Alphonso Boone was an American pioneer in what became the state of.
Background
A native of Kentucky, he was the grandson of Daniel Boone, and lived much of his life in Missouri. Alphonso Boone was born on November 7, 1796, in Mason County, Kentucky, to Jesse Bryan Boone and Chloe Van Bibber. The grandson of frontiersman Daniel Boone, he moved to Missouri where he lived in the mid-1820s in Montgomery County.
Career
After immigrating to the Country, he established Boones Ferry across the Willamette River south of Portland near the present city of Wilsonville. Boone later moved to Jefferson City in Cole County where he ran a trading post in the 1830s to early 1840s. There he supplied emigrants preparing to cross the Great Plains on the Trail.
Boone then moved to Independence in 1841 where he continued outfitting wagon trains.
In 1846, Boone packed up his family and started west along the Trail himself, eventually taking the Southern Route to the Willamette Valley. He started the journey with his brother-in-law Lilburn Boggs, former Missouri governor, but parted ways when Boggs headed for California.
After reaching the valley, he took up a land claim along the Willamette River on the south bank between City and Champoeg. In 1847, along with son Jesse, he established Boones Ferry across the river.
The community of Boones Landing began around the north ferry landing, which later became the city of Wilsonville.
The road leading to the ferry landing from the north was cleared by the family and became known as Boones Ferry Road, which still exists today. The route and ferry became an important transit point between Salem and Portland. Alphonso and some of his boys left in 1849 for the California Gold Rush.
Alphonso Boone died in California on February 27, 1850, along the Feather River near Oroville in Butte County.
Son Jesse continued to operate the ferry until his murder in 1872, and the ferry continued in operation until 1954.