Jesse Applegate | |
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| Member of theProvisional Legislature of Oregon | |
| In office 1845–1845 | |
| Preceded by | none |
| Constituency | Yamhill District |
| Member of theProvisional Legislature of Oregon | |
| In office 1848–1849 | |
| Succeeded by | position dissolved |
| Constituency | Polk District |
| Member of theOregon Constitutional Convention | |
| In office 1857 | |
| Constituency | Umpqua County |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 5, 1811 |
| Died | April 22, 1888(1888-04-22) (aged 76) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Cynthia Ann Parker |
| Relations | Lindsay Applegate (brother) Oliver Cromwell Applegate (nephew) |
| Occupation | farmer |
Jesse Applegate (July 5, 1811 – April 22, 1888) was an Americanpioneer who led a large group of settlers along theOregon Trail to theOregon Country. He was an influential member of the early government of Oregon, and helped establish theApplegate Trail as an alternative route to the Oregon Trail.
Jesse Applegate was born inHenry County, Kentucky, on July 5, 1811.[1] In 1821, he moved with his family toMissouri where he soon was employed in the law office ofEdward Bates.[2] He attendedseminary inIllinois, worked as a schoolteacher, clerk, and deputysurveyor to the Missouri Surveyor General, where he metJedediah Smith,William Sublette, andDavid Edward Jackson—men who were instrumental in blazing theOregon Trail. Applegate married Cynthia Ann Parker on March 13, 1831, and settled outsideOsceola, Missouri, on theOsage River the next year.[3] His farmstead lasted for twelve years, with the labor force primarily slaves from neighboring farms, despite Applegate not owning any personally.[2]
Along with his brothersCharles andLindsay and their families, he joined what became known as the "Great Migration of 1843" on the Oregon Trail. He 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. Applegate's party became known as the "cow column" and the other party was called the "light column".[4] He memorialized the journey in an essay that gained in fame in the ensuing decades, "A Day with the Cow Column in 1843".
After leaving their guideMarcus Whitman at his mission and abandoning their wagons atFort Walla Walla, the Applegate brothers built boats for traveling down theColumbia River toFort Vancouver. NearThe Dalles, a boat capsized and Jesse and Lindsay each lost a son to drowning. Lindsay later wrote, "We resolved if we remained in the country, to find a better way for others who might wish to emigrate."
In 1844, Jesse Applegate started a farm in present-dayPolk County, and also built a mill and worked as a surveyor, including surveying the site ofOregon City. During the elections for the Legislative Committee of theProvisional Government of Oregon 1845, Applegate was elected without his prior knowledge[5] as the representative ofYamhill County (one of five counties in Oregon at the time).[6] Soon, he was appointed, along withDavid Hill andRobert Newell, to draft a revision of the Organic Laws, eventually being voted and adopted by the settler population.[7]
The Provisional Government had tense relations with theHudson's Bay Company centered onFort Vancouver across the Columbia River, and Applegate led the way for a political settlement. He created a new oath for members of the government that was inclusive for British subjects as well as American citizens. In a meeting withJohn McLoughlin andJames Douglas, the Yamhill legislator was able to induce the men to join the Provisional Government. A previous episode of an American squatting on Fort Vancouver's farmland and his subsequent threat of burning the Fort down helped produce the agreement.[5] The Provisional Government was to tax the Hudson's Bay Company only on transactions with the settlers.[8] Douglas was one of the judges elected to the newly established Vancouver district, encompassing the lands of north of the Columbia. Upon hearing of an upcoming battle between two men over a woman, Applegate was able to get dueling banned.[9]
TheCayuse War was one of the last series of events in Oregon that Applegate was active in. After theWhitman massacre, a commission led by Applegate contacted Douglas to request a loan from the HBC,[10] to fund amilitary intervention. Douglas stated that he was not authorized to make a loan, but recommended the peace keeping mission ofPeter Ogden sent to the Cayuse. A loan of $999.41 was raised from the contributions of Applegate,Asa Lovejoy andGeorge Abernethy, with others raised as well.[11] Due to the isolation of the settler communities in the Willamette ValleyJoseph Meek and Applegate were appointed to request aid from other parts of the United States. Meek traveled toWashington, D.C., to deliver a memorial written by Applegate appealing for military support.[2] While attempting to reach his destination of California, Applegate had to turn back due to the mountain passes being impossible to traverse in the winter.[11]
A safer alternative to boating the Columbia River was still needed for settlers wishing to reach theWillamette Valley. TheBarlow Road was safer than the river passage, but was considered to be worst stretch of the entire Oregon Trail. Another attempt at finding an alternate route, theMeek Cutoff, resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people. Applegate wrote legislation that authorized him to survey a southern route to the Willamette Valley that would avoid the Columbia River.Daniel Waldo, one of Applegate's fellow emigrants from the Great Migration of 1843, was made the expedition's outfitter. Also known as the South Road, the Applegate Trail started atFort Hall in present-dayIdaho and followed theHumboldt River before crossing theKlamath 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.[12] Applegate was however defended by men who surveyed the road.[13]
Applegate settled on aland claim in theUmpqua Valley in 1849. He named the placeYoncalla after the localIndian tribe. In 1857, he representedUmpqua County at theOregon Constitutional Convention though he withdrew from the gathering before it was complete.[2] In an address in 1865, Applegate expressed a then-progressive position that "Every member of the commonwealth, no matter of which sex, what color or where born, if free from the tutelage imposed by the domestic relations should have the right to vote, if morally and mentally qualified to do so."[2] Applegate died on April 22, 1888, and is buried in a small private cemetery near Yoncalla, Oregon with his wife.[14]
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