Robert Stanger
I have noticed that signs that there was once human habitation on land taken over by the Game Commission, other than perhaps mounds of earth where there were once the foundations for dwellings, are apple trees, now often rather large and gnarled but still producing an annual crop.
Such trees would supplement settler diets of limited ingredients with a tasty fruit high in fiber and vitamin C that could be easily stored for long periods.
Perhaps the area’s “apple heritage” could be linked to Johnny Appleseed (1774-1855), whose real name was John Chapman This follower of the Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (“the life of religion is to do good”) traveled through much of the northern U.S. planting apple trees en route. He was born in Leominster, Mass., and died in Fort Wayne, Ind.