SCLT Explore History: The Wyoming Apple Project – Sheridan Media

While many other states are better known for growing apples, with Washington being the leading apple producer in the nation, Wyoming has several species of apples as well.
On Wednesday, May 13 at the Hub on Smith, The Sheridan Community Land Trust (SCLT) presented the May, Explore History program, The Wyoming Apple Project, featuring a video presentation and discussion with Dr. Jonathan Magby, University of Wyoming graduate and plant physiologist.
SCLT History Program director Kevin Knapp introduced the program.
He said when researching the trees, he learned about this project and Jonathon Magby.
With his video presentation, Magby talked about where apples originated, namely in Europe, China and Russia. They were brought to the United States by emigrants.
He talked about John Chapman, whom most school children know as Johnny Appleseed. Chapman was an early American nurseryman who, during the 1790s through the early 1800s, introduced trees grown with apple seeds to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, as well as the northern counties of West Virginia.
Magby said most apples came into Wyoming during the homestead era, although some came through earlier, during the Westward Expansion years in the United States.
The homesteaders in Wyoming during the later part of the 19th century, brought seeds and starts with them and planted apple orchards throughout the state. In 1873, to encourage the planting of trees in the west, The Timber Culture Act was passed by congress. This act allowed landowners another 160 acres of land if they agreed to plant trees on a percentage of the land.
Planting apple trees were very beneficial to the settlers.
Today, there are still abandoned orchards that have heritage apples, and the Wyoming Apple Project is actively seeking these orchards and trees today.
For more information, contact the Wyoming Apple Project.
This program will be held again on Tuesday, May 19 from 10:30 AM–12 PM at the Tongue River Valley Community Center, Dayton
SCLT’s Explore History series connects people to the places, stories, and landscapes that define Sheridan County and the surrounding region. Through programs like The Wyoming Apple Project, participants gain a deeper understanding of how history continues to shape the land and communities today. The programs are free and open to the public.
For more information, visit https://sheridanclt.org/events.
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