Applegate Trail Pioneers - Phoenix, OR - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

Located along the Pacific Highway 99 in Phoenix is a granite boulder with a plaque that reads:

In Honor of the Following Pioneers who in the Year
1846 Blazed the First Trail Through the Wilderness
of Southern Oregon and the Rogue River Valley

Lindsay Applegate — Robert Smith — John Jones
Jesse Applegate — Moses Harris — Samuel Goodhue
William Parker — Benit Osborn — David Goff
Henry Boygus — Levi Scott — William Sportsman
John Owens — John Scott — Benjamin Birch

The following text is taken from the National Park Service to briefly describe the history of this important trail into Southern Oregon:

The 1846 Applegate Trail—Southern Route to Oregon

The perilous last leg of the Oregon Trail down the Columbia River rapids took lives, including the sons of Jesse and Lindsay Applegate in 1843. The Applegate brothers and others vowed to look for an all-land route into Oregon from Fort Hall (in present-day Idaho) for future settlers. Additionally,

It was important to have a way by such we could leave the country without running the gauntlet of the Hudson’s Bay Co.’s forts and falling prey to Indians which were under British influence. -Lindsay Applegate

In 1846 Jesse and Lindsay Applegate and 13 others from near Dallas, Oregon, headed south following old trapper trails into a remote region of Oregon Country.

First they crossed the Calapooya Mountains, then the Umpqua Valley, Canyon Creek, and the Rogue Valley. They next turned east and went over the Cascade Mountains to the lakes of the Klamath Basin. The party detoured around the lakes and located the trail through canyons, over mountain passes, and across deserts, connecting the trail south from the Willamette Valley with the existing California Trail. In August 1846 the first emigrants to trek the new southern road left Fort Hall. With Levi Scott guiding the wagons, Jesse Applegate and others traveled ahead to mark the route. The trailblazers opened a wagon road through nearly 500 miles of wilderness, arriving in the upper Willamette Valley in December.

The Applegate Trail, part of the California National Historic Trail, contributed significantly to the settlement of southern Oregon.

Road of Trail Name: Applegate Trail State: Oregon County: Jackson County Historical Significance: The Applegate Trail was an alternate southern route of the Oregon Trail and was blazed from west to east, intersecting the California Trail at the Humboldt River. It is historically linked to the Oregon Trail in that it was developed as an alternative route into Oregon that avoided the obstacles of the Burnt River Canyon, the Blue Mountains, and the Columbia River. After its opening, Oregonians used part of the Applegate Trail to travel back and forth to California’s gold fields. As designated by Congress under the National Trails System Act, the Applegate Trail is a branch of the California National Historic Trail. Years in use: 1846-1869 How you discovered it: I visited the Southern Oregon Historical Society website which contains an interactive map and this historical marker is listed on the map so paid a visit when passing through. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: http://emigranttrailswest.org/trail-guides-for-purchase/applegate-trail-guide/ http://www.amazon.com/The-Applegate-Trail-1846-Documentary/dp/1889082007 http://www.amazon.com/Over-Applegate-Trail-Oregon-1846/dp/0936738812/ref=pd_sim_b_3 Website Explination: http://www.oregonhistorictrailsfund.org/trails/california-applegate-national-historic-trail-1846-1883/ https://www.octa-trails.org/articles/applegate-trail/ https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/applegate_trail/#.W4_1RuhKi71 https://emigranttrailswest.org/virtual-tour/applegate-trail/ Why?: These three routes were a major source of travel for settlers, men traveling to and from California during the California Gold Rush days and for commerce travel, i.e., men bringing food and supplies from one town/encampment to another. During the Gold Rush years, the Applegate Trail was used also to reach mining towns in northern California by way of the Lassen Trail, Nobles Trail, and Yreka Trail. Directions: This marker is located in downtown Phoenix and along the Pacific Highway 99 and at the SW corner of Hwy 99 and Oak St.

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