Johnny Appleseed
September 26 in 1774, it turns out, is the best day in the history of
everything. It was the day John Chapman, son of revolutionary war minuteman
(who fought in the Battle of Concord!), was born. Well known as enthusiastic,
tin-pot-hat-wearing, apple planting Johnny Appleseed, Chapman's life was more
than an over told fiction of a guy that went around randomly planting apple
trees. Still, the folk tale isn't that far off: he really did go around the
Ohio River Valley planting apple seeds. As a trained orchardist who found the
symbolic significance of apples interesting and sometimes really did walk
around with a tin pot on his head, it's not so farfetched that his life story
comes right after that of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. But it wasn't that he really wanted
apples all over the American frontier; he wanted land. By planting 50 apple
trees on a plot of land, Chapman had not only an orchard but also a claim on it
which he could sell off and make bank. He also didn't plant the same apple
trees we imagine. More like crab apples than normal ones, they were mostly used
to make cider. This less whimsical and more practical reasoning got left out
of the folk tale along with how he
provided the frontier with the means to develop a successful economy based on
alcohol. So yeah, Chapman was kind of a weird dude but he was actually pretty
important in the development of the country. Also the fact that he played a big
role in my development helps. But seriously, when you grow up listening to this
song, how could you not love him?
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