If It's March, It Must Be Maple Sugaring Season

I have in front of me a bottle of   "Log Cabin Original Syrup."  Here are the ingredients:
corn syrup,  liquid sugar  (natural sugar,  water),  salt,  natural and artificial flavors  (lactic acid),  cellulose gum,  preservatives  (sorbic acid,  sodium benzoate),  sodium hexametaphosphate,  caramel color,  phosphoric acid.
Now here is what's in the bottle of  Spring Tree Maple Syrup  that is also in front of me  

(as is listed on the bottle):
100% pure maple syrup.
That's it.
Now,  what would  you rather put into your body?
Methinks that the Log Cabin syrup is somehow not quite as original as they say...
Okay,  I'm off my soap box now.

.............................

"The Sugar-Tree yields a kind of Sap or Juice which by boiling is made into Sugar.  This Juice is drawn out,  by wounding the Trunk of the Tree,  and placing a Receiver under the Wound.  It is said that the Indians make one Pound of Sugar out of eight Pounds of the Liquor.  It is bright and moist with a full large Grain,  the Sweetness of it being like that of good Muscovada."

Governor Berkeley of Virginia,  1706

For me,  it was a long time coming,  but I finally,  for the first time ever, 
(in 2021)  got to witness the undertaking of  maple sugaring. 

I know a number of my friends do this annually on their own land,  which is very cool,  but this city boy doesn't have that sort of opportunity,  so when I heard through another friend about the process occurring not too far away,  I made sure to make plans to see it all for myself.

And so I did.  

To top it off,  they were doing it historically.

There is the Navarre-Anderson trading post from 1789 - the oldest wooden structure
built in the lower peninsula of Michigan.  And that little building next to it is the cook house,  built in 1810.
It is the most complete example of French-Canadian piece-sur-piece   (piece by piece) construction in the Old Northwest.  Now owned by the Monroe County Historical Museum,  it is restored and established to represent a French pioneer homestead along the old River Raisin in Monroe,  Michigan. 
If you look close you can see a few folk gathered around to the right of the
cook house.  That's where the fire for boiling the sap is located.
And here we are,  in Michigan's piece of the Old Northwest.  Very cool.

In those days the maple trees were tapped as soon as the sap began to run in the trunk and showed at the end of the twigs.  It is said that it was the Native Americans of the northeast who began the practice of maple sugaring in North America.  Though some claim their tribal ancestors to be the discoverers of tapping for sap,  no one knows for certain which tribe it actually was.  But they spread their sugaring knowledge to other tribes and also taught the European settlers how to make it as well,  who increased the productivity when they arrived with iron pots for boiling.  

By the second half of the 18th century,  the tradition of maple sugaring heralded the arrival of spring.  And it truly was quite the event,  for it seemed that entire communities would gather in camps for the occasion;  filled with delight,  whole families got involved in the process.  It was a part of the celebration of the season of rebirth.  When there was a good run of sap,  it was usually necessary to stay in the camp overnight,  and many times the campers would stay several nights.  As a good run meant milder weather,  a night or two was not a bitter experience.  

The trading post sits in the background while the maple trees are being tapped for sap.
The right time of year for maple sugaring is usually from late February or early March through early April when the sap is flowing,  for the nights are still cold enough to freeze sharply and the days warm enough to thaw freely.  The thermometer should not rise above the forties by day,  nor sink below the twenties at night.  It is this magic see-sawing between winter and spring that decides the sugaring season.

Oftentimes visitors would come out to the camps,  turning the chore into a frolic.  Girls would join the boys and men to taste the new sugar,  to drop it into the snow to make candy,  and to have an evening of fun.

Boiling sap into a sugar and syrup was a long and slow process,  and all hands were needed to help.  The younger boys joined the adult males as they spent several nights in the sugar camp set up in the woods.  They collected sap buckets and helped to find,  chop,  and carry the tremendous amount of wood needed to maintain the fires under the huge sugar pots as they boiled off the water from the sap.  

A freshly tapped tree with the beginnings of sap spilling out.
To collect the sap,  holes are bored in the maple tree,  followed by the
hammering in of a wooden or metal tube called a spile  (or trough).  Under the
spile a bucket,  made by the local cooper or tinsmith,  is placed to catch the
clear watery sap.  Each day the buckets of sap are emptied into a
large barrel,  which is hauled back to the boiling area.

JJ hauling the sap buckets to the boiling area.

There,  numerous iron kettles would hang over fires.  In the first kettle,  the watery tasteless sap is vigorously boiled over a roaring fire.  This is then ladled into the second kettle where it is gently boiled to thicken more.  Constant stirring keeps it from burning.  Over the course of the various kettles,  the water will gradually evaporate,  leaving behind a thicker,  sweeter dark syrup they called molasses,  which was used as a cane sugar.  When makers wanted a granulated product,  the molasses was boiled until the sugar crystalized,  and at that point it was turned out of the kettle into a larger wooden trough for clashing,  being pounded with a wooden beater to break up the clumps of crystals.  

There happens to be six iron pots boiling here,  though
the last one is simply boiling plain old water.
The large wood trough is center left.

The maple-tasting sugar was yellow and could then be used for the home or for a cash crop.  Now used more for syrup,  historically the goal of maple sugaring was to make sugar.

This thick,  sweet syrup can then be poured into crocks to be used on porridge or cakes.  Or,  it can be ladled into the third and then maybe even a fourth kettle.  If this is done,  the liquid will then,  over a smaller fire,  be carefully stirred until it turns into sugar.  The sugar will be packed into wooden boxes and tubs to be used in the coming year.

The sap is still a-cooking.

Though sugaring was laborious,  everyone would try to make it a more cheerful time,  for the whole family looked forward to this chore,  making it more play than work.  Plus it was a sign that spring was nigh.
Of course,  one of the best parts of producing maple syrup was testing the outcome!

"Large countries within our Union are covered with Sugar maple as heavily as can be conceived,  and that this tree yields a sugar equal to the best from the cane,  yields it in great quantity,  with no other labor than what the women and girls can bestow . . . What a blessing to substitute a sugar which requires only the labor of children..."
--Thomas Jefferson 1791--
(Ah,  Mr.  Jefferson.  There were more than children and women needed...)

The fashions for those in the photos here are of the 1817 variety.
Battles from the War of 1812 took place in Monroe,  Michigan,  so during historic events, 
the Regency period is their usual chosen time.  

Benjamin Rush,  physician and close friend of Thomas Jefferson,  in an attempt to convince the future president that maple sugar was not only equal to cane in quality,  but indeed that for the moral and economic good of the new nation,  felt it was imperative that Americans promote its manufacture to supplant the West India sugar trade.  In a remarkably short period of time,  maple sugar was transformed in the minds of the many American opinion leaders from a minor local crop produced mainly by subsistence farmers into a highly fashionable--perhaps deliciously profitable—new national industry.  During the early 1790s this phenomenon,  sometimes labeled  “the maple sugar bubble,”  inflamed the minds and hearts of such influential figures as Henry Drinker,  a well regarded Quaker merchant;  William Cooper,  founder of Cooperstown;  and of course,  Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Rush.  The writings of these men,  reflected and informed by articles written by supporters of the trade across New England,  all made the same point:  maple sugar could and should become a permanent replacement for cane sugar in America.

Note the boiling sap.

On March 28,  1775,  after working around the clock for two days,  Abner Sanger recorded in his journal:  "A very good sap day.  Fair,  clear,  and pleasant.  I helped  (my brother)  gather and boil sap all day and I think all night,  too."

Passing the sap from kettle to kettle.  It thickens with each passing.

When Austin Bryant began his efforts to improve his profitability of the family farm in the early 1800s,  he made additional sap troughs,  borrowed extra kettles,  boiled large quantities of sap,  and set out new maple trees.  

After all of the hard work was done,  sharing the fresh sweet was a welcome treat;  "The family went to Mr.  Briggs to eat sugar."

Edward Carpenter admitted that he  "ate maple sugar till it did not taste good."  And yet he still went back for more the next day,  even bringing back some syrup  "& sugared it off & made 8 little cakes to carry home with me."

We think of the  "Little House"  series of books as being strictly for children.  But to me,  they should be read by anyone with even a passing interest in history,  for the information from Laura Ingalls Wilder's own memory on everyday life is invaluable.  So much better than the TV show of the same name.

It's from Little House In The Big Woods where we find maple sugaring  (yes,  I know it's 1880s,  but the manner in which they maple sugared was the same as a hundred years before):

"All winter,"  Pa said,  "Grandpa has been making wooden buckets and little troughs  (spile).  He made them of cedar and white ash,  for those woods won't give a bad taste to the maple syrup.  He made dozens  (of the little troughs)  and he made ten new wooden buckets.  He had them all ready when the first warm weather came and the sap began to move in the trees.

Then he went into the maple woods and with the bit he bored a hole in each maple tree,  and he hammered the round end of the little trough into the hole,  and he set a cedar bucket on the ground under the flat end.  When the maple sap came to the hole in the tree,  it ran out of the tree,  down the little trough and into the bucket.

A maple-sugaring sketch from 
"Little House in the Big Woods"

"Every day Grandpa puts on his boots and his warm coat and his fur cap and he goes out into the snowy woods and gathers the sap.  With a barrel on a sled,  he drives from tree to tree and empties the sap from the buckets into the barrel.  Then he hauls it to a big iron kettle that hangs by a chain from a cross-timber between two trees.  He empties the sap into the iron kettle.  There is a big bonfire under the kettle,  and the sap boils,  and Grandpa watches it carefully.  The fire must be hot enough to keep the sap boiling,  but not hot enough to make it boil over.  Every few minutes the sap must be skimmed.  Grandpa skims it with a big,  long-handled,  wooden ladle that he made of basswood.  When the sap gets too hot,  Grandpa lifts ladlefuls of it high in the air and pours it back slowly.  This cools the sap a little and keeps it from boiling too fast.

"When the sap has boiled down just enough,  he fills the buckets with the syrup.  After that,  he boils the sap until it grains when he cools it in a saucer.  The instant the sap is graining,  Grandpa jumps to the fire and takes it all out from beneath the kettle.  Then as fast as he can,  he ladles the thick syrup into the milk pans that are standing ready.  In the pans the syrup turns to cakes of hard,  brown maple sugar.

When there's a long run of sap,  it means that Grandpa can make enough maple sugar to last all the year,  for common every day.  When he takes his furs to town,  he will not need to trade for much store sugar."

All the...children scooped up clean snow with their plates.  Then they went back into the crowded kitchen.  Grandma stood by the brass kettle and with the big wooden spoon shoe poured hot syrup on each plate of snow.  It cooled into soft candy,  and as fast as it cooled they ate it.  They could eat all they wanted,  for maple syrup never hurt anybody.  There was plenty of syrup in the kettle,  and plenty of snow outdoors.  As soon as they ate one plateful,  they filled their plates with snow again,  and grandma poured more syrup on it."

Opportunities to witness history always seem to abound,  and I wasn't kidding when I wrote that after hearing through another friend about the process of maple sugaring occurring at Navarre-Anderson Trading Post,  I made sure to make plans to see it all for myself.  In fact it was only a matter of days and a quick change of plans.  I wasn't going to miss the chance.

I appreciate the good folks at the Monroe County Historical Museum for putting this event on.  In fact,  one of the best parts was seeing families showing up to see history not normally seen.

That made me feel great.

My wife & I and our friend stayed for a couple hours,  just taking it all in and listening to the presentation.  While we were there,  we saw multiple families come through,  most coming out of curiosities sake and finding themselves immersed in the past.  Presenter JJ would have one of the kids pound in the spile and even try out the yoke & buckets.  These kids will remember this.

American history is much more than war and politics.

Maple-sugaring shows this.

Just in case you are interested in maple sugaring, 
here is a how-to sheet to help you along.

Until next time,  see you in time.

Sources and some commentary came from the following:

Home Life in Colonial Days by Alice Morse Earle

Our Own Snug Fireside by Jane.  C.  Nylander

The Seasons of America Past by Eric Sloane

If you find yourself wondering what it's like to spend a year on a colonial farm,  click HERE 

If you would like to have a larger understanding of springtime during colonial times,  click HERE

If you would like to read about the oldest buildings in Michigan that I personally visited,  click HERE

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