There was an interesting saga regarding this bridge's dismantling and reconstruction at Bridgeville. Shirley Gundlach thought he had purchased the bridge from Humboldt County and proceeded to dismantle and move the bridge to Bridgeville. After he dismantled and moved the bridge, he was informed that multiple bids were being accepted and considered and he was not the high bidder. On August 14, 1962, Mr. Gundlach worked out a deal with the high bidder to take ownership of the bridge. The comedy of the situation was not lost on the locals. The August 11, 1962 edition of the Eureka Humboldt Standard ran an article that started:
"Humboldt County has some loose bridgework today -- suspension type. It's not really missing, because everyone knows where it is, but the old bridge over the Mattole River near Petrolia isn't there any more, despite the fact the county hasn't actually sold it yet. The 'fiasco' as one county official termed it, boils down to the fact a man apparently thought he had purchased the ancient structure, had it torn down and moved, then discovered no one in county circles would admit to having given him the go-ahead. Removal of the bridge gave one supervisor, Melvin Bareilles, quite a start last Sunday when he journeyed to the Mattole to look the structure over and see if the purchaser was getting a good deal. When he got there the abutments were bare, so to speak. Bareilles' interest in the condition of the bridge stems from the fact the chagrined 'purchaser' is his brother-in-law, Shirley Gundlach of Bridgeville. Removal came as a complete surprise to him, he claims. Supervisor Elwyn L. Lindley within whose district the bridge is supposed to be located, did a 'double-take' on the bridge in Ferndale last Saturday. As he was walking down the main street of Ferndale with his wife, she noted a dismantled structure going by on a truck and commented it appeared a gas well drilling rig was being hauled away. Lindley gave it a glance and started to walk on, but then did the double-take and knew immediately it was the old bridge, with which he has been familiar since boyhood days. Charles Shaller, director of public works, says he gave no go-ahead to remove the bridge. However, he admits he 'sold' Gundlach the idea of obtaining the structure for access to subdivision land on the Van Duzen River. 'I've been trying to get rid of that old bridge for the past four years, and hadn't been able to do it anywhere,' he commented. 'I guess if any blame has to be laid on someone, it will have to be me, although I cautioned Gundlach not to remove the bridge until it was sold as required under the law.'"