Was Johnny Appleseed real?
Yes, he was, although his given name was John Chapman. He was born near Boston in 1774 and died near Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1845. People called him Johnny Appleseed because he spent much of his life roaming the wilderness, where he planted orchards of apple trees and sold or gave the seeds to pioneers. He also planted medicinal herbs, but folks didnt call him Johnny Medicinal Herbs because it wouldnt fit on his drivers licence. OK, just kidding about the drivers license. In essence, he did what he did to help people: to give them sources of food and medicine. His wanderings took him far — to Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio — and he lived a simple life as he went. He slept outside, walked barefoot and ate wild foods from the land. Its said that he wore a tin pot for a hat. (I bet he got headaches in hailstorms.) Native Americans and pioneers loved him, and his kindness to animals was legendary. In the end he became an American folk hero. What can we learn from John
