View source for Applegate Trail

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
[[File:Emigrant trails - Various emigrant trails showing California gold fields.svg|right|frame|The main route of the Oregon Trail (green line) and California Trail (thick red line), including the Applegate Trail (northernmost thinner red line)]]

The '''Applegate Trail''' was an [[Westward Expansion Trails|emigrant trail]] through the present-day [[U.S. state]]s 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]].<ref name=ohp>{{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}}</ref> Brothers Charles, [[Jesse Applegate|Jesse]], and [[Lindsay Applegate|Lindsay]] led their families through many hardships along the trail, including the loss of two children on the journey down the [[Columbia River]].<ref name=ohp/> These experiences influenced the family to find an easier and safer way to the [[Willamette Valley]].<ref name=ohp/>

In 1846, the [[Oregon Provisional Legislature]] allowed the Applegates and others to attempt to find a more southerly route to Oregon.<ref name=brown>{{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]}}</ref> 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 (Oregon politician)|Levi Scott]] starting the survey.<ref name=ohp/><ref name=brown/> Leaving [[La Creole]], the party spent three and a half months surveying a route to [[Fort Hall]] in present-day Idaho.<ref name=Oregon/> At that location, the Applegate Trail departed the main branch of the Oregon Trail.<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Portland: Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 218&ndash;19.</ref> On the return trip, the group brought approximately 150&nbsp;immigrants along the new southern route, also known as the '''South Road''', '''South Emigrant Trail''' or the '''Scott-Applegate Trail'''.<ref name=Oregon/>

==Route==

From Fort Hall, the route headed south following the [[Humboldt River]] before passing through the [[Black Rock Desert]] in present-day Nevada.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The trail then entered [[Northern California]] and passed [[Goose Lake (Oregon–California)|Goose]] and [[Tule lake]]s.<ref name=ohp/> After crossing the [[Lost River (California)|Lost River]], the route then crossed the [[Klamath Basin]] and the [[Cascade Range]] into [[Southern Oregon]].<ref name=Oregon/> The trail followed Keene Creek to the [[Siskiyou Mountains]], then [[Bear Creek (Rogue River)|Bear Creek]] and the [[Rogue River (Oregon)|Rogue River]].<ref name=Oregon/> Heading north from there, the route crossed the [[Umpqua River]] before crossing the [[Calapooya Mountains]] into the southern Willamette Valley.<ref name=Oregon/>

==Subsequent history==
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = Applegate-Lassen Trail
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| location             = [[Rye Patch Reservoir|Rye Patch]] NW to [[California]] state line
| built                = 
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| architecture         = 
| added                = December 18, 1978
| partof = [[Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area]]
| designated_nrhp_type = 
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| refnum               = 78001722
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After the initial party traveled the trail, it continued to be used and improved over the next few decades.<ref name=Oregon/> 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.<ref name=ohp/> On August 3, 1992, the Applegate Trail became a [[National Historic Trail]] as part of the [[California National Historic Trail]].<ref>{{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}}</ref> The Nevada section of the trail is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as the '''Applegate-Lassen Trail'''.<ref>{{NRISref|2010a}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[Barlow Road]]
*[[Huntington Wagon Road]]
*[[Meek Cutoff]]
*[[Mormon Trail]]
*[[Oregon-California Trails Association]]
*[[Oregon Historic Trails Advisory Council]]
*[[Santiam Wagon Road]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==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}}

{{Nevada State Historic Places/Humboldt}}
{{Nevada State Historic Places/Pershing}}
{{Nevada State Historic Places/Washoe}}
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
{{California history}}

[[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]]
[[Category:Transportation in Humboldt County, Nevada]]
[[Category:Transportation in Jackson County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Transportation in Klamath County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Transportation in Modoc County, California]]
[[Category:Transportation in Pershing County, Nevada]]
[[Category:1846 establishments in Alta California]]
[[Category:1846 establishments in Oregon Country]]
[[Category:Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in Nevada]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Nevada]]
[[Category:Eponyms]]