 One of the first ferries operating in what is now Portland, Oregon was Switzler's ferry that crossed the Columbia River in 1846 between the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver and the south bank of the river.Then in 1848, Stephen Coffin established a ferry on the Willamette using a wooden platform over canoes.The Stark Street Ferry operated from 1855 until ferry traffic declined due to the opening of the Morrison Bridge in 1887, and the removal of tolls on the bridge in 1895.