PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May June 2020

23 What pioneer became an influential Oregon legislator, founded the town of Yoncalla, and surveyed throughout the state? Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon  |  www.plso.org The Lost Surveyor Question Continues on page 24 T Photo 1: Jesse Applegate, Photo courtesy of the Jesse A. Applegate Collection, Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries. Photo 2: Applegate Trail kiosk located at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall, Oregon. Photo by Pat Gaylord. I n studying the American West and his- tory in general, it is always amazing how much ground one could cover in their lifetime, afoot and on horseback. Our Lost Surveyor in this story lives up to that mea- sure. He was a native-born Kentuckian who found his way to Oregon via the Or- egon Trail, following the promise of mild climates and green hills. At 18 years of age, he attracted the attention of the Sur- veyor General of Missouri and worked as a draftsman for several years. Like many surveyors, he found office work quite con - fining, and field surveying beckoned with adventure and the outdoors. He soon be- came a U.S. Deputy Surveyor, a position at which he excelled until leaving Missouri at the age of 32. By 1843, Oregon was calling. Striking out from St. Louis with his family, his two broth- ers, and their families, they arrived on the banks of the Columbia River near Umatilla. Tragedy struck as they navigated rapids near Celilo Falls, when a boat with his 10-year- old son and nephew was lost. This terrible loss of his oldest child was a defining mo - ment. It was one that would lead our Lost Surveyor, with the assistance of his brothers, to connect Klamath County to Polk Coun- ty and begin the settlement of the Rogue Valley. During his life in Oregon, he went on to become an influential Oregon legisla - tor, founded the town of Yoncalla, Oregon, and surveyed throughout the state, includ- ing an 1844 survey for Dr. John McLoughlin of a portion of Oregon City. The footsteps of this Lost Surveyor, Jesse Applegate, also connect the locations of numerous prior stories in this column. [Photo 1] After establishing his farm on Salt Creek, near Dallas in present day Polk County, Jesse Applegate sought to establish a safer route to Oregon. A southern route would completely bypass the hazards of the Co- lumbia River, which took the life of his son. In June of 1846, Jesse and his brothers be- gan their quest with a party of 15 men who set out from Rickreall, Oregon, and headed south to blaze a new trail for emigrants to follow to Oregon. [Photo 2] The route they opened traverses the Wil- lamette Valley from Rickreall to the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon. [Photo 3] Turning east and crossing the cascades, the trail passed Lower Klamath Lake, Tule Lake, [Photo 4] and intersected the Califor- nia Trail near the Humboldt River. [Photo 5] Although the trail had been located, it was not yet cleared and was far from a passable route for wagons. Nonetheless, Jesse recruit- ed more than 100 emigrants at Fort Hall, in present day southeastern Idaho, who tra- versed the route that first year. The first wagon train started over the trail in early August of 1846, and had to clear their own route while racing the arrival of winter snows. This led to prolonged con- troversy and vicious criticism from Jesse Quinn Thornton, who navigated the route that first trip. In February of 1847, Thorn - ton wrote a scathing letter to the Oregon Spectato r newspaper, apparently correct- ing a prior editorial article. His efforts to discredit Jesse continued over an extend- ed period, and by some accounts there are still hard feelings in the Rogue Valley today by descendants of those on the first wagon train over the Applegate Trail. While some members of that first group put down roots in the Rogue Valley, ultimately many were