Alphonso Boone (November 7, 1796 – February 27, 1850) was an

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...

in what became the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. A native of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, he was the grandson of

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

, and lived much of his life in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. After immigrating to the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

, he established

Boones Ferry Boones Ferry (also Boone's Ferry) was a cable ferry which crossed the Willamette River near present-day Wilsonville, Oregon, United States, from 1847 to 1954. It was part of a major land-based thoroughfare in pioneer times linking fledgling Portl ...

across the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

south of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

near the present city of Wilsonville.

Early life

Alphonso Boone was born on November 7, 1796, in

Mason County, Kentucky Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Maysville. The county was created from Bourbon County, Virginia in 1788 and named for George Mason, a Virginia delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention kn ...

, to Jesse Bryan Boone and Chloe Van Bibber.Buschert, Arlene Curry
Alphonso Boone.
The Boone Society. Retrieved on June 19, 2009.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 32. The grandson of frontiersman Daniel Boone, he moved to Missouri where he lived in the mid-1820s in Montgomery County. Boone later moved to

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...

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 The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

. He married Nancy Linville, a second cousin, on February 21, 1822, and they had 10 children before her death in the early 1839. Boone then moved to

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1841 where he continued outfitting wagon trains.

Oregon

In 1846, Boone packed up his family and started west along the Oregon Trail himself, eventually taking the Southern Route to the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

. He started the journey with his brother-in-law

Lilburn Boggs Lilburn Williams Boggs (December 14, 1796March 14, 1860) was the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, known b ...

, former Missouri governor, but parted ways when Boggs headed for California. After reaching the valley, Boone took up a land claim along the

on the south bank between

Oregon City ) , image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845 , image_flag = , image_seal = Oregon City seal.png , image_map ...

and

Champoeg Champoeg ( , historically Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 398.) is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the W ...

. In 1847, along with his son Jesse, he established

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 Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

and Portland. Alphonso and some of his boys left in 1849 for the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. Alphonso Boone died in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

on February 27, 1850, along the

Feather River The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather R ...

near Oroville in Butte County. His daughter Chloe married neighbor and Oregon Territorial Governor

George Law Curry George Law Curry (July 2, 1820 – July 28, 1878) was a predominant American political figure and newspaper publisher in the region that eventually became the state of Oregon. A native of Pennsylvania, he published a newspaper in St. Louis, Miss ...

in March 1848. His son Jesse continued to operate the ferry until he was murdered in 1872. The ferry continued in operation until 1954.

References

External links

Biography of son Alphonso D. BooneJournal of the overland journey
-

Jesse Quinn Thornton Jesse Quinn Thornton (1810–1888) was an American settler of Oregon, active in political, legal, and educational circles. He served as the 6th Supreme Judge of the Provisional Government of Oregon, presented Oregon's petition for official territo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, Alphonso Oregon pioneers People from Mason County, Kentucky People from Montgomery County, Missouri People from Jefferson City, Missouri People from Independence, Missouri 1850 deaths 1796 births People from Wilsonville, Oregon People from Cole County, Missouri Alphonso People of the California Gold Rush

Early life

Oregon

See also

References

External links