The Legend of the Apple Tree Man

The Legend of the Apple Tree Man

Do you like apples? If so, you have a very special man to thank─or so legend would have you believe. In 1774 when America was about to become a new nation, a man named John Chapman was born─a man who would change the face of the American frontier. Not much is known about his childhood or his family. However, history books do tell us that he went to school and became very skilled with plants. There was one plant, however, that John preferred above all other plants: the apple tree.

To him, the apple tree was a sign of hope─the way it blossomed in the spring and produced enough apples in the fall to feed a person for a full year. He was a Christian man and was interested in sharing his apple trees and his love for God. Since he had no wife or children, he decided to leave his home in Massachusetts and travel west to plant apple trees. Like many settlers, John had heard rumors that the soil out West was dark and rich and ready for a good planting.

This was all he needed to know to pack his bag. In his small bag, he carried a blanket, some apple seeds, his Bible, and a pot. It wasn’t much, but it was all he needed to survive. John moved from town to town, from plain to plain, from wilderness to wilderness, planting apple seeds. First, he would look for ground that was near water so the seeds would have something to drink. Then he would pull out the weeds or tall grasses from the soil, move large rocks and small stones, and then plow the field so the seedlings could plant their roots.

After the seedlings had broken through the soil, John would build a fence around them to keep animals from eating the baby trees. In time the trees would become tall and strong. Then John would sell the trees to settlers as they moved west. The settlers would plant and eat from the trees at their new homes.

After all of the trees were sold, John would move farther west himself and begin the plantings again. Many settlers paid him a penny or two for each tree. However, some settlers didn’t have any money and could only promise to pay him later. Other settlers were moving on and couldn’t make that promise, so they paid John with used clothing or free meals. John Chapman was loved by all the settlers who knew him. Wherever he traveled, people spoke about the Apple Tree Man or, as he is popularly known, Johnny Appleseed.