HOME     INDEX

22

dying that were becoming so numerous as to becoming a problem of major significance. By the standards of today, that was a disaster area.

Trouble was heaped on trouble at The Dalles, for that was literally an end of the wagon trail. Beyond that point were only the crude Indian trails traversing the Cascade Mountains, over which wagons could not travel. These emigrants bound for the Willamette Valley were forced to either leave their needed vehicles at that point or take those wagons apart and float down the Columbia River on hastily made crude rafts and that was both a difficult and dangerous undertaking. There was, reportedly, one other way of getting down the river and on to the Willamette Valley but that was beyond the means of all but a few of the travelers. For a one hundred-dollar fare, a boat could be hired to take a wagon and its occupants on down the river. But very few had any money that far along in the journey. And so the weary traveler met one more disappointment on his way to the promised land.

Why hadn't the Federal Government done something about This situation? Settlement of this western territory would seem to be an important enough thing to have warranted the construction of some roadways so that the early settlers could have reached their destinations. Some effort was made in that direction but the allocations of money were so small that the projects could never be started.

There had to be another way. Finding a new route into the Willamette Valley gave rise to the Barlow Trail, south of Mount Hood but that had been stopped short of the Cascade Summit and it wasn't certain that it could be extended on into the settlements before the 1846 emigrants' arrival. Other attempts to make a route to the settlement also ended in failure so the situation was becoming more desperate each day.

Sometimes in the moments of greatest despair, men have rallied to a worthy cause and have won a battle. This cause was instrumental in gathering fifteen stalwart men that set out from La Creole (now Rickreall) near the present town of Dallas, Oregon, undertaking to locate a route from the Willamette Valley through Southern Oregon down to about the boundary between Oregon and California and then generally eastward to link-up with the Ore-gon Trail and intercept the 1846 emigrants at that point This group was headed by Jesse Applegate, a man personally motivated by the personal loss and suffering that came to his family while they traveled the Oregon Trail at an earlier date. Applegate was a qualified civil engineer and so was very well equipped to explore and find a route through the wilderness. He was supported by two able lieutenants in the persons of Levi Scott and David Goff and had a dozen other men picked for their many abilities and talents for exploration and trail finding.

These road-hunters met their match with this virgin wilderness and the problems that they encountered took toll of their time and much needed food supplies. They were running behind time because of their wanderings while in search of the Humboldt River and the food was getting very low. A bacon rind was their last meat and so they boiled it three different times and thickened the soup with flour to make gravy. Then finally they ate the rind and were completely out of meat. Fortunately, they came upon others with good supplies and completed their mission by reaching their destination.

The Applegate Party found their way to the point of interception of the emigrants on the Oregon Trail but their route was somewhat different than an original, plan because of some detours they had to make to go around mountains and other physical features that stood in their way. Thus an alternate route was found to the Willamette Valley and one that would allow the wagons to travel all the way. It proved to be a saving route for the most part and the route our family took on the following year.

(- 22 -)