It was part of a major land-based thoroughfare in pioneer times linking fledgling Portland with the pre-territorial government at Champoeg, and later Salem.

[2] The family cleared a path and laid a split log roadway north to Portland and south toward Salem.

[1] When word of the California gold rush reached the area in 1848, Alphonso and his sons headed south.

[1] Afterward, the ferry was owned and operated by several people for a few years, before it passed to Clackamas County.

The ferry crossing site is about 2,000 feet (610 m) west of I-5 and is visible from the southbound lanes of the Boone Bridge.