The Legend of Johnny Appleseed
JOHNNY APPLESEED
Cast List Narrator 1 Narrator 2 Narrator 3 Mr. Chapman Mrs. Chapman John Chapman Nate Chapman Persis Abner Lucy Patty Sally Elizabeth 1
JOHNNY APPLESEED
Cast List Pierly Mary Avis Davis Tecumseh Tenskwatawa Halema Mr. Peet Mrs. Peet Gemma Mr. Kutcher Mrs. Kutcher Mr. Greene 1
JOHNNY APPLESEED
Cast List Betsy Abe Mr. Corbett Mr. Crawford Mrs. Crawford _____________________________________ Mr. Smith
1
John Chapman
Avis Chapman
Mr. Kutcher
Pierly Chapman
Mr. Crawford
Davis Chapman
Mary Chapman
Nate Chapman
Persis Chapman
Abner Chapman
Patty Chapman
Sally Chapman
Elizabeth Chapman
Tecumseh
Jonathan Chapman
Halema
ďż˝
Tenskawata
Mr. Corbett
Gemma
Mr Smith
Mr Greene
Mrs. Chapman
Mrs. Crawford
Mr. Chapman
Betsy
Narrator 1
Mrs. Kutcher
Narrator 2
Mr. Peet
Narrator 3
Mrs. Peet
Abe
Johnny Appleseed
Scene 1: Setting:
The Ancestral Lands of the Shawnee Ohio River in the late 1700s
Tenskwatawa:
We have killed nearly 100 bears this summer.
Tecumseh:
Too many
Halema:
but not enough for the white man.
Tenskwatawa:
Look down across the valley. Another wagon.
Halema:
More white men. And now they bring their families.
Tecumseh:
It used to be only fur traders. They came here for the hunting season, bought their skins and left.
Tenskatawa:
Now, look at them. Look at all the stuff they’re bringing with them! These people have come to stay.
Tecumseh:
But even we don’t stay here. Once the cold winds come, the animals head south and we follow them. Can they really plan to spend the winter in these parts?
Halema:
Mother Earth will teach them. When the icy winds whip their skins and the snow comes up to their knees, they’ll leave. Or else they’ll die.
2
Johnny Appleseed
Tenskatawa:
Here come the traders.
Mr Corbett:
Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, Halema! It’s good to find you so well. It’s been too long.
Halema:
Not long enough!
Tecumseh:
(to Halema) Be quiet, Halema. We have come to trade, not to argue.
Tenskawata:
Our men have hunted 100 bears. 100 skins.
Mr.Greene:
And beavers? How many have you hauled?
Tecumseh:
The same number.
Mr. Greene:
It’s beavers that are still in demand, friends. That waterproof beaver skin is essential to keep farmers warm and dry in all kinds of weather.
Halema:
Wait until these white families try to survive the winter out here in the plains. These bear skins will be essential to their survival.
Mr. Corbett:
No doubt.
Tenskawata:
What will you pay us for this haul?
Mr. Greene:
Tenskawata! Tecumseh! I’m surprised at you.
Mr. Corbett:
Don’t we always start these meetings with a nice meal and conversation? 3
Johnny Appleseed
Halema:
(to Tecumseh and Tenskawata) He knows that you’ll negotiate harder if your bellies are empty. That’s why he wants you to eat first. Every time the white man pretends to be our friend, it’s a trick. Don’t fall for it, brothers.
Tecumseh:
Let’s settle on a suitable price first and eat after.
Mr. Greene:
Come, Tecumseh, aren’t we friends?
Tecumseh:
The Shawnee are not friends with white men.
Tenskawata:
Been there, done that.
Mr. Corbett:
I think you are confusing us with the English, with the American colonists. They have been bad to you, not us. We’re from the north! Canada, remember? We’re French, not British!
Halema:
As if that makes a difference!
Mr. Greene:
The French and the Shawnee fought together against the British, remember?
Tecumseh:
And we lost! We were driven right off our land. The land of our ancestors.
Mr Corbett:
But you’re back now. Here you are, members of the Shawnee tribe, back on your ancestral
4
Johnny Appleseed
lands in Ohio. Tenskawata:
We may be back, but only with the white man’s permission.
Tecumseh:
And we can only stay on a small part of the land that was once ours.
Mr Greene:
Your tribe signed a treaty so that the fighting between the British and the Native Americans would stop. Your own chief signed it.
Halema:
Chief Blue Jacket did not know what he was signing.
Mr. Corbett:
And in that treaty, you sold most of your land to the American colonists.
Tecumseh:
As if we had a choice!
Mr. Greene:
And in return for giving most of your land away, you were given blankets, and guns, and metal tools.
Halema:
Things we didn’t want or need until the white man came along. Thank you for nothing.
Tenskawata:
Halema!
Halema:
It’s all lost. It used to be we killed in order to survive. We didn’t kill out of greed. Now look at us, 100 bear skins. 100 dead bears. 5
Johnny Appleseed
To keep your people warm and safe on our ancestral lands. Mr. Corbett:
(he sighs) Do you want to trade these goods or not?
Tecumseh:
We are here to trade, not to argue.
Mr. Greene:
We’ll buy those skins from you and in exchange
Mr Corbett:
we’ll give you more guns, more ammunition, tools, alcohol.
Narrator 1:
So the Shawnee and the French fur traders made the trade
Narrator 2:
And parted ways.
Narrator 3:
As Halema walked away, she spotted yet another covered wagon crossing the valley below.
Halema:
More and more white people are coming. Tell me, my brother, when will it end?
Tenskawata:
Our mother the Earth will decide, my sister. But look around. Nothing but land for as far as the eye can see! Oceans of grass. Magnificent, proud trees. As many as they are, surely there is enough land for us all?
6
Johnny Appleseed
Scene 2: Setting:
A Crowded House in Massachusetts Leominster, Massachusetts in thelate 1700s
Narrator 1:
Meanwhile, hundreds and hundreds of miles away in Leominster, Massachusetts
Narrator 2:
there was a very large family
Narrator 3:
living in a small, humble house.
Narrator 1:
There were 11 children. The oldest was named John.
John:
John Chapman. My mother died when I was just a baby. My father was away fighting in the Revolutionary War. When he returned home, he remarried...
Mrs. Chapman:
Me. Mrs. Chapman, thank you kindly.
Mr. Chapman:
Altogether, we sure do have a housefull of kids.
John:
In addition to me, there’s
Pierly:
Pierly
Persis:
and Persis
Davis:
Davis
Mary:
and Mary 7
Johnny Appleseed
Abner:
and Abner
Patty:
Patty
Jonathan:
and Jonathan
Sally:
and Sally.
Nate:
And Nate! Don’t forget Nate!
Mr Chapman:
That’s 11 children in all! In just a three room house.
John:
It sure gets crowded.
Pierly:
And smelly.
Patty:
And noisy.
Mrs. Chapman
Abner, have you milked the cow?
Abner:
Yes, Mom.
Mr. Chapman
Patty, have you darned the socks?
Patty:
Yes, Dad.
Mrs. Chapman:
Jonathan, have you pulled the weeds?
Jonathan:
Yes, Mom. 8
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Chapman:
Persis and Pierly, have you picked the berries and vegetables?
Persis and Pierly:
We did it, Dad!
Mrs. Chapman:
Mary and Elizabeth, have you done the laundry?
Mary and Elizabeth:
Yes, Mom!
Mr. Chapman:
Nate, have you cleaned out the stables?
Nate:
Yes, Dad!
Mrs. Chapman:
Davis, have you collected the eggs from the chicken coop?
Davis:
Did it, Mom.
Mr. Chapman:
Sally, did you bake the bread?
Sally:
Yes, Dad.
Mrs. Chapman:
John, did you collect the honey from the bee hive? (silence)
Mrs. Chapman:
John? John? John? John? 9
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Chapman:
Just why is our oldest the least reliable? (John enters)
John:
Hi there!
Mrs. Chapman:
John! We’ve been looking all over for you.
John:
Well, here I am. What d’you need?
Mr. Chapman:
What do we need? We need the honey you were supposed to collect hours ago.
John:
Oh, that.
Mrs. Chapman:
Oh what? Where is it?
John:
Today wasn’t the day.
Mr. Chapman:
What do you mean “today wasn’t the day”?
John:
The bees were so happy buzzing around. Making honey to their hearts content. I didn’t have the heart to disturb them.
Mrs. Chapman:
So you mean we have no honey?
John:
It’s not like anyone needs honey.
Mr. Chapman:
Your little brother needs it. He has a cough 10
Johnny Appleseed
and we needed that honey to soothe his throat. John:
Hope he feels better.
Mrs. Chapman:
I just don’t know what to do with you, John Chapman.
Mr. Chapman:
Well, wash up for dinner, John.
John:
It sounds like there’s quite a line at the well.
Pierly:
Let me wash first, Persis.
Persis:
No let me in there, Pierly. My hands are filthy.
Mary:
I need to wash my hands first.
Elizabeth:
Ouch! Mary! You’re stepping on my foot!
Mary:
Sorry, Elizabeth! But it’s my turn to wash my hands.
Patty:
Now you’re stepping on MY foot!
Abner:
Sorry, Patty. I’m just trying to give someone else a turn. Ouch, Davis, move!
Sally:
Get out of the way, Davis! You weren’t even on line.
Davis:
I was, too, Sally! MOM! Sally’s not letting me wash my hands.
Mrs. Chapman:
Sally, let Davis wash his hands.
11
Johnny Appleseed
Sally:
I’m always the last one to wash my hands.
Jonathan:
What about me? I’m always the last.
Nate:
You can go ahead of me, Sally.
Sally:
Thanks, Nate.
John:
What are we having for dinner, anyway?
Mrs. Chapman:
Roast chicken with potatoes and corn.
John:
No can do.
Mr. Chapman:
What do you mean “no can do”?
John:
I’m a vegetarian.
ALL:
A vege-what?
John:
I don’t eat meat.
Mrs. Chapman:
Since when?
John:
Since now. I’ve been thinking about things. Thinking hard. And here’s what I’ve come up with: I don’t want to harm any living thing. So I’ll be sticking to vegetables from now on. I’ll just have the corn and potatoes for dinner.
Elizabeth:
Don’t vegetables have feelings, too?
Abner:
They’re living things, too, you know. 12
Johnny Appleseed
John:
That’s a good point. I won’t eat any vegetables either.
Mary:
Then what will you eat for dinner, John?
John:
Nothing, I guess.
Persis:
Works for me. More for the rest of us.
Mrs. Chapman:
Now John, you can’t eat nothing. Have some bread. And some apples.
John:
I love me some apples. Apples, apples, apples!
Mr. Chapman:
But your mother and I are going to have to talk to you about the direction your life is going.
Mrs. Chapman:
You’re going to have to pitch in more around here. Really demonstrate to us that you care about the farm. Put in a full day’s work.
John:
Uh-huh.
Narrator 1:
After dinner, John sat outside under a tree eating the nuts that fell from the branches above.
Narrator 2:
His little brother, Nate, came out and sat beside him.
John:
Isn’t it pretty out here with nothin’ but the 13
Johnny Appleseed
fireflies, and the scent of the grass and the flowers, and the sound of the crickets? Nate:
Yeah, I guess. Mom says it’s time for everyone to go to bed. Aren’t you feeling drowsy?
John:
I’ll come in later. I wish I could sleep outside tonight.
Nate:
What if it rains?
John:
If it rains, then I’ll get wet.
Nate:
And then you’ll get sick.
John:
Maybe I would. But I’d get better.
Nate:
You sure do love the outdoors, John.
John:
I surely do. I’m thinkin’ I want to go out west.
Nate:
Out west?!!!
John:
You heard me. Where there’s nothing but outdoors cause there’s no indoors. It’s all nature and wildness.
Nate:
Nature and wildness and... Native Americans!
John:
Oh, they won’t pay me no mind. See I’ve been reading about what it’s like out there. Did you know there is grass as far as the eye can see? And no roads, no towns or villages? No schools, either. Why you can walk for days and never see another soul. 14
Johnny Appleseed
Nate:
Go back a minute. What did you say about school?
John:
There’s no schools out there. Cause there’s barely any people. You can walk for days and never see another soul.
Nate:
Are you serious about goin’ out west?
John:
I surely am.
Nate:
Well, I’m only 11, but all that talk about no school sounds mighty promisin’. And not sharing a tiny room with 10 brothers and sisters sounds mighty fine too.
John:
I leave tomorrow. Are you coming along?
Nate:
Yes, but won’t our folks miss us?
John:
We’ll leave them a note. I’m not big on good byes. Besides with 11 children, they’ll barely know we’re gone.
15
Johnny Appleseed
Scene 3: Setting:
All About Apples
An Orchard in Pennsylvania
Narrator 1:
The boys walked on and on
Narrator 2:
Sleeping rough under the stars
Narrator 3:
then setting out again under the morning sun
Narrator 1:
and walking till dusk.
Narrator 2:
After several weeks, they reached Pennsylvania.
Nate:
I can’t make it any further, Johnny. I’m only 11. My poor feet are so blistered.
Mr. Crawford:
Can I be of service?
John:
We’re headin’ west but I reckon we’ll stop in these parts. Give my little brother a chance to rest up.
Mr. Crawford:
If you’re looking for work, I have some you can do.
John:
What kind of work?
Mrs. Crawford:
Well, we own an apple orchard.
John:
An apple orchard!? Apples are my favorite.
18
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Crawford:
And I need someone to help me plant apple trees and look after them.
John:
Count me in.
Mrs. Crawford:
The first thing you need to do is learn how to graft an apple tree. That’s the only way to be sure of gettin’ the kind of apples you want.
Nate:
Not sure I understand.
Gemma:
Every apple has seeds, right? And every apple seed can grow into an apple tree.
John:
Right.
Mr. Crawford:
But here’s the fun part!
Gemma:
There’s no way of knowin' what kind of apple the tree will grow. Why, you can take a red delicious apple, cut it in two, take the seeds and plant them and get a tree ...that bears granny smith apples.
John and Nate:
What?
Mrs. Crawford:
That’s why we don’t plant from seed. We cut a branch off an existing apple tree and then we attach it---or graft it---onto a tap root. Over time the root and the branch merge into one plant.
Gemma:
It’s like cloning. 19
Johnny Appleseed
John and Nate:
Incredible!
Narrator 1:
John spent many years working for Mr Crawford.
Narrator 2:
He was an apprentice of sorts.
Narrator 3:
He learned all about apples
Narrator 1:
how to plant them
Narrator 2:
where to plant them
Narrator 3:
how to help them grow big and strong
Narrator 1:
and bear big, juicy fruit.
Narrator 2:
Nate’s feet soon recovered and he learned the apple business, too.
Narrator 3:
Mr Crawford offered John and Nate a place to stay but John always insisted on living rough
John:
where the stars are my only roof and the soft grass my only bed and a soft animal my pillow Soft animal! What?
Narrator 1:
John woke to see a wolfcub growling at him. 20
Johnny Appleseed
John:
Don’t try to scare me, little ‘un cause I don’t mean you no harm. And I don’t think you mean me no harm neither.
Narrator 3:
John sat down beside the wolfcub.
John:
But what I can’t figure out is where your Mama is or your Papa.
Nate:
Wolves normally travel in packs especially when they’re just a pup.
Narrator 1:
John patted the wolf until its growl began to sound like a moan.
John:
You’re in pain, little ‘un. What happened?
Narrator 2:
He felt the little wolves limbs.
John:
It’s your foreleg. It’s broken. That must hurt something awful, little ‘un.
Nate:
I guess the pack decided to leave this wolf behind. Let’s call him Snow.
John:
They let nature take care of him and here I am.
Narrator 3:
The next day, John brought Snow with him to Mr. Crawford’s orchard.
21
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Crawford:
What is this? Take your Wolfcub to Work day? Get out of here with that thing. It’ll bite your hand off.
John:
It likes me and I like it, Mr Crawford. As long as you give him his space, he won’t hurt a soul.
Mrs. Crawford:
Don’t you know anything about wolves, son? You can’t tame them, not even if you raise them from the moment they’re born.
Gemma:
They’re born wild.
John:
I’m not tryin’ to tame it. I’m just keepin’ it safe until it has healed enough to look after itself.
Narrator 1:
Then the wolf barked as if to agree.
Nate:
This is bringin’ back that time you healed the injured horse that belonged to those Native American folk.
John:
Ahimsa was his name.
Nate:
Ahimsa, of course.
Tecumseh:
I will take this tale from here.
22
Johnny Appleseed
Tecumseh:
A warrior from the Shawnee Tribe rode his horse into a raid against the white men.
Halema:
He was killed in a stampede.
Tenskawata:
His horse, Ahimsa, was badly injured.
Tecumseh:
His right foreleg had been broken.
Halema:
But he tried to make it back to the lands where the Shawnee camped that summer.
Tenskawata:
Somehow Johnny Appleseed found him.
Tecumseh:
He tended to Ahimsa’s wound.
Halema:
For over a year, he cared for Ahimsa.
Tenskawata:
We watched him through the trees.
Tecumseh:
At last, Ahimsa was well. It was as though Ahimsa’s foreleg had never been broken.
Halema:
Johnny Appleseed never rode Ahimsa. But when Ahimsa was all better, he led Ahimsa through the valley,wandering as though he was looking for someone to give it to.
Tenskawata:
That is when we came out of the woods and met him face to face.
Tecumseh:
I gestured for the horse. I said “Ahimsa!” 23
Johnny Appleseed
Halema:
Without a flicker of hesitation, he gave Ahimsa to me.
Tenskawata:
He could have sold Ahimsa to someone. He didn’t.
Tecumseh:
What’s more, he also gave me a little bag of apple seeds.
Halema:
He pointed to himself and said, “Johnny.”
Tenskawata:
And then he smiled, turned and walked away.
Tecumseh:
This is how we came to know him as Johnny Appleseed.
Halema:
Every white man I know has brought guns to this land. Brought sorrow, and wailing and loss.
Tecumseh:
But Johnny Appleseed is a new kind of white man. He does not bring death. He brings life.
Tenskawata:
And for this, we will never harm Johnny Appleseed. Or anyone he loves.
Narrator 2:
Just as Ahimsa had healed, so did the wolf pup get better.
Narrator 3:
But unlike Ahimsa, the wolf stayed by Johnny’s side. 24
Johnny Appleseed
Tecumseh:
And so we came to know Johnny as a sincere man who had tamed a wolf.
Narrator 1:
And so his legend began.
Narrator 2:
Back at the Crawford’s Apple Orchards, Johnny asked
John:
What are all these apple trees needed for?
Nate:
Yeah. We’re growing so many apple trees but there are barely any people out here.
Gemma:
That’ll change, Nate.
Mrs. Crawford:
The government is offering 140 free acres of land to any one brave enough to settle on the edge of the Northwest Territory
Gemma:
near the Indian lands.
Mr. Crawford:
some would say in the Indian lands.
John:
That’s crazy! Those people will have a bulls eye on their backs.
Nate:
The Indians will attack them. The white people will be invading their space!
Gemma:
I guess that’s why 140 acres of land is being offered for free.
25
Johnny Appleseed
John:
But you’d have to be a fool to move out into Indian lands
Mrs. Crawford:
Or desperate. And a lot of people out East in cities like New York and Boston are living in crampt quarters.
Gemma:
They were farmers in their old country.
Mr. Crawford:
Now they figure they’ll be farmers in the new country.
Nate:
It sounds pretty risky to me.
Mr. Crawford:
You men are free to stay out here with us; but perhaps you’d like to move out west, get your own land.
Gemma:
More and more people will be coming out here with that idea.
Mrs. Crawford:
What do you think about grabbin’ 100 acres each yourselves and settin’ up a homestead?
John:
Never really saw myself as a homesteader, Mrs Crawford,
Mr. Crawford:
Everyone needs a home, Johnny. And what about you, Nate?
Nate:
I’ve got a confession to make, Johnnie. I’ve been secretly writing home. To our folks.
John:
What’d you do that for?
26
Johnny Appleseed
Nate:
Well I was 11 when we left. I’ve been homesick.
John:
So how is everybody? How is Leominster, Massachusetts? Are they all still screaming at eachother?
Nate:
You can ask them yourselves.
John:
What do you mean?
Nate:
The whole family is moving out west to join us.
John:
Oh no, you don’t mean----
Mrs. Chapman:
John! We’re here!
Mr. Chapman:
We’re a family again!
Mrs. Chapman:
Nate wrote all about the land that was available out here. And we got to thinkin’!
Mr. Chapman:
Let’s move out here and get some of that land for ourselves.
Halema:
Oh great! Another settler who thinks they own the place!
Tenskawata:
We’ll raid their homes as soon as they’ve set camp.
Tecumseh:
We can’t. Don’t you see? They’re Johnny Appleseed’s kin. We’ll let them be. 27
Johnny Appleseed
Halema:
There sure are a lot of them. It’s like a stampede.
Tenskawata:
And they’re loud. No wonder he walked for a thousand miles to get away from them.
Mr and Mrs Chapman:
John, we’d like a word with you.
John:
Yes, sir? Yes, ma’am?
Mrs. Chapman:
We were very hurt when you left without so much as a goodbye. We tried to counsel you into being more responsible. But you just left! And you took our 11 year old son, Nate, with you.
Mr. Chapman:
But we’re prepared to let bygones be bygones as long as you pledge to help us create a homestead here.
Mrs. Chapman:
We’re a family again and we’re gonna stay that way. We’re countin’ on you to help us build a house and set up our farm out here.
John:
Stepmom, Dad. I won’t be stayin’. That’s just not my way.
Mr. and Mrs. Chapman:
What?
John:
I’m a nomad; like the great Shawnee.
28
Johnny Appleseed
Pierly:
The great Shaw-hoo?
John:
The great Shawnee Indians.
Native Americans:
Awwww!
John:
They don’t believe in owning the land and neither do I. But I do believe in caring for the land and in all living things; plant, animal or human.
Persis:
So you’re never gonna settle down, and have a family and a house like a normal person?
John:
I’ll always have a home. The earth is my home. I can sleep under the stars one night and in a cave the next. I don’t seem to be bothered much by the cold. I eat when I can; and I like to roam free and easy.
Mrs. Chapman:
This is very disappointing, John. You are the eldest. We were counting on you. How will we survive the hardships of life on the prairie without your help?
John:
I’ll help you set up a homestead. I’ll see that you can get through the winter. And then I’ll be on my way.
Abner:
That’s it, huh? That’s all you’re gonna do for your family?
29
Johnny Appleseed
John:
I’ll also give you some land with apple trees already growing on it.
Mary:
Apple trees! Big deal!
Mrs. Crawford:
It is a big deal, young lady. You can press the apples and make cider. Stay hydrated. You may not always be able to count on a stream to give you fresh water.
Mr. Crawford:
Here’s the man who is in charge of giving settlers land: It’s Mr Corbett from the Ohio Company.
Mr. Corbett:
Welcome to Ohio. There’s another reason you should be grateful to your son for the apple trees. See ---you don’t own your 100 acres until 30 apple trees are growing on your land. It’s a condition of ownership.
Abner:
That’s just dumb.
Gemma:
It’s not dumb. It’s a way to make sure you don’t just give up whent he first hard winter comes;
Mrs. Crawford:
Or when you have your first Native American attack.
The Chapmans:
Native American attack???
Mr. Crawford:
You’ll own your land much faster now that you have an orchard with trees in progress. 30
Johnny Appleseed
John:
I planted an orchard about two miles west of here; in the prettiest clearing you ever saw. And I got the land for free because it’s on the Indian lands, or the buffer zone.
Tenskawata:
He’s talkin’ about our favorite spot to camp in the summer.
Halema:
I noticed someone had planted apples. I just didn’t know who had planted them.
John:
And those trees are growing nicely. You can just move right on that land and claim it for yourself.
Tecumseh:
What?
Tenskawata:
Did he just give our land away?
Halema:
Like he owns it or something.
Mr. Chapman:
That sounds great. Kids get back on the wagon. We’re heading two miles west.
Tecumseh:
And we’ll be there to greet them.
Halema:
With our bows and arrows.
Tenskawata:
Guys, remember, it’s Johnny’s family. Remember how he saved Ahimsa?
Tecumseh:
We’re about to leave anyway. It’s nearly Fall. The animals are about to head south. 31
Johnny Appleseed
Halema:
And we must follow them. When we come back next summer, perhaps Johnny’s people will have moved on.
Tecumseh:
And we can spend the warm days in our favorite spot again, near the apple trees.
Tenskawata:
Or perhaps they’ll still be here.
Halema:
Perhaps there will be even more of them.
Tecumseh:
I wouldn’t worry. What sort of fool would stay in these parts when the cold winds blow and when the snow covers the land?
Tenskawata:
Just imagine freezing up here in the snow and ice when you could be down south with nothing but warm sun!
Halema:
It makes me laugh to think what hardships they will suffer. These fools!
Narrator 1:
The Shawnee moved south for the winter.
Narrator 2:
As for Johnny Appleseed, he was as true as his word.
Narrator 3:
He helped his family build a house
Persis:
you call this a house?
32
Johnny Appleseed
Narrator 1:
and he tried to get them used to life on the frontier.
John:
But there were so many conflicts.
Mr. Chapman:
It’s getting colder now. Let’s make a fire.
John:
No, don’t!
Mrs. Chapman:
What do you mean?
Abner:
Why can’t we make a fire?
John
Have you ever heard the expression “like a moth to a flame”?
ALL:
Yes
Patty:
It means that moths are drawn to flames.
John:
And what happens when moths fly into a flame?
Jonathan:
They burn.
John:
That’s right. And they die.
Lucy:
So?
John:
So do you want to be responsible for another creature dying?
Pierly:
Well, I don’t want to be cold.
John:
Being cold won’t kill you. But a fire will kill a moth. So, no fires for us. 33
Johnny Appleseed
Sally: Mrs. Chapman: Nate: Mr. Chapman: John: Mary: Elizabeth: Avis: Davis: Persis: Abner: Lucy: Jonathan:
Dad, Mom! Johnny won’t let us build a fire. What is this nonsense? He says it kills moths. Who cares? I care! And so should you. You’re being ridiculous, Johnny. It’s freezing in here. We need the warmth of a fire! We’re going to freeze to death. In fact, I think I’m freezing to death right NOW! Thanks a lot, Johnny. Yeah, thanks a LOT, Johnny. Yeah, thanks a LOT, Johnny.
John:
Calm down, everyone. It’s September, not January. Nobody is going to freeze in September.
Patty:
Yeah, but I bet you won’t let us make a fire in January, either. 34
Johnny Appleseed
Narrator 1:
Johnny felt the call of the wilderness. And when the cold winds came, he announced he was leaving.
Sally:
You’re just gonna walk off into the wilderness with nothing?
John:
Not with nothing! I have my sack of apple seeds to carry.
Nate:
That’s it?
Elizabeth:
That’s all your taking?
Pierly:
You don’t even have a change of clothes.
John:
What do I need a second set of clothes for? I’ve only got one body.
Mary:
Put on some shoes at least!
John:
No way. I love going barefoot.
Davis:
Even in winter?
John:
My feet don’t mind the cold.
Avis:
Maybe your feet don’t mind the cold, Johnny, but don’t they mind the rattlesnakes?
Mary:
Yeah, there are tons of rattlesnakes in these parts.
Pierly:
We must have killed 200 of them in the last six months.
Elizabeth:
Your feet are going to get bitten, Johnny.
35
Johnny Appleseed
Davis:
And what’ll you do, then? Huh?
Jonathan:
Yeah, what?
Nate:
Huh?
Sally and Patty:
Huh? Huh? Huh?
John:
The snakes mean no harm.
Lucy:
They’re poisonous.
John:
If I give them their space, they’ll give me mine.
Abner:
But you may step on one by accident in the tall grass.
John:
I trust my feet to know where to go.
Mr. Chapman:
Son, be safe out there.Take this gun.
John:
Why?
Mrs. Chapman:
To protect yourself.
John:
From what?
Persis:
There are bears and wolves out there.
Pierly:
And you’ll be sleeping out in the wild where anything can attack you!
36
Johnny Appleseed
John:
I won’t harm a fellow creature.
Avis:
Except your family.
Mary:
We’ll be worried sick about you.
Nate:
What about food, Johnny? What will you eat?
John:
Whatever I find. The earth is full of delicious foods. Nuts and berries...and nuts...
Elizabeth:
How will you cook your food?
John:
Over an open fire.
Pierly:
In what, Johnny? In what? (Johnny shrugs.)
Mrs. Chapman:
Now be sensible, John. Take this pan.
John:
I can’t carry this pan and carry my sack of apple seeds.
Davis:
Then, wear it on your head. You need a pan! Johnny, you need a pan.
John:
Ok, I’ll take this sauce pan. (he puts it on his head). It will serve as a hat and as a cooking tool.
Sally:
Just be sure to take it off when you see someone because you look like a fool wearing a pan on your head. 37
Johnny Appleseed
John:
Well, I guess this is good bye.
Patty and Mary:
Good bye, Johnny.
Narrator 1:
As he walked away, Johnny brushed away tears as he listened to the familiar sounds of home.
Jonathan:
I get Johnny’s bed!
Lucy:
No, I get Johnny’s bed!
Abner:
I’m the second oldest so I get Johnny’s bed.
Nate:
No, I’m the one who told you all to come out here so I should get Johnny’s bed.
Persis:
Well, we wish you HADN’T told us to come out here because now we’re in the middle of nowhere. So thanks a lot, Nate.
Avis
Yeah, thanks a lot, Nate!
Davis:
Yeah, thanks a LOT, Nate!
Nate:
(weeping) but aren’t you glad to see me? No,
Mary:
we are most definitely not glad to see you. We
Pierly:
loved it when you were gone.
Elizabeth:
LOVED IT!
Lucy:
We threw a party to celebrate. 38
Johnny Appleseed
Nate:
(crying) Waaaaa!
Patty:
There was more room for us and more food.
Nate:
Mom, they’re saying that they’re sorry I wrote
Mrs. Chapman:
to you all and told you to come here. Kids don’t make Nate feel guilty.
Mr. Chapman:
He didn’t mean to ruin our lives
Mrs. Chapman:
by making us move out to the middle of
Sally:
nowhere. Anyway, I still get Johnny’s bed.
Jonathan:
No, you don’t. I get Johnny’s bed.
Lucy:
No, I get Johnny’s bed.
Nate:
MOM! They’re bullying me! I’m the coolest so I
Abner: Persis Mary:
should get the bed. I’m the best behaved so I should get the bed. I’m the smartest so I should get it. You are not the smartest!
Persis:
Yes I am!
ALL:
No you’re not.
Pierly:
What’s 3 x 3?
Elizabeth:
You can’t count on your fingers when you multiply.
39
Johnny Appleseed
Nate:
3 x 3 is 3.
Davis:
No, it’s 9. See you’re not the smartest so you don’t get the bed.
Mr. Chapman:
Kids---you may have just one room but we have 100 acres. You can each take 2 acres for yourselves.
Mrs. Chapman:
Why not run outside and play in them?
Nate:
Great idea! I call the two acres with the apple trees.
Sally:
No, I call them!
Patty:
No, I call them!
Jonathan:
Mom! I called them first!
Mary:
Dad! I called them second!
Narrator 1:
For miles and miles as Johnny walked and walked he could hear his brothers and sisters complaining and screaming.
Narrator 2:
Until finally, all he could hear was the whisper of the trees and his and Snow’s footsteps on the soil.
Narrator 3:
Johnny kept walking and walking. Whenever he found a perfect spot to plant trees, he did.
40
Johnny Appleseed
Narrator 1:
Then he found a settler who lived nearby to look after the trees as they grew.
Narrator 2:
As the years passed, the seeds grew and grew until at last they were apple trees.
Mr. Greene: John: Mr. Greene: John:
Well, lookie here. If it isn’t Johnny Appleseed! Come to see about my apple trees. I’ve been lookin’ after them real well. I can see that.
Mr. Greene:
I’ve kept the fence nice and strong to keep the wildlife out.
John:
You’ve done a fine job, Mr Greene. Why, these trees are growing beautiful apples.
Mr. Greene:
They may look beautiful but they’re pretty sour to taste.
John:
That’s all right because they can be turned into a delicious cider.
Mr. Greene:
You know, it’s a long ways from my farm to come all the way out here.
John:
I hear you. Let me pay you for your service.
41
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Greene:
Thank you, kindly. You know, folks out here talk a lot about you, Johnny Appleseed.
John:
Is that right?
Mr. Greene:
They say you’re a strange ‘un. A nice ‘un but a strange ‘un.
John:
Well, that’s not so bad.
Mr. Greene:
They wonder why you care so much about apple trees.
John:
I care about all living things.
Mr. Greene:
Are trees living things?
John:
They’re the most living things on this Earth! Every day, these trees are either growing or they’re dying. And it’s up to us to nourish them so that they can nourish us.
Mr. Greene:
People wonder how you have money to buy land and plant trees and pay people to look after them.
John:
Well, that’s easy. When you have no home, you have no bills. You can sleep where you like and eat off the land. You don’t pay anything so you can keep all the money you make.
42
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Greene:
But how do you make money, Johnny Appleseed?
John:
I buy a homestead of about 100 acres. I make sure it has a beautiful spot for growing trees. Then I plant apple seeds and pay someone local like you to watch over the trees as they grow. Then I move on and do the same somewhere else and somewhere else and somewhere else.
Mr. Greene:
Yes, but how do you make money?
John:
Eventually, I circle back to each plot of land. Time has passed so the seeds have grown into apple trees. And then I sell the land to a new settler who benefits from having an apple orchard up and running.
Narrator:
The fact was that Johnny Appleseed made a lot of money. With more and more settlers moving west, there was more and more demand for land with apple trees already growing on it. Johnny Appleseed had plenty of money.
Mr. Greene:
Hey, do you see that?
John:
Now what do we have here?
Mr. Greene:
More settlers, I reckon. (to the settlers) Howdy!
Mr. Kutcher:
Hello! We’ve been travelling for days and haven’t seen another soul.
43
Johnny Appleseed
John:
Well, you’re in the right spot. I’m the owner of this beautiful homestead. 100 perfect acres of land and an orchard full of apple trees.
Mr. Greene:
You can use them to make cider or to eat them in pies or straight off the tree.
John:
Keep you healthy all year long, if you dry them for the winter.
Mr. Kutcher:
What do you think, wife?
Mrs. Kutcher:
I think it’s beautiful. With our little boy and girl, we need apples and plenty of them to keep them healthy.
Mr. Kutcher:
Then it’s decided. We’ll take it.
Narrator 2:
So they paid Johnny Appleseed for the land.
John:
They paid me three times what I paid for it. And now I’ll take my profit and go buy another piece of land further west. And do the whole thing all over again.
John:
(to the family) I’ll circle back in a year or so to see how you’re all doin’.
Mr. Kutcher:
Thank you, Johnny Appleseed.
Mr. Greene:
Well, Johnny, I guess our business together is done.
John:
Not quite, I have another job for you if you’re willing.
44
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Greene:
I’m all ears.
John:
As I was walkin’ here, I passed a homestead where a settler was whippin’ his horse something awful. No animal deserves to be treated that way. The horse was really suffering. You could see wounds all over it. So I bought the horse from him.
Mr. Greene:
What do you need a horse for? You don’t ride horses because you think it will hurt them.
John:
I don’t need a horse. I just need this horse to be healthy and safe. Will you take care of him for me? If I pay you?
Mr. Greene:
Of course I will, Johnny.
John:
Snow, you can bring Black Beauty out with you now.
Narrator 3:
The wolf led the injured horse out from behind a bush.
Mr. Greene:
What do you get out of this, John?
John:
I get the peace of knowing that this beautiful animal is being cared for properly, and that its suffering is over. And with your care, every day it will get stronger and healthier.
Mr. Greene:
And you’re willing to pay for that?
45
Johnny Appleseed
John:
What else is money for? She’s called Black Beauty. Take good care of her. And when I come back in a year or so, I’ll call in for her.
Narrator 1:
And just like that, Johnny Appleseed moved on.
Narrator 2:
Johnny walked west for weeks. Everytime he came to a beautiful spot perfect for growing apple trees, he bought the parcel of land and planted his seeds. Then he hit the trail again and repeated the same process over and over. He planted hundreds, even thousands of seeds as time went by.
Narrator 3:
Snow covered the ground and still Johnnie walked and walked in his barefeet. Once Johnny stopped in a cabin for the night in the middle of a snowstorm. The owners, Mr and Mrs Peet, welcomed him.
Mr. Peet:
Johnny Appleseed, I can’t bear to see you leave this house and go walking on the freezing ice and snow with nothing on your feet.
Mrs. Peet:
Our son died last year and his feet were about the same size as yours. Please accept his shoes. It’s all we have left of him, but we’d be proud if you would wear his shoes. It would do our heart good to know that your feet are warm because of him. 46
Johnny Appleseed
John:
I’ll accept them kindly.
Narrator 3:
But a week later, Mr Peet saw Johnny Appleseed walking barefoot through the snow.
Mr. Peet:
Why are you barefoot? Where are the shoes we gave you? Our son’s shoes?
John:
Please understand. I came upon a homeless man. His feet were freezing. So I gave him the shoes. He needed them more than I do.
Mr. Peet:
Johnny, no one needs shoes more than you do. You’re homeless, too.
John:
I’m not homeless. I’m at home everywhere on this earth. Don’t you know the difference?
Mr. Peet:
But your feet, Johnny! You’re walking through icy snow in your barefeet!
John:
I don’t feel pain in my feet, sir. I never have. I am as comfortable walking in ice and snow as I am walking on the beach on a summer’s day.
Narrator 1:
Eventually, as the frontier moved west, Johnny walked into Indiana. He walked and walked and came upon some old friends.
47
Johnny Appleseed
Tecumseh:
Or should I say “enemies”?
Halema:
What are you doing in these parts, Johnny Appleseed?
Johnnie:
Just walkin’ and plantin, like I always do.
Tenskawata:
You’re beyond the buffer zone, Johnny.
Tecumseh:
You’re in the Indian lands, now.
Tenskawata:
Why would you be planting here, old friend?
John:
They moved the frontier back. Settlers are allowed to move out here now.
Halema:
They moved it back again?
John:
It’s a huge continent, Halema. There’s room for us all.
Halema:
There’s always more room for you.
Tecumseh:
And there’s always less room for us.
Tenskawata:
Why isn’t the space you’ve got already enough?
John:
More and more people are coming out west. They’re looking for a better life for their families. They hear about all this land they can get.
48
Johnny Appleseed
Halema:
All of our land!
John:
What do you want me to say?
Tenskawata:
He’re what I want you to say. I want you to say this means war. We’ve had enough. Tell them.
Tecumseh:
You won’t hurt the settlers, will you? There are women and children.
Halema:
And what do you think the white people have done to our women and children?
Tenskatawa:
Taking our land out from under us!
Tecumseh:
Stealing our animals, our plants, our home?
Halema:
How do you think we are faring?
John:
Please don’t hurt the settlers. There has to be a better way.
Tenskawata:
There is a better way. They need to go back to where they came from.
Halema:
Or else, face our wrath.
Narrator 2:
Johnny Appleseed had always been a walker. But for the first time, in his life, he ran. He ran back to all the houses he’d passed along the way, warning them of the trouble that was coming.
49
Johnny Appleseed
John:
Run! Hide! The Indians are on the attack. They will be raiding your homes. Flee to safety! Protect your children!
Mrs. Peet:
Will you take something to eat, Johnny? It looks like you’ve been running for days.
John:
I don’t have time to eat and neither do you. Run!
Narrator 3:
By warning so many settlers, Johnny Appleseed saved hundreds of lives. But all too often, it was too late.
John:
Every house I’ve passed for the last three days has been burning. The people have been killed, even the children have been killed. The Shawnee have shown no mercy.
Mr. Greene:
Psst. Johnny?
John:
Is that you, Mr. Greene?
Mr. Greene:
We’ve been hiding in the woods. God smiled on my family. We’ve survived. Even Black Beauty has survived.
John:
You are one of the lucky ones. The Kutcher family has not been so lucky.
Narrator 1:
Out of the ruins of a little house, came two thin little children.
Betsy:
Is that you, Johnny Appleseed? 50
Johnny Appleseed
John:
It’s me, children. You’ve had a hard time of it, I fear.
Betsy:
The Indians.
John:
Are your parents…
Abe:
Our father is dead. The Indians killed him.
John:
And your mother?
Betsy:
She is still alive, but she is poorly.
John:
Bring me to her.
Narrator 2:
Johnny was a medicine man. He knew how to make teas and ointments to help people recover from illnesses.
John:
I will care for your mother until she is well.
Narrator 3:
Johnny stayed with the family for many months. He nursed the mother back to health. He repaired the damage done to the house. And he taught the children how to dry the fruit and pickle the vegetables so that they would have plenty to eat all winter long.
Betsy:
Are you leaving us now Johnny Appleseed? Are you leaving us all alone?
John:
Not alone. He whistled for Snow to come out and behind Snow trotted Black Beauty.
51
Johnny Appleseed
John:
This horse is called Black Beauty. She’s a fine, strong horse. She’ll give you milk and company. If you ever need to run away again, you can ride Black Beauty to safety. She’s a beautiful horse. Take good care of her. And this wolf is called Snow. But Snow is unlike any other wolf on Earth. Snow is a tame wolf. He lives outdoors and he’ll protect you from anything that comes your way. Snow is an outdoor wolf. Don’t invade his space. Let him be free and he’ll watch out for you.
Narrator 1:
Johnny looked deep into Snow’s eyes. Snow howled with sadness at the thought of parting with Johnny Appleseed.
John:
I’m going to miss you, Snow. But these children need you. And I know you’re going to take good care of them. (to Betsy) I’ve got one last gift. Here’s a green ribbon to wear in your hair. I found it in my travels.
Betsy:
And I have kept that green ribbon ever since. A gift from our beloved Johnny Appleseed.
Abe:
He came back once or twice to check on us over the years. He would lie on the floor at night--
Mrs. Kutcher:
for he never accepted a bed
Abe:
and he would tell us stories 52
Johnny Appleseed
Betsy:
such beautiful stories
Mrs. Kutcher:
in his rich resonant voice
Betsy:
and as we made quilts by the firelight, he would
Abe:
spin his wonderful tales
Betsy:
And I would remember those stories
Mrs. Kutcher:
and the sound of his beautiful voice
Betsy:
til the end of my days.
Narrator 2:
As for the Native Americans, things got worse and worse. The frontier kept moving, reducing their land more and more.
Narrator 3:
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act
Narrator 1:
which forced American Indian tribes to move west of the Mississippi River
Takema:
so that the white settlers could use the land occupied by reservations.
Halema:
We were forcibly moved to Kansas
Tenskawata:
and in 1845 we were moved even farther
Takema:
to Oklahoma where we were forced to live on the Cherokee reservation and become citizens of the Cherokee Nation. 53
Johnny Appleseed
Betsy:
Johnny never stopped planting apple trees.
Mrs. Kutcher:
By the end of his life, he had planted trees on over one hundred thousand square miles of land.
Abe:
One night, he showed up at our house.
Betsy:
He was an old man now.
Mrs. Kutcher:
And he was ill.
Betsy:
Still he wouldn’t lie on a bed. He insisted on lying on the floor.
Abe:
And he was calm and peaceful.
Mrs. Kutcher:
By morning he was gone.
Mr. Greene:
He was a good man.
Gemma:
He planted seeds.
Halema:
He cared for plants and trees.
Mr. Crawford:
He protected animals.
Mrs. Peet:
And people, too.
Mary:
He wanted no material things
Tenskawata:
Just the feel of the earth beneath his feet
54
Johnny Appleseed
Mr. Kutcher:
The warmth of the sun
Tecumseh:
Or the coolness of the wind,
Nate:
The smell of pine trees,
Mr. Chapman:
the songs of the birds.
Mr. Greene:
A man of peace, humble and wise
Halema:
Whose spirit roams the endless skies.
55