Johnny Appleseed

Today is Johnny Appleseed day, a day to celebrate a tin hat wearing, barefoot hobo.  A day that in our state is largely overlooked.  Why is it overlooked?  Probably because that free roamer, Johnny Appleseed made it no further west than Illinois. 
I must confess that until my kid was born, I hadn't really thought too much about Johnny Appleseed since I was five or six years old.  I do remember being taught about him in school, I getting this vision in my head that he traveled the whole country planting apples.  That vision is mostly true, by eighteenth century standards, the country didn't extend much further west than Illinois. 
Johnny so loved for a few reasons, he seems as if he was a real nice guy for starters, second for a period in the Midwest it was required to plant an orchard to uphold the right to a land claim, so Johnny Appleseed orchards made for prime real estate.  Third, apples from seeds are not good for eating.  Why would that make Johnny so loved?  Sour apples from Johnny's trees are perfect for making hard cider and apple jack.  That is something that I don't remember being taught in grade school.