Westward HO! ~ The “Johnny Appleseed” guy.
(Apple) Cider didn’t just stay put in the colonies… It began to move across the country as the colonists began to move westward. The biggest contributor to the expansion of apples and cider to the west was John Chapman. Also known as Johnny Appleseed himself. Legend has it that he had a great love of the apple and happily spread seeds throughout the Midwest, when in actuality John Chapman was a land prospector. Using his business savvy, he moved along from Pennsylvania to Illinois acquiring land where he planted nurseries and orchards and sold them to incoming settlers, making a profit.
All of his trees were planted from seeds giving him his nickname that we are familiar with today from as far back as elementary school.
*Noteworthy: planting all of his trees from seeds is what established the wide range of North American apple varieties we know today!
