Indian Summer Origins High Quality

A second theory is more atmospheric. In late October and November, the air often fills with a persistent, golden-brown haze. This is caused by smoke from distant forest fires, both natural and man-made. For millennia, Native Americans routinely burned underbrush to clear land for agriculture, improve game habitat, and manage the forest ecology. This "fire-stick farming" created a characteristic smoky pall in the autumn air. As settlers pushed westward, they witnessed this annual haze and associated it directly with the presence of Indigenous people. The "Indian Summer" was, quite literally, the summer of the Indian’s smoke. This theory carries a melancholy weight, because those very fires—and the management of the land they represented—were being systematically extinguished by the same forces that named them.

The fact that Crèvecoeur wrote "called the Indian Summer" suggests the term was already in common oral use among settlers and farmers in New England and the mid-Atlantic by the late 18th century. Why "Indian"? Leading Theories indian summer origins

"Sometimes the rain is followed by an interval of calm and warmth which is called the Indian Summer ; its characteristics are a tranquil atmosphere and a general smokiness..." A second theory is more atmospheric

In a letter dated January 17, 1778 , Crèvecoeur described a "short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer" while documenting life in the Mohawk country. The "Indian Summer" was, quite literally, the summer