Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/414

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348
Lewis A. McArthur

Boones Ferry, Clackamas County. Alphonso Boone was a great-grandson of Daniel Boone, and came to Oregon in 1846. He operated a ferry across the WiDamette River just east of the present site of the Oregon Electric Railway bridge at Wilsonville, and the road leading south to this ferry from Portland was and still is, known as the Boones Ferry Road. Chloe Donnelly Boone, daughter of Alphonso Boone, married George L. Curry, one time governor of Oregon, for whom Curry County was named.

Boonesville Channel, Benton County. This is a branch of the Willamette River flowing on the west side of John Smith Island and Kiger Island, a few miles south of CorvalKs. Early maps of the Willamette Valley show the community of Booneville near this point and it is presumed that the channel was named for this community, but the writer has been unable to account for the difference in spelling.

Booth Hill, Hood River. Named for George Booth, an early settler in the Hood River Valley, who is said to have set out the first commercial orchard in the valley, and who sent 20 boxes of Newtons to the Buffalo fair in 1901 and he received a gold medal and sold the apples for $7 a box. It is reported that Booth settled near the foot of the hill in 1885. For many years travelers hesitated to attempt the muddy road up Booth Hill in the winter, but the Mt. Hood Loop Highway has solved the difficulty with some change in location from the old road. The name Booth Hill is now applied to the butte or hill that separates Hood River valley from the Parkdale district.

Boring, Clackamas County. The town of Boring was named after W. H. Boring, an old resident of the neighborhood. The district was known to old settlers as the Boring neighborhood, and in 1903 a town site was platted and called Boring Junction. The Post Office Department and the predecessors of the Portland Electric Power Company adopted Boring as the official name of the com-