During the mid 19th century, a flood of immigrants from Europe and the East Coast flowed into Minnesota. They displaced the Native Americans living there and changed the Minnesota landscape from forest and prairies to farms and towns. These settlers brought what they needed to start a new life in the area. They brought household goods and furniture, their cultural and ethnic traditions, and the seeds and plants they wanted to grow in their new home, including apple seeds and scions (cuttings). The settlers soon discovered that their prized apple seeds and scions from Europe or the East could not thrive in Minnesota’s harsh climate. The quest to develop a Minnesota hardy apple began.

Peter Gideon arrived in Minnesota in 1853 and farmed near the town of Excelsior. Working with native crab apple trees and seeds and scions mailed from Bangor, Maine, Gideon experimented for over ten years with various apple varieties in his quest to find one that would thrive here. By 1868, he was successful. The result was the “Wealthy Apple," named in honor of his wife Wealthy Hull Gideon. Peter later served as director of the State Experimental Fruit Breeding Farm in Excelsior, MN.

John Harris first relocated to Wisconsin from the East Coast before moving on to Minnesota. In La Crescent he planted his first orchard in 1857 and then continued to plant trees every year after that. After planting hundreds with varying success, he once described his trees as “A full half of which were complete and total failures.” In addition to apples, he planted other fruit trees such as pears, plums, and cherries.

Harris started exhibiting his fruit in 1864, and in 1866 he put together a show of over 20 apple varieties for the Minnesota State Fair. This exhibit inspired the creation of the Minnesota Fruit Growers' Association (later the Minnesota State Horticultural Society), of which he was an active member. Harris was elected vice-president of the society in September 1868 and later served as President.

Green was hired in 1888 as the University of Minnesota’s first professor of Horticulture. Under his tenure, the university’s fruit breeding work moved onto the St. Paul campus from the experimental farm in Excelsior. He also worked to organize the efforts of amateur apple breeders and created an inventory with John S. Harris of these new varieties with the hope of developing a systematic apple breeding program in Minnesota.

This inventory was first published in 1897 with the simple title “Apples.” It was later reissued in 1938 and then later digitized in 2019. The book includes phenotypic observations about the fruit, including notes on taste, tree characteristics, growing challenges, apple ancestry, and line drawings of each specimen. Samuel Green also recorded the factors on which an apple is judged: what is the fruit’s juiciness? skin color? disease resistance? sweetness/tartness? crispness? and most importantly in Minnesota, is it resistant to cold?

These early apple pioneers joined forces to share knowledge and help others grow fruit in Minnesota — not just apples, but other produce that could also withstand the winters in this northern zone. They formed the Minnesota Fruit Growers' Association very early, in 1866. The organization changed its name to the Minnesota State Horticulture Society (MSHS) in 1873. It still exists today.

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