The Applegate Trail was blazed through Klamath County in 1846 as an alternate, and hopefully safer route, to connect the Oregon Trail and California trail and bringing civilization to the beautiful wilds of the Cascade Mountains and the Southern Oregon.
Three brothers, Lindsay, Jesse, and Charles Applegate, while coming to Oregon on the original Oregon Trail lost 3 family members during a capsizing on the Columbia River just outside The Dalles. This tragedy made the brothers determined to save others similar grief and find a safer route to the Oregon Territory. So was born the Applegate Trail.
