 In 1844, Jesse Applegate started a farm in present-day Polk County, and also built a mill and worked as a surveyor, including surveying the site of Oregon City.During the elections for the Legislative Committee of the Provisional Government of Oregon 1845, Applegate was elected without his prior knowledge as the representative of Yamhill County (one of five counties in Oregon at the time).Soon, he was appointed, along with David Hill and Robert Newell, to draft a revision of the Organic Laws, eventually being voted and adopted by the settler population.