Jesse Applegate - Leta Neiderheiser Lovelace

A history of Oregon without Jesse Applegate would be like Exodus without Moses. Like Moses, Jesse led pioneers through the wilderness across the Oregon Trail in 1843. Like Moses, he was a lawgiver, and like Moses, when proper provocation occurred, he sometimes threw down the tablets.

Jesse Applegate, A Dialogue with Destiny gives a comprehensive historical perspective to the life of this interesting, complicated man who played a major role in the formation of Oregon.

Throughout his amazing life, he led the “cow column” of ’43 west to Oregon, wrote the constitution of ’45, played a major role in the solving of the Cayuse War, led the expedition to find a new southern route in ’46, and fought to keep Oregon free of slavery. But perhaps even more important was the moral compass he provided for the emerging Oregon society. Through his letters to editors of newspapers and to prominent political figures, he provided comment, council, criticism, and loyal opposition to those in power. Local, state, and federal leaders, as well as the historians of the day sought his opinions.

Leta Lovelace Neiderheiser is a great-great granddaughter of Jesse Applegate. She grew up in the small town of Drain, Oregon, just a few miles from Jesse Applegate’s donation land claim. Leta attended the University of Oregon and in mid-life went back to school and got her California teachers credential. She taught in the Rocklin, CA school district for a number of years, and retired in 2001. Leta is a member of the Oregon-California Trails Association, and the 2010 chair for the Oregon Historical Trails Advisory Council. She is the mother of two daughters, one son, and the grandmother of four. Today she resides in the Applegate Valley outside the quaint town of Grants Pass, Oregon.