Applegate, Jesse (1811–1888), a United States pioneer. In 1843, as leader of the cattle column on the first great migration over the Oregon Trail, Applegate herded more than 3,000 head of cattle from Kansas to Oregon. He described this journey in A Day with the Cow Column in 1843 (1876). He later was active in Oregon politics and helped to open a southern wagon trail to Oregon. Applegate was born in Kentucky and in 1821 moved to Missouri, where he became a surveyor and farmer.