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AMAZ Soon thereafter, Peter developed a lung problem, and his doctors gave him less than a year to live. With a life-or-death ultimatum, they urged him to move to Minnesota, a newly opened territory with a reputation as an exceptionally healthy

place to live. The couple had a four- year-old daughter at the time, and they were likely still grieving the recent death of an 18-month-old daughter. In 1853, A rose is a rose, except when it's they made the journey to Minnesota and an apple. Other than the color staked their claim on 160 acres along red, the connection between the the southern shores of Lake Minnetonka two may not be intuitive, but the near Excelsior. Peter and Wealthy even- apple is actually part of the rose tually had a total of seven children. family. That's just the beginning of a titillating trail of facts about While he never became a scientist, this delectable fruit of the fall season. Gideon's interest in pomology started The apple history trail is also filled with a at an early age. He planted peach seeds bushel of colorful characters who pio- when he was only five, and he said that neered fruit growing in Minnesota. One he ate from those trees before he was of the most important stories begins at nine. So began his love affair with grow- the shores of Lake Minnetonka, and the ing fruit, something he referred to as his central character is the man for whom buried and obscured in history, is filled "chief calling and delight." Determined Gideon Bay is named. with the same mix of sweetness and tart- to grow apples at his new home, Peter ness as the apples he grew. arrived with a bushel of apple seeds. A While his name isn't nearly as familiar as bushel. Of tiny seeds. That's about a mil- Johnny Appleseed, Peter M. Gideon was Peter Gideon Settles on lion potential trees. an eccentric Lake Minnetonka settler who Lake Minnetonka In 1854 Gideon began by planting 350 played an even more influential role in Peter Gideon was born in Ohio in 1820. apple trees. Most of these plants were apple history. Some have even referred He moved to Illinois when he was 21, and destroyed by disease or cold, or they to him as the "father of fruit breeding on at age 29 he married a woman eleven produced inferior fruit compared to what the prairies." His story, which has been years his junior named Wealthy Hull. could be grown in areas further south or east. Described as a pragmatic man, Gideon used a trial-and-error approach as he continued to plant thousands of trees over the next nine years, experimenting with the combination of the hardy crab apple with larger varieties of the common apple.

During the first 14 years of Gideon's efforts, Minnesota did not have a formal fruit growers association. Most of the set- tlers lived on farms and tried to grow their own fruit. Like Gideon, they all learned the hard way that successful results were nearly impossible in the frigid northern climate. Many of these original settlers were so desperate for their beloved apple they soaked potatoes in vinegar to try and replicate the taste. No one was as passionate and tenacious as Gideon; despite the odds, he was unwavering in his determination to grow apples in Minnesota. As his own daughter, Florence Gideon Webster, was quoted as saying, "He believed thoroughly in his work and in his ideas...But his ideas were often as blighted and frost bitten as his beloved trees."

Apple Seeds and never returned. After losing this 'ETER M. GIDEO or a Winter herd, Gideon was $500 in debt. Without AND THE WEALTHY APPLE Coat? a horse to his name, he worked twice as In 1853, Peter Miller CWeo** ;»ft#his wife. "Wealthy trrivcL- *n Minnesota long and hard to clear his land for apple from Ohio and settled on the skopes of Lake Minnetonka. Long interested Gideon was in in fruitgrowing, Peter Gldeern Determined to * satisfy the craving of trees. By 1860, he was down to one cow, pioneer families for apples 4fH$ p^hfer fruJts. although ill previous efforts dire financial to grow them had failed. a few chickens and $8. He needed a in 1854, he recorded that he planted one bushel of apple seed and a straits the sec- peck of peach seed. For fourteen years he planted, seeded, and grafted winter coat, but he wanted more apple more than 1O.OOO apple, cherry, peach, pear, plum, and quince trees: but hard winters, blight, grasshopper plaques, and other reverses ond year after he prevailed. Each year he had to start anew. seeds. What to do? Front one seed he obtained from Maine, a seedling grew ttiat withstood settled on Lake the hard Minnesota winters and produced in 1868 the celebrated Wealthy apple, which was named for his wife and hailed as the "best apple Minnetonka. He produced since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden." From this As Gideon pondered his decision flourished the Northwest's fruitgrowing industries. Hi*- steadfastness and perseverance applied also to his outspoken, had hired two between seeds or a coat, or even leav- often inflexible, views on social issues. He condemned slavery and al of Indians, supported .women $ rights, and fought for the. ''advancement men to drive ing the state at this time, historical of moral refinement." ~"X Within view of this marker, which is on the ,$jjk'*^ cows from Illinois /a—M, \t corner of the original homestead, is ffr records report that "an invisible being i more than 1OO years o!d- to Minnesota; came to him and told him to write to a the men sold certain address in the state of Maine for the animals apple seeds." This is one of the reasons along the way Gideon was considered eccentric; he y marker that is located near was a spiritualist who believed in mysti- the farm on County Road 19. cism, and he actively participated in spirit Minnesota Historical Society communications. Following the invisible guidance, Gideon few dollars to a man in patched together two old vests and a pair Bangor, Maine, for apple seeds. The man reportedly sent him "five times the money's worth." to honor his wife and to symbolize all of The Wealthy Apple the hardships they had been through. After fifteen years of toil and thousands For all his life Gideon believed the upon thousands of failures, in 1868 Wealthy apple was a descendant of the Gideon was finally able to hold a success- crab apple because the seeds from Maine ful Minnesota-grown apple in his hands. were in a container labeled "crab." In his of pants to make what has been called This apple was the result of his poverty book The Great American Apple Wizard, his "poverty coat," and he sent his last coat decision and the seeds he received James R. Curran provided convincing from Maine. He named the apple Wealthy evidence that the Wealthy was more likely 26 September 2010 Thanks to Gideon's success with the Wealthy apple, the Minnesota leg- islature appropriated funds in 1878 to begin a University of Minnesota fruit breeding program. These funds included $2,000 to purchase a 116- acre tract of land adjacent to Gideon's farm on Lake Minnetonka and $1,000 each year for operations. Gideon was recognized as the state's lead- ing horticulturist and appointed by Governor John S. Pillsbury as the first superintendent of the station.

Gideon's Colorful Personality Gideon apparently had a rocky relationship with some of the U of M administrators. He made the annual required reports to the regents, but he was described as a "lone wolf." Perhaps even more scandalous, Gideon had ideas and convictions that were contrary to popular opin- ion, and he professed those convictions publicly in what has been described as a "blunt man- ner." He was a prolific writer and sent numerous letters to magazines and newspapers expressing his moral beliefs in detail.

A 1974 article by Edgar C. Duin stated that Gideon "attacked conventional religion, the general morality a descendant from the Russian Dutchess in the nation, and the treatment of Indians and Negroes variety. The confusion originated because and commented on domestic happiness and other sub- New Englanders referred to seeds that jects guaranteed to raise passions.. .A temperance advo- were harvested from cider presses and cate, Gideon abstained from liquor, tobacco, coffee and tea intended for replanting as "crab." and was temperate in his eating habits—almost a vegetarian. He was an early supporter of the abolition of slavery...He The Wealthy apple has been referred supported women's suffrage and strongly favored prohibi- to as "the first great apple variety from tion." Gideon strongly opposed horse racing, and he even the northern plains" and the apple that refused to exhibit his fruit at the state fair for several years "marked an epoch in American apple because horse races were held there. During one speech growing." This was the first full-sized at the 1884 Minnesota State Horticultural Society apple that could survive the cold win- meeting, Gideon took the opportunity to explode ter temperatures and bear regularly. It his theme of "Blight: It's Cause and Cure" beyond also had good long-keeping qualities. the anticipated topic of apples to include British Wealthy became the most profitable oppression in India, cholera, slavery, and nearly variety in the northern apple market for every other social blight of the time. decades, and it is still available today. A Well-Deserved Ode to Peter M. Gideon Want to know more? Gideon's habit of discussing his moral The Next Century of Minnesota with activities for the entire family, and viewpoints ad nauseam led to various Apple Breeding at the center of it all is a juicy apple that disagreements with the Horticultural traces its cold hardy roots to Gideon Bay Society and U of M administrators. His In 1907 the legislature appropriated along the shores of Lake Minnetonka. leadership role at the U of M fruit breed- land to establish a new fruit breeding ing farm ended in February 1889 when farm near Chaska, currently known as The Great American Apple he retired at the age of 70. The farm was the University of Minnesota Horticultural Wizard by James R. Curran abandoned and sold. Research Center (HRC). In addition to Peter Gideon, other notable persons who Gideon continued to work with the have supervised this farm over the past apples and other fruits on his own prop- century include Charles Haralson and Elmer Swenson. Since 1982, James Luby has overseen the fruit breeding pro- gram along with David Bedford in apple breeding.

tttsfo d< The U of M apple breeding program is world famous for its cold hardy research. rid/ut Several popular apples have been introduced, including the Haralson, erty until he died on October 27, 1899, Beacon, Zestar!, Honeygold, Honeycrisp at the age of 81. His wife had preceded and the latest and greatest superstar him in death several years earlier. Despite introduced last year: Sweetango, which is the name of his apple, Gideon died a a cross between Honeycrisp and Zestar. penniless man. His life story has been Researcher David Bedford, who tastes up somewhat obscured and even misrep- to 500-600 apples a day, said on a UMN resented in historical records, but some video that Sweetango "is one of the best James Curran didn't know it at the efforts have been made—most notably apples that we've discovered in a hun- time, but the home he purchased near by writer and historian James Curran—to dred years of breeding at the University Excelsior in 1962 was actually the Peter honor the contribution Gideon made to Gideon farmhouse. He stumbled upon horticultural history. the original Gideon monument, which he described as a "derelict stone marker," An unassuming monument honor- and his curiosity got the best of him. A ing Gideon sits next to Manitou Road writer by vocation and historian by avoca- (County Road 19) in Shorewood, just tion, James dove into an intense research south of Glen Road. The nearby Gideon project and became passionate about farmhouse is listed on the National writing Gideon's story. Curran moved Register of Historic Places, and a plaque to Australia in 1966 and returned to the on the southeast corner of the property United States 26 years later. He carried his tells an abbreviated version of his story. of Minnesota." Highlights of this new manuscript with him for nearly 40 years apple are its crisp texture, exceptional before it was published in 2004. If you are Wouldn't a Minnesota-grown apple taste juiciness and hint of spice. intrigued by the story of Peter Gideon, good right now? When you hear that The Great American Apple Wizard: The crispy crunch and taste the mix of sweet The trail of Minnesota apple history Life and Times of Peter M. Gideon, is a and tart juices, take a moment to think started with Peter Gideon's Wealthy apple must-read. about Lake Minnetonka's colorful and and continues to wind its way through the tenacious Peter M. Gideon, his poverty university breeding program and each James Curran passed away November coat and the pure joy he must have felt and every apple orchard in the state. It's 11, 2009. He is survived by his wife, when he finally bit into his one-in-a- that time of year to get out and visit our Julie, who lives in Fairhope, Alabama. million Wealthy apple. local apple orchards. They are bursting

28 September 2010