The Applegate Trail crossed the present boundary of Oregon approximately three miles southeast of here and went around the northern end of the lake that covered much of the basin, passing close by this location. The route was opened in 1846 by trailblazers from the northern part of the Willamette Valley, including Jesse and Lindsay Applegate, Levi Scott, and others, and was first used that fall by pioneers coming from the States. It was developed as an alternative way to reach the western valleys of Oregon while avoiding the perils of the Columbia River route. In the fall of 1848, a portion of the trail was used by Perter H. Burnett, who led more than 150 men and fifty heavily loaded wagons from the area of Oregon City, Oregon, to the goldfields of California. They left the Applegate Trail about eight miles south of here and established a new route into the Sacramento Valley, the first wheel route connecting the western valleys of Oregon and California. In 1852, pioneers from the East opened a route off the Applegate Trail from the southern end of Lower Klamath Lake to the Yreka area of northern California.