[5] The bridge had been under the control of the War Department when Representative Daniel Read Anthony Jr. of Kansas and Senator James A. Reed of Missouri passed a bill appropriating $50,000 for the purchase by the Justice Department of what remained of the superstructure and substructure.

The Justice Department would be able to use the bridge to access land on the east side of the river that could be farmed for food in the Leavenworth Penitentiary.

[7] The Leavenworth Times reported that there were twenty-five thousand people present for the opening of the bridge.

Trains of the Rock Island Line and the steamship Ella brought visitors for the day.

Speakers included Robert P C Wilson and Kansas Governor James Harvey.

Wright had been a general in the Army Corps of Engineers overseeing military railroad construction.

[4] The bridge is located 1+3⁄8 miles (2.2 km) north of town of Leavenworth, where the river was considered to be the narrowest.

[12] In 1893, the Terminal Bridge opened then became the primary crossing for rail traffic at Leavenworth.