Who Was Johnny Appleseed 苹果核约翰尼 Chapter 3 Planting the First Seeds

When he was twenty-three years old, Johnny made his move. No one knows why he finally decided¹ to head west. Maybe he’d heard that the Holland Land Company was selling land in Pennsylvania. Maybe he’d heard promises that treaties with the Native Americans had made travel safer.

Whatever his reason, he began hiking west toward Pennsylvania in 1797. His supplies included a gun, an ax, and a bag of food. He walked barefoot and probably stuck to smaller trails, which he liked better than main roads.

Several new towns were forming in the Pennsylvania wilderness². River transportation was easier than overland transportation in those days. So most early settlements began along rivers. Johnny headed for the town of Warren on the Allegheny River.

The weather was good when he started out that November. But as he reached northwestern Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Mountains, it began to snow. He tore cloth strips from his coat, wrapped them around his feet, and walked on.

Soon the snow was three feet deep. It was dangerously cold and getting too hard to walk. Johnny pulled branches from nearby beech³ trees and wove them together. He couldn’t stop for long or he’d freeze to death. Quickly, he made a pair of crude snowshoes. He strapped⁴ them to his feet and walked out of the snowstorm.

When Johnny reached Warren, he discovered it wasn’t much of a town. It turned out to be just one log cabin with a land salesman living inside. Still, he was probably glad to find shelter for a while.

Johnny had already collected apple seeds from cider mills he passed in Pennsylvania. That winter, he explored the area around Warren in search of a good place to grow apple trees. He didn’t aimlessly scatter⁵ his apple seeds everywhere, as some people think. He planned to plant small fruit farms called orchards⁷.

By the spring, he had chosen a good spot. He planted his first orchard⁶ along the Brokenstraw River, which branched off from the Allegheny River just west of Warren.

There were rules for claiming land in Pennsylvania. You had to pay for it, for one thing. But that wasn’t all. You also had to build a cabin and raise a crop on it. Johnny tried to establish land claims but found that doing so was hard. Land boundaries were unclear and laws were confusing.

So like many other frontier settlers, Johnny became a squatter⁸. That meant he didn’t buy or lease land. He planted on land owned by others or on unclaimed government land. Some landowners lived far away and never knew he was using their land. He made deals with other landowners to trade part of his crop for use of their land.

Unfortunately, the market for apples wasn’t very good in Warren. Within a year, he planted another orchard. It was located fifty miles southwest on the Allegheny River, near the town of Franklin. Many settlers passed through Franklin on their way west. It was a better market for his apples, and he worked there several years.

Except for visits from his half brother Nathaniel, Johnny’s life was hard and lonely at this time. He slept in hollow trees or under blankets of leaves. One winter, he only had nuts to eat.

DANIEL BOONE
(1734–1820)

DANIEL BOONE WAS BORN IN 1734, FORTY YEARS BEFORE JOHNNY APPLESEED. LIKE JOHNNY, HE SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE ROAMING THE WOODS OF THE FRONTIER. UNLIKE JOHNNY, DANIEL MADE HIS LIVING HUNTING AND TRAPPING BEAR, DEER, BEAVER⁹, AND OTTERS¹⁰.

IN 1769 DANIEL FOUND A SECRET PASSAGE THROUGH KENTUCKY’S CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS. HE HELPED BUILD THE WILDERNESS ROAD, WHICH LED THROUGH A MOUNTAIN GAP. THIS WAS A BIG HELP TO PIONEERS BECAUSE THE GAP WAS WIDE ENOUGH FOR THEIR WAGONS¹¹ TO PASS THROUGH. THE CUMBERLAND GAP BECAME ONE OF THE GATEWAYS¹² TO THE WEST.
 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 beech   

n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的

参考例句：

• Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
• Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒，跳过小河，大踏步向毛榉林子走去。

4 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

6 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

7 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

8 squatter   

n.擅自占地者

参考例句：

• The squatter settlements originally came into being through illegal land invasions. 违章建筑区最初是通过非法的土地占有而形成的。
• Squatter control is maintained by regular patrols and hut-to-hut checks. 当局定期逐户视察所有寮屋，以收管制之效。

9 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

10 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

11 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

12 gateways   

n.网关( gateway的名词复数 )；门径；方法；大门口

参考例句：

• Police bullets raked the gateways car. 警察的子弹对着门口的汽车扫射。 来自辞典例句
• No Internet gateways are needed for the programs operation. 该软件的操作不需要互联网网关的支持。 来自互联网