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00:00 [music]
00:21 On the pages of American folklore, a legion of mighty men have left the symbols of their
00:26 ways. There was Paul Bunyan's axe, John Henry's hammer, David Crockett's rifle. And then,
00:37 quite unexpectedly, one comes upon a tin pot hat, a bag of apple seed, and a holy book.
00:45 And strangely enough, these are the symbols of one of the mightiest men of all, John Chapman,
00:51 a real life pioneer. With the passing years, however, reality has given way to legend.
00:58 Until today, we know this remarkable man simply as Johnny Appleseed. This is his story, told
01:05 by an old settler who knew Johnny well. Listen.
01:09 Well, sir, every time I see an apple blossom sky, I think of Johnny Appleseed. 'Cause of
01:15 course them clouds up there, they ain't really clouds at all. No, sir. Why, shucks, there
01:21 wouldn't be no apple blossom sky if it weren't for the fact that Johnny...
01:25 But now hold on here. Guess I better start back to the beginning. And that's when Johnny
01:32 lived on a farm near Pittsburgh town. The year was 1806, or maybe there around. Now
01:38 just to look at him, you'd say Johnny Appleseed never would make a pioneer. He was such a
01:44 sawed-off, scrawny little fella. Of course, that didn't faze Johnny none. Shucks, he had
01:49 his apple trees and the morning sun and the evening breeze.
01:53 The Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need, the
02:05 sun and rain and an apple seed. Yes, he's been good to me.
02:12 I owe the Lord so much for everything I see. I'm certain if it weren't for him, there'd
02:22 be no apples on this limb. He's been good to me.
02:29 Oh, here am I 'neath the blue, blue sky, a-doin' as I please, singin' with my feathered friends,
02:38 a-soarin' with the bees. I wake up every day as happy as can be, because I know that with
02:48 his care my apple trees, they will still be there. Oh, the Lord is good to me.
02:58 Workin', singin', carefree and gay. That's how Johnny spent each day, attendin' to his
03:04 apple trees. Lately, little Johnny here would feel a stir in the air, a rumblin', rollin'
03:13 underbeat of restless men with restless feet.
03:16 Rollin' west with plenty of room for you, plenty of room for you.
03:19 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, out to the grave unknown.
03:22 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, for you'll be left alone.
03:26 It ain't a hope before, we're startin' now again.
03:30 We ain't afeard of man or beast, we're strong-hearted men.
03:34 Oh, get in the wagon, rollin' west, seekin' a land that's new.
03:38 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, there's plenty of room for you.
03:42 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, out to the grave unknown.
03:45 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, for you'll be left alone.
03:49 The rivers may be wide, the mountains may be tall,
03:53 but nothin' stops the pioneer, the trailblazer's all alone.
03:57 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, out to the grave unknown.
04:01 Get in the wagon, rollin' west, for you'll be left alone.
04:05 You'll be left alone.
04:07 Poor Johnny. He warned no pioneer, and he knowed it.
04:11 It was all just pretend.
04:14 And them folks goin' west to build this nation
04:16 sure made pickin' apples look like a plum-useless occupation.
04:21 Well, sir, that's when a miracle happened.
04:25 "Well, what's holdin' ya, Johnny?" says a voice.
04:29 "Go on. Go on out west, if that's your choice."
04:33 Well, sir, it was an angel.
04:41 Johnny's own private guardian angel.
04:44 Might look mighty queersome to you and me,
04:47 but you know, that's just the way John figured he'd be.
04:52 "Well, speak up, boy. Don't stand there gawkin'.
04:56 Unlock your jaw and get to talkin'."
04:59 "Yes, sir." "Yes, sir."
05:02 "Why don't I go west?
05:05 'Cause I ain't got the muscle or the breath of chest.
05:09 How far's the strong men who survive,
05:12 and I'm about the puniest feller alive."
05:16 Shame to you, Johnny.
05:21 You got faith and courage and a level head.
05:26 But shucks. You see, sir, all I know is apple trees.
05:31 And what's wrong with apples, if you please?
05:34 Ain't they 'bout the finest fruit in all the land?
05:37 Why, why, shoot, man, they take the cake.
05:40 Just think, Johnny, of all the things that apples make.
05:44 There's, uh, apple pickles,
05:47 oh, so tasty apple tarts,
05:49 and apple pasty, apple dumplings, not to mention...
05:52 "Apple sass?"
05:53 Yes, and there's apple fritters, light as thistle,
05:56 and for folks to wet their whistle,
05:58 tangy apple cider in a glass.
06:01 Stew 'em, fry 'em, boil 'em, bake 'em.
06:04 "Apple pie and apple cake?"
06:05 Yep, you can cook 'em anyway.
06:08 There's apple this and apple that,
06:11 the recipes that fill your hat.
06:13 Why, I could carry on like this all day.
06:17 So pack your stuff and get a-goin',
06:20 get them apple trees a-groin'.
06:22 There's a lot of work out there to do.
06:26 There's a lot of work to do.
06:30 Yes, sir. I mean, no, sir.
06:33 You see, sir, I ain't got the tracks,
06:35 ain't got the gear,
06:37 or none of the things I'll need out there.
06:39 You ain't got the...
06:41 Good-gummin', boy, I'm ashamed of you.
06:45 You got the stuff to see you through.
06:47 Why, you got all the seeds you're needin',
06:50 and for pretty darn good-readin'.
06:53 There ain't nothin' finer than your book.
06:57 Here's a mighty handy bonnet,
06:59 even got a handle on it.
07:01 Turn it upside down and you can cook.
07:04 So come on, son, and get a-goin',
07:07 get them apple trees a-groin'.
07:09 There's a lot of work out there to do.
07:12 Oh, there's a lot of work to do.
07:17 Well, sir, that's how it all began.
07:23 That's how Johnny, all alone,
07:25 set out to meet the great unknown.
07:28 It was a mighty big and fierce place
07:33 for a man to face.
07:35 (music)
07:38 A little man, and all alone,
08:03 without no knife, without no gun.
08:06 And though the forest is dark and wide,
08:09 with fearsome critters on every side,
08:11 Johnny just kept walkin' on.
08:14 Walked until at last he found a little spot of open ground,
08:21 with fertile soil and warm some breeze.
08:25 A likely place for apple trees.
08:28 Now the varmints here, they couldn't know
08:32 if John was friend or John was foe.
08:35 So some took off in sudden flight.
08:38 And some got sucked to claw and bite.
08:43 But if Johnny seen 'em, he paid no heed.
08:47 Just got busy a-plantin' apple seeds.
08:51 (music)
08:54 Now them varmints come from everywhere.
09:08 Watched that man a-diggin' there.
09:10 Didn't like what they were seein'.
09:12 Didn't trust no human bein'.
09:15 (music)
09:18 Yep, that ornery human had to go.
09:27 But who was a-gonna tell him so?
09:29 Well, not a soul could answer that.
09:33 'Til here come along a black and white cat.
09:36 Now he warn't too bright, but he didn't much care.
09:40 He knowed he had a certain air about him.
09:45 (music)
09:48 (music)
09:51 (music)
09:54 (music)
10:02 (music)
10:11 (music)
10:20 (music)
10:23 (music)
10:31 (music)
10:48 Well, sir, that done it.
10:51 A critter's nair seed the beat of that.
10:57 The likes of a human a-likin' that cat.
11:00 Why, shucks.
11:02 This little man had went and busted every precedent.
11:05 He was the very first to come.
11:08 Without no knife, without no gun.
11:11 And so it was.
11:15 From that time on, every last livin' varmint was a friend to John.
11:20 They surely was.
11:23 ♪ The Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord ♪
11:29 ♪ For givin' me the things I need, soft and tender and sweet and deep ♪
11:35 ♪ And good to me ♪
11:38 (music)
11:41 (music)
11:44 Well, as time went by, Johnny kept right on a-plantin' his apple trees.
11:54 And makin' friends everywhere.
11:56 And his best friends was the pioneers.
11:59 For, of course, John was plantin' more than an apple tree.
12:02 He was plantin' his own boundless faith and courage, too.
12:06 And that give folks new heart, new hope in the job they had to do.
12:11 And as more and more pioneers come to push back the forest,
12:18 the kindly deeds of little Johnny Appleseed spread throughout the land.
12:23 And more and once, with a good old-fashioned jubilee,
12:26 folks would honor Johnny Appleseed and the fruit of the apple tree.
12:31 (music)
12:34 (music)
13:02 Now, sometimes, if John was a passin' by,
13:05 he'd mosey over and kinda look in on the doin's.
13:08 'Cause it sure tickled him to see how the fruit of his labors
13:11 brought all kinds of folks together and made 'em good neighbors.
13:14 Now, duck for the apple core in a row. Thank you, son.
13:17 Corners go. Apple core.
13:18 All aboard!
13:19 Right that apple to the core.
13:21 (laughter)
13:25 (whistling)
13:28 Ready now.
13:29 Now, the man left with the old left man.
13:31 Back he pointer, right left grand.
13:32 Whirl 'em right, whirl 'em wrong.
13:34 Straighten 'em out and charm 'em long.
13:35 Right and left, four in a row.
13:37 Suck 'em, cup 'em on a corner.
13:38 Go apple core.
13:39 All aboard!
13:40 Dancing the pretty girl's eye once more.
13:42 (laughter)
13:46 (whistling)
13:49 (music)
13:50 Come and get it!
13:51 The bitter's on the table set.
13:53 It's all waiting to be ate.
13:55 Come and get it!
13:56 (cheering)
13:59 (music)
14:05 Apple pickles.
14:06 Mighty tasty.
14:07 Apple butter.
14:08 Apple paste.
14:09 Apple duffel.
14:10 How'd you like some apple, Sam?
14:12 Yes, thanks.
14:13 Yep, Johnny did bring folks a heap of happiness.
14:17 Shucks, he weren't looking for thanks.
14:19 Didn't have time for it.
14:21 He knowed a man can't take no rest.
14:24 He aims to plant the whole darn wilderness in apple trees.
14:28 (music)
14:31 And so it was, for more than 40 years,
14:34 John walked and planted that old frontier.
14:37 (music)
14:43 (explosion)
14:45 Yes, sir.
14:46 40 years of walking and planting.
14:49 And in that space of two score years,
14:52 this little man, he throwed his shadow clear across the land.
14:57 Across a hundred thousand miles square.
15:01 (music)
15:05 And in that shadow everywhere,
15:08 you'll find he left his blessings three.
15:11 (music)
15:26 Oi! We're sleeping, you take the cake.
15:29 Come on, get up.
15:30 (whistle)
15:31 We got a lonesome trip to make.
15:33 Oh, why, Mr. Angel.
15:35 Howdy-do.
15:36 I'm fine.
15:38 And how be you?
15:39 I'm fine. Just feeling poor.
15:42 (music)
15:45 Who's that?
15:46 Sleeping in the evening dusk.
15:48 Why, that's just your husk, John. Your mortal husk.
15:51 My husk?
15:53 You mean to say I'm... I'm passed away?
15:57 (music)
15:59 Dagnabbit, Angel.
16:00 I just can't go.
16:01 Got crops to harvest, seeds to sow.
16:04 Now, now, now, hold on, boy.
16:06 Down here on Earth, your work is through.
16:09 But yonder, well, we need you, Johnny.
16:13 Yep, we sure do.
16:16 You think we have most all we please.
16:19 But we ain't.
16:21 We're kind of short on apple trees.
16:24 (music)
16:26 Well, I swan, I didn't know.
16:29 What are we waiting for?
16:31 Come on, let's go.
16:33 We're wasting time. Let's get it going.
16:36 Get them apple trees a-growing.
16:38 There's a lot of work up there to do.
16:41 Oh, there's a lot of work to do.
16:46 (music)
16:49 Well, sir, now you know the reason why
16:52 whenever I see that sarting sky, I think of little John.
16:56 'Cause it's like I said, if you recall,
16:58 them clouds ain't really clouds at all.
17:01 They're apple blossoms, if you please,
17:04 from John's heavenly orchard of apple trees.
17:08 (music)
17:10 And someday there'll be apples there
17:13 for everyone in the world to share.
17:18 The Lord is good for me.
17:26 (music)