBER, IF YOUR CHAINSAW IS WELL SHARPENED AND MAINTAINED AND RUNNING PROPERLY, IT WILL THROW NICE, NICKEL-SIZED CHIPS TO THE GROUND.

IN THE WOOD LOT, A MAN'S VIRILITY IS MEASURED BY THE SIZE OF HIS CHIPS.

MY CHAINSAW THROWS SAWDUST THAT I HAVE TO KEEP CHANGING THE ANGLE AND ROCKING IT BACK AND FORTH TO GET THROUGH A LOT, SO WHAT I DO IS I GO OUT AND PICK UP SOME OF THESE INDUSTRIA-SIZED WOOD CHIPS, THEY ARE AVAILABLE LOCALLY, AND BEFORE I START SPLITTING MY WOOD, I TAKE A HANDFUL, AND SPRINKLE THEM AROUND ON THE GROUND.

AND THAT WAY, I KNOW THAT ONE IMPORTANT DETAIL HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF.

ANOTHER LITTLE LINT -- HINT I E GOT IS ALWAYS HAVE A PIECE OF ROTTED WOOD OFF TO THE SIDE AS YOU ARE SPLITTING.

THERE IS NO PROBLEM SPLITTING THIS ONE SO YOU KEEP IT THERE IN RESERVE, WHEN YOU HEAR A CAR GOING BY, ESPECIALLY WITH A NEIGHBOR THAT YOU KNOW, YOU PULL OUT THIS PIECE, AND PUT IT DOWN AND GIVE IT A SHOT AND IT GOES FLYING AWAY.

YOU LOOK GOOD AND YOU GIVE IT ONE OF THESE, AND HOORAY FOR THE NEIGHBOR AND YOU COME OUT SMELLING LIKE A ROSE.

MY THIRD, LAST HINT, MOST IMPORTANT HINT IS THIS, NEVER GET PERSONALLY INVOLVED WITH A CLUNK OF WOOD YOU ARE TRYING TO SPLIT.

LET ME ILLUSTRATE WITH A STORY.

A FEW YEARS AGO I WAS OUT HERE TRYING TO SPLIT A CHUNK OF ELM.

YOU PROBABLY KNOW IT IS TOUGH.

IT DOES NOT HAVE A NICE, SMOOTH FIBER LIKE MOST WOOD BUT IT'S GNARLED AND TWISTED LIKE A BOWL OF SPAGHETTI.

I HAD SUNK ONE WEDGE INTO THIS PIECE.

IT HAD NOT GIVEN.

I WAS THINKING MY SECOND ONE IN, AND IT WAS DINNERTIME, AND I WAS COLD, AND TIRED AND HUNGRY AND IT WAS STARTING TO RAIN, AND I VOWED THAT I WAS NOT GOING IN UNTIL THAT PIECE OF ELM SPLIT APART LIKE AN EGG SHELL.

ELM IS NOT ONLY TOUGH BUT SNEAKY.

EVERY TIME YOU HUT IT, IT COMES APART SO YOU THINK THAT YOU HAVE GOT IT, BUT I HIT IT TEN TIMES AND 20 AND 30.

IT DID NOT BREAK.

AND FINALLY I DECIDED ONE LESS SHOT WOULD DO IT.

SO I LIFTED MY SLEDGEHAMMER UP, AND WITH ALL THE POWER IN ME, I WENT DRIVING DOWN TOWARDS THAT WEDGE IN THE PIECE OF ELM USING GRAVITY AND MUSCLE.

I GOT CLOSER AND CLOSER, AND I MISSED THE PIECE OF WOOD, AND IT CAME BACK, AND THE SLEDGEHAMMER SKINNED MY KNEE.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE A PIECE OF SKIN TAKEN OUT AT MINUS TEN.

I GOT SO MAD I PICKED UP THAT SLEDGEHAMMER AND HURDLE IT OVER THE PILE AND PICKED UP THE PIECE OF ELM AND STARTED RIPPING IT APART WITH MY BARE HANDS.

I WAS USING SO MUCH FORCE, THAT I TUCKED MY HEAD IN THERE BETWEEN THE TWO PIECES TOGETHER MORE POWER.

YOU PROBABLY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT.

MY SLIPPERY LAND LET GO, AND THE ELM WENT, AND I ASKED MYSELF THE QUESTION, AM I LIVING A LIFE?

OR IS THIS A GOOFY CARTOON?

>> FOR MORE CLASSIC PROGRAMS, VISIT VERMONTPBS.ORG/FROMTHEARCHIVES.