Lindsey Applegate, the honorable son of a Revolutionary soldier with Colonial ancestry, was born in Kentucky on September 18, 1808. An explorer, soldier, and trailblazer, he came to the Oregon country in 1843 and, as an Oregon patriot, served in provisional, territorial, and state government. In 1846 he blazed the South Road, or Applegate Trail, which passed through this area. He died in Klamath County on November 20, 1892.