Johnny Appleseed: A Legend Of Frontier Life (1954)

[Music] one of the good things about apples is apple cider folks have been drinking cider for I don't know how many years anyway about 150 years ago there was a cider press run by a young fellow named Jonathan [Music] Chapman Johnny was born in Massachusetts at the time of the American Revolution and he' traveled on foot to the bank of the Ohio river in Pennsylvania where he planted a big Orchard and had this cider press now when you press the cider out of apples what's left is called Mash many people threw away this Mash but not Johnny he went through it carefully picking out the very finest apple seeds and saving them that's how he got the name Johnny apple [Music] seed along the road in front of Johnny's House moved a growing stream of pioneer families heading Westward through gaps in the gagy mountains into the vast lands of the Ohio territory Johnny was never too busy to be [Music] friendly and no matter what the season of the year he always had apples to give away he also gave apple seeds to be planted around the new homes in the west when some said apples would not grow in such Wild country Johnny replied then it's no fit place to take women and children Johnny was one of the kindest men who ever lived all men were his brothers and all animals were his friends they were God's creatures and he loved them as he loved the apple trees he gave his seeds to hundreds of hearty Pioneers he wanted to see apple trees growing with a growing America When the Shine On the App tree and the PS hang heavy as they can be oh it's then that you should give thanks to John apple seed the one thing Johnny felt was just as important as apples was reading and his favorite reading was the Bible you see Johnny's love of apples was a part of his love of God The Story Goes that when he was born the first thing he saw was a branch of apple blossoms outside the window so apples were just naturally a part of his life Johnny said that if God had made no other fruit than the Apple his work would have been well done well for a while Johnny tended his Orchard in Pennsylvania but he was always on the lookout for people coming back from the Western Country the great lands to the West held a Fascination for Johnny and he was eager to hear all about that wonderful country and the settlers and how they were making out with the apple trees but the news was all is the same the settlers had their hands full clearing the land growing wheat and corn building their homes they had no time to nurse the tender apple trees a land without apples what seemed to Johnny that just couldn't be a land without apples was no land at [Music] all well if nobody else was going to plant apple trees and then Johnny knew what his life's work must [Music] be barefoot Johnny went into the Wilderness he carried a large sack filled with the finest apple seeds in his blouse was his Bible on his head he wore a stew poot for a hat he carried no gun but a spade an Axe and a hole tools for the work he had set out to [Music] do thus Johnny went alone Into the Wilderness where he found peace and happiness living close to Nature he had started on a mission that was to last all his life and make his name known throughout the land at Sunrise he would be up with the animals to continue on his journey all the animals were his friends some folks say that the animals spread the word among themselves that a man had come into the wilderness who carried no gun a man who wanted only that the world become a better place for all living [Music] creatures Johnny loved every moment he spent in the wilderness it was his road and his home as day after day he followed the Sun to the West when Pioneer folk first set eyes on Johnny they didn't know what to make of him children instantly knew that he was a friend but grown-ups just couldn't figure what brought this oddl looking man who traveled alone through the Wilderness without even a gun but they were quick to welcome him as a friend when they learned he had come to plant apple trees for them out here in this new country there were only wild bitter crab apple trees and the settlers longed for sweet apples so they were Mighty pleased to help Johnny find a good warm place to plant his seeds after clearing the land Johnny used his Spade to turn over the soil he used his hole to break it up he used his hands to work the soil fine to receive the seeds the seeds he had brought on foot all the way from Pennsylvania the seeds that looked so dead but that by the miracle of growth were to give Apples by the thousands to a land that had never seen apples before before he left Johnny told the children how to tend the seeds and the seedlings until it was time to transplant when he'd be back to help he would stay in one place till his work was done and then leaving good friends behind away he would go again Into the [Music] Wilderness it was a long way between settlements through wild and lonely country but Johnny was never lonely for the animals kept him company they knew he was no Hunter with a gun he carried only a spade an Axe and a hole often the birds flew with Johnny and he shared his food with with [Music] them and when Johnny wanted to play why for him the woods were full of [Music] Playmates in many a remote cabin Johnny found families who had passed by his home in Pennsylvania sometimes he would stay many days with one family helping them with their work and relieving the loneliness of The Long Dark evenings but soon he would ask now do you want some news fresh from heaven and he would read from his Bible the longer he lived and the farther he traveled the deeper became Johnny's faith in God and his love for all living things [Music] it was this same kind of love that Johnny gave to his apple trees as he traveled back and forth planting his seeds and resetting the seedlings it was long ago when our land was knew that the apple trees first in the wilderness grew and the folks all knew to give thanks to John apple [Music] seed in all kinds of weather the year around Johnny traveled thousands of miles through the Wilderness nobody knows what hardships he endured but in the time of apple blossoms they knew where he had been and they remembered his words that if God had made no other fruit than the Apple his work would have been well [Music] done now there were other people living in this young land of America who came to know Johnny's friendship the Indians like the animals knew that Johnny carried no gun word had spread among them that here was a man of Peace he was freely accepted among them even though some of their Customs were a little foreign to his taste Johnny told how the Indians often helped him and nursed him when he had a fever he was the one man trusted by both the Indians and white men and time and again he helped to make peace between them what sights Johnny must have seen as he traveled Into the Wilderness and out of the Wilderness back and forth across America tending his apple trees he would travel alone along the Indian Trails planting his trees along the way reading his Bible telling his tales making friends every [Music] day as time went on whenever Johnny returned to a settlement the folks gathered to welcome the man who had given them the apples Johnny was still a great talker he told about meeting Daniel Boone and about meeting another young fellow as lean as himself and a good six in taller this fellow was the best rail splitter in the whole country his name was Abe Lincoln whatever tale Johnny was telling folks always enjoyed listening and eaten apples till his last last days Johnny kept going in all he established more than 30 nurseries and helped more than 500 settlers in laying out and planting their Orchards his friends were everywhere white men red men animals and apple trees thousands upon thousands of apple trees and every tree a generous friend that gave not one but hundreds of apples when you take a bite or you bake a pie or you climb a limb and touch the sky you can thank your friend now sing the end John the apple [Music] seed