Johnny Appleseed Heads West

Johnny Appleseed Heads West

Johnny Appleseed had the strongest legs and feet any man ever had. He was like a flying jackrabbit. He never wore shoes, but he could jump over the widest river in one giant leap.

Johnny was born around the time of the American Revolution and grew up in Massachusetts. He loved sitting under trees and eating apples. One day, he heard people talk of moving out West to live, and he knew they would need apples when they got there. Johnny gathered apple seeds and headed out West ahead of the settlers.

Johnny was a scrawny man. His arms and legs were as thin as tree branches but as strong as iron bars. Johnny wore an old cloth sack for a shirt, with holes cut out for his head and arms. He always carried his shovel and a bag of apple seeds that never seemed to run out. He was quite a sight-he even wore a cooking pot on his head!

Johnny loved nature more than just about anybody. He loved to walk from sunup to sundown and whistled wherever he went. Birds often followed Johnny to hear him make his music. Johnny understood everything the birds said and talked right back to them with his whistles.

Johnny's legs carried him lightning fast from one clearing to the next. Whenever Johnny came to a clearing, he'd stop, dig a hole, and put an apple seed in it. Then he'd push the pile of dirt back into the hole with his big bare feet. After planting seeds all day, Johnny would sleep under the stars. Apple trees as tall as Johnny would grow faster than weeds in the clearings. Johnny would smile as big as a pumpkin before racing on to a new place.