Applegate Trail

File:Emigrant trails - Various emigrant trails showing California gold fields.svg

The Applegate Trail was an emigrant trail through the present-day U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon used in the mid-19th century by emigrants on the American frontier. It was originally intended as a less dangerous alternative to the Oregon Trail by which to reach the Oregon Territory. Much of the route was coterminous with the California Trail.

Background

{{Multiple image|image1=Jesse Applegate (1811-1888).jpg|caption1=Jesse Applegate|image2=Lindsay Applegate.jpg|caption2=Lindsay Applegate|total_width=250}}

In 1843, part of the Applegate family of Missouri headed west along the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country.{{cite web|last=Most|first=Stephen|url=http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=270|work=The Oregon History Project|title=Subtopic: Inhabiting the Land: The Applegate Trail|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|access-date=June 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219090643/http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=270|archive-date=February 19, 2015|url-status=dead}} Brothers Charles, Jesse, and Lindsay led their families through many hardships along the trail, including the loss of two children on the journey down the Columbia River. These experiences influenced the family to find an easier and safer way to the Willamette Valley.

In 1846, the Oregon Provisional Legislature allowed the Applegates and others to attempt to find a more southerly route to Oregon.{{cite book| last = Brown| first = J. Henry| title = Brown's Political History of Oregon: Provisional Government| url = https://archive.org/details/brownspolitical00unkngoog| publisher = Wiley B. Allen| year = 1892| page=[https://archive.org/details/brownspolitical00unkngoog/page/n314 292]}} The group began the trek on June 25, 1846, with Jesse Applegate, Lindsay Applegate, David Goff, John Owen, B. F. Burch, W. Sportsman, Robert Smith, a Mr. Goodhue, J. Jones, B. Ausbuan, and Levi Scott starting the survey. Leaving La Creole, the party spent three and a half months surveying a route to Fort Hall in present-day Idaho. At that location, the Applegate Trail departed the main branch of the Oregon Trail.Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Portland: Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 218–19. On the return trip, the group brought approximately 150 immigrants along the new southern route, also known as the South Road, South Emigrant Trail or the Scott-Applegate Trail.

Route

From Fort Hall, the route headed south following the Humboldt River before passing through the Black Rock Desert in present-day Nevada.{{cite encyclopedia| title = Applegate Trail | encyclopedia = Oregon Encyclopedia | publisher = Oregon Historical Society| year = 2021| url = https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/applegate_trail/ | access-date=April 27, 2021}} The trail then entered Northern California and passed Goose and Tule lakes. After crossing the Lost River, the route then crossed the Klamath Basin and the Cascade Range into Southern Oregon. The trail followed Keene Creek to the Siskiyou Mountains, then Bear Creek and the Rogue River. Heading north from there, the route crossed the Umpqua River before crossing the Calapooya Mountains into the southern Willamette Valley.

Subsequent history

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Applegate-Lassen Trail

| nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes

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| location = Rye Patch NW to California state line

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| added = December 18, 1978

| partof = Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area

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After the initial party traveled the trail, it continued to be used and improved over the next few decades. In 1848, when news of the California Gold Rush reached the Willamette Valley, many settlers including Jesse and Lindsay Applegate left Oregon for the gold fields and used the trail to reach northern California. On August 3, 1992, the Applegate Trail became a National Historic Trail as part of the California National Historic Trail.{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/archive/cali/cali.htm|title=California National Historic Trail|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=June 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603155241/http://www.nps.gov/archive/cali/cali.htm|archive-date=June 3, 2008|url-status=dead}} The Nevada section of the trail is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Applegate-Lassen Trail.{{NRISref|2010a}}

References

External links

[http://www.webtrail.com/applegate/index.html History of the Applegate Trail]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071017105722/http://canvocta.org/routes/route_Lassen.html Applegate-Lassen Route] at California - Nevada Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20050423220854/http://canvocta.org/deathsandgraves.htm Deaths and Graves On The Applegate-Lassen Trail] at California - Nevada Chapter of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA)
{{Oregon Encyclopedia|applegate_trail|Applegate Trail|LaLande, Jeff}}

Category:California Trail

Category:Oregon Trail

Category:Oregon Territory

Category:Historic trails and roads in California

Category:Historic trails and roads in Idaho

Category:Historic trails and roads in Nevada

Category:Historic trails and roads in Oregon

Category:History of the Great Basin

Category:Black Rock Desert

Category:Modoc Plateau

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Humboldt County, Nevada

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Pershing County, Nevada