Activity

This weekend is the 40th Maple Open House weekend, celebrating and demonstrating one of our state’s natural treasures. Maple sugar has been a part of American history since before Europeans settled in the colonies. Native Americans even have legends about how maple sugar was discovered. One story has it that Chief Woksis of the Iroquois found the sweet (syrup) when he threw his tomahawk at a maple tree in the cold of winter. The next day, the sun warmed the sap inside the tree, and from the hole sprung forth the tasty syrup. Woksis’s wife cooked their meat in the sap, and it was so delicious that the natives began to make maple sugar a part of their lives.
Another explanation of the Native Americans’ discovery is based on the fact that maple trees can create “sapsicles” in the winter. These are icicles with frozen sap in the middle of them that form when a twig breaks and releases sap from the tree. It is believed that Native Americans may have come upon these “sapsicles” and discovered the maple tree’s sweet surprise.