18 Facts About Jesse Applegate

Jesse Applegate was an American pioneer who led a large group of settlers along the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country.

Jesse Applegate was an influential member of the early government of Oregon, and helped establish the Applegate Trail as an alternative route to the Oregon Trail.

Jesse Applegate was born in Henry County, Kentucky, on July 5,1811.

Jesse Applegate's farmstead lasted for twelve years, with the labor force primarily slaves from neighboring farms, despite Applegate not owning any personally.

Jesse Applegate became one of the leaders of the expedition after it split into two parties over a dispute about whether the large amounts of livestock being driven by some members of the group would slow down their travel.

Jesse Applegate's party became known as the "cow column" and the other party was called the "light column".

Jesse Applegate memorialized the journey in an essay that gained in fame in the ensuing decades, "A Day with the Cow Column in 1843".

In 1844, Jesse Applegate started a farm in present-day Polk County, and built a mill and worked as a surveyor, including surveying the site of Oregon City.

The Provisional Government had tense relations with the Hudson's Bay Company centered on Fort Vancouver across the Columbia River, and Jesse Applegate led the way for a political settlement.

Jesse Applegate created a new oath for members of the government that was inclusive for British subjects as well as American citizens.

The Cayuse War was one of the last series of events in Oregon that Jesse Applegate was active in.

Meek traveled to Washington, DC, to deliver a memorial written by Jesse Applegate appealing for military support.

Jesse Applegate wrote legislation that authorized him to survey a southern route to the Willamette Valley that would avoid the Columbia River.

Also known as the South Road, the Jesse Applegate Trail started at Fort Hall in present-day Idaho and followed the Humboldt River before crossing the Klamath Basin.

Jesse Thornton traveled along the trail in 1846, its first year, and later accused Applegate of starving his party to give him a stronger negotiating position for giving relief.

Jesse Applegate was however defended by men who surveyed the road.

Jesse Applegate settled on a land claim in the Umpqua Valley in 1849.

Jesse Applegate named the place Yoncalla after the local Indian tribe.