The Applegate Trail was wilderness trail through today's Nevada, northern California, and Oregon, and was originally intended as a less dangerous route to the Oregon Territory. U.S. Route 99 through Oregon (now Oregon Highway 99) and Interstate 5 both follow the trail's route.
HistoryIt was blazed in 1846 as an alternate, & hopefully safer route to Oregon. Three brothers, Lindsay, Jesse, and Charles Applegate and their extended families came to Oregon on the original Oregon Trail during the first major migration in 1843. As the party was rafting through the rapids on the Columbia River, one of their rafts capsized in the current and three family members Drowned. This tragedy made the brothers determined to save others similar grief & find a safer route to the Oregon Territory.
By the Spring of 1846, the brothers had settled in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Charles stayed home to care for the family & land. Lindsay and Jesse, along with Levi Scott and ten others formed a scouting party to be known as the South Road Expedition. On 20 Jun 1846, they left La Creole Creek (now Rickreall) near Dallas, Oregon on their journey south. They traveled down the Willamette Valley through what is now Corvallis, Oregon and Eugene, Oregon. They continued on to just south of Ashland, then turned east, reaching Greensprings Mountain about where Highway 66 crosses today. On they traveled across Oregon & Nevada until they reached the Humboldt River, then they turned north along the river for 200 miles.
Jesse Applegate was chosen to lead the party continuing onto Fort Hall, Idaho to get supplies and inform emigrants about the new trail. The others proceeded up the Humboldt to where Winnemucca is now and set up a rendezvous and rested the stock. The Applegate Trail runs from Humboldt, Nevada to Dallas, Oregon. Near Humboldt it joins the California Trail, running from near Fort Hall, Idaho to the gold country of California.
Main route of Oregon Trail (green line) and California Trail (thick red line), including Applegate Trail (northernmost thinner red line)On 9 Aug 1846 a group of as many as 100 wagons set out from Fort Hall to cross the new Applegate Trail. In Sept, the first of the wagons left the Humboldt River and headed across the Black Rock Desert. Next the wagons rolled into Surprise Valley, then onto Goose Lake and Tule Lake. The party crossed the Lost River on a natural stone bridge, the bridge & a marker to record the expedition are near Merrill, Oregon. The wagons then swung South-West around lower Klamath Lake and on towards Greensprings (in the South-East corner of what is now Jackson County).
Using the historic Siskiyou Trail, Levi Scott led the wagon train on from present day Ashland, Oregon towards the Willamette Valley. The rains had started by the time the wagons reached the Rogue Valley and from here on it would be either rain or snow for weather conditions. It then went through Rock Point, Oregon and Sunny Valley, Oregon. The wagon train continued through the South-Western valleys of Oregon until they reached their final destination in the Willamette Valley. The group had survived much hardship & trouble, but they created a new passage to the Oregon Territory that would be used for many years.
In 1853 alone over 3500 men, women, & children took this route. The Applegate was designated a National Historic Trail by the U.S. Congress on Aug 3, 1992. Known as the southern route of the Oregon Trail, the Applegate Trail provided an alternative for settlers who wanted to avoid the perils of the Columbia River. Not all settlers appreciated the trail some even felt the Applegates had hindered rather than helped them on their way.
References for this articleRelated articles - Historic trails and roads in the United States, History of Oregon, United States history
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- This page was last modified by Admin. Previous modification to this article was done on 04:24, 4 Dec 2006 by Wikipedia user Katr67. Based on work by Wikipedia user(s) NorCalHistory, Jnk, Scott5114, That Guy, From That Show!, Khatru2, Mangojuice, Jwalte04, Bluemoose and Gazpacho & Anonymous user(s) of Wikipedia. Click here to view authors profile Pub date - 2009-05-15 10:39:37
- Last Day: Ashland to Duvall
- Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:30:00 GMT - The reason I wanted to stop was because I happen to like covered bridges but this particular covered bridge was on the what's known as the Grave Creek Ranch which was on the Applegate trail. The Applegate trail was the southern route ...
- Father's Day Outing
- Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:43:00 GMT - For Father's Day, Bryan wanted to go to the Applegate Trail Museum in Sunny Valley. We enjoyed learning more about the history of our area and the Applegate Trail. The museum was small but enjoyable. The man running it was a little odd, ...
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