Overview

""Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard"" illuminates the meaning of Johnny ""Appleseed"" Chapman's life and the environmental and cultural significance of the plant he propagated. Creating a startling new portrait of the eccentric apple tree planter, William Kerrigan carefully dissects the oral tradition of the ""Appleseed"" myth and draws upon material from archives and local historical societies across New England and the Midwest. The character of Johnny Appleseed stands apart from other frontier heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, who employed violence against Native Americans and nature to remake the West. His apple trees, nonetheless, were a central part of the agro-ecological revolution at the heart of that transformation. Yet men like Chapman, who planted trees from seed rather than grafting, ultimately came under assault from agricultural reformers who promoted commercial fruit stock and were determined to extend national markets into the West. Over the course of his life John Chapman was transformed from a colporteur of a new ecological world to a curious relic of a pre-market one. Weaving together the stories of the Old World apple in America and the life and myth of John Chapman, ""Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard"" casts new light on both.

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9781421407296

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This coverage provides a satisfying blend of frontier history, agricultural and business insights, and American history and is a powerful pick for a range of holdings, from those strong in agricultural or American history to home and garden collections. Midwest Book Review 2013 This book takes away the dross of mythology, but replaces it with the realistic humanity of a most fascinating unique American... Highly recommended. Choice 2013 This slim volume does many things well... In just one paragraph, the author spans five centuries of agricultural change from competing 17th century European and Native American conceptions of land ownership to the recent introduction of cleverly marketed boutique apples from South America. This breadth of argument and free interplay between topic and period are a refreshing change from the microscopic studies that have become the bread-and-butter of specialized historical journals. -- Dave Grettler Northwest Ohio History 2013

This coverage provides a satisfying blend of frontier history, agricultural and business insights, and American history and is a powerful pick for a range of holdings, from those strong in agricultural or American history to home and garden collections. Midwest Book Review 2013

Author Information

William Kerrigan is Arthur G. and Eloise Barnes Cole Distinguished Professor of American History at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio.

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