Applegate Trail

[1] 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.

[2] 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.

[1][2] Leaving La Creole, the party spent three and a half months surveying a route to Fort Hall in present-day Idaho.

[3] From Fort Hall, the route headed south following the Humboldt River before passing through the Black Rock Desert in present-day Nevada.

[3] 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.

The main route of the Oregon Trail (green line) and California Trail (thick red line), including the Applegate Trail (northernmost thinner red line)