People said, "That Johnny Appleseed is crazy."

Johnny kept on giving away sackfuls of seeds. He gave them to farmers and hunters, trappers and boatmen, soldiers and settlers. One day, he realized that he would have to find more seeds than his orchard could produce. He knew that all around Pennsylvania in the fall people put apples into wooden presses. They squashed and squeezed the apples to get out the bubbling juice for apple cider. And they threw the bright brown seeds away.

"I'm going to go out and get all those wasted seeds," Johnny said to a squirrel he had tamed.

The squirrel waved its tail and said, "Ch-kk, ch-kk," which to Johnny sounded like, "Go ahead."

Johnny put on his hat. It was a strange hat, for it was a kettle turned upside down. But it was more than a hat. It was something handy to cook in, if he stopped by the side of the road and wanted hot food. He looked around for some good traveling clothes. Everything he had was in rags. He saw a pile of gunnysacks, which he used for gathering apples. He picked out the longest sack, cut holes in it for his head and arms, and put it on. Nobody could want a better traveling suit, thought Johnny.

Johnny Appleseed went walking up and down and back and forth across Pennsylvania. The Dutch farmers let him have the apple mash from their cider presses. Then, all winter long, Johnny picked out the seeds and dried them. In the spring, he gave the seeds away to anyone who stopped on his way west.

Sometimes, when settlers came back from the western territories Johnny would ask, "Did you plant the seeds, I gave you?"

Often, a settler would answer, "Oh, I forgot."

So, Johnny decided to go west himself and plant his own orchards. He rigged up a boat by lashing two canoes together, loaded them full of apple seeds, and set off down the Ohio River.