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Story: West Coast places

River crossing, 1940

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River crossing, 1940

Kevin Nolan drives a dray and horses across the Haast River in October 1940 – the usual way to cross unbridged rivers in those days. It was a hazardous way of transporting supplies and people, but it was to be more than 20 years before a one-way bridge was built across the Haast River.

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Alexander Turnbull Library, National Publicity Studios Collection

Reference: 1/4-015431; F (AAQT 6401, A3022)

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Simon Nathan, West Coast places – The far south, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21037/river-crossing-1940 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Simon Nathan, published 3 March 2009.