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Oliver Cromwell Applegate was born in Oregon in 1845 to Lindsay and Elizabeth Applegate. He began his career in 1865 by assisting his father, who was subagent of the Indian agency at Ft. Klamath. During the winter months young Applegate taught in Ashland. In 1867 the governor of Oregon asked Applegate, who had become a captain in the Oregon Volunteer Militia, to lead a new militia of Indians, the "Axe and Rifle Company," to protect wagon trains and build a road to the Warm Springs Reservation. He became subagent at Yainax in 1871, where he remained until the outbreak of the Modoc War. During the Modoc War he served as a scout and an interpreter, and served on the Peace Commission that was proposed by his father.
After the Modoc War Applegate left the Indian Service and returned to ranching. In 1873, he became a U.S. Commissioner with local jurisdiction over crimes committed against federal law. In 1898 Applegate was appointed Klamath Indian Agent, and although he resigned in 1905, he continued to work with the federal government on Indian issues such as the Grande Ronde tribal status challenge. During this time he also established a real estate business. In his later years he was recognized as a pioneer figure, and was often consulted by historians and writers of western fiction. Applegate died in Oregon in 1938.
The Oliver Cromwell Applegate papers consist mainly of correspondence, with some miscellaneous bills, newspaper clippings, pension papers, documents and diaries.
The Correspondence is housed in Boxes 1–16. It is largely with various members of the ubiquitous Applegate clan, and is filled with local references, social and political. During the Modoc War Applegate carried on both official and unofficial correspondence. Major correspondents include: Lindsay Applegate, Elisha Applegate, Lucien B. Applegate, Robert S. Applegate, Sallie Applegate, Samuel E. May, Amos Rogers, Ivan D. Applegate, Samuel A. Clarke, Alfred B. Meacham, Jesse Applegate, Frances Fuller Victor, Seth R. Hammer, Binger Hermann, Eva Emery Dye, Will G. Steel, Davis Moses. A minor diary of Frank Applegate, 1868, is with the papers.
Bills and Receipts are stored in the Folder 1 of Box 17.
Miscellaneous Papers are filed in Box 17, Folders 2–7.
Diaries and Journals, including a diary of Frank Applegate, are housed in Folders 8 and 9 of Box 17, and Folders 1–4 of Box 18.
Newspaper Clippings relating to Oregon, the Applegate family and Applegate genealogy are stored in Folders 5–8 of Box 18.
The Pension Papers section includes correspondence and Senate bills as well as the cases of individual persons. It is housed in Boxes 19–23.
Subject Files, housed in Boxes 24–26, contain an assortment of documents relating to Cromwell's activities, including the Commercial Club and the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), and papers relating to Indian matters (such as the Indian Census), the Klamath Agency and the Modoc War.
The photographs series contains a few images of portrais.