FW: Indian Summer, The Smoky Mountains, and pollution

[Peter A. McGraw]

FWIW, I remember hearing the same legend in the same venue, with the added
detail that the extension was o.k. with the Great Spirit because he had
been wanting a few more days to smoke his pipe anyway--which accounted for
the haze, too.

I have no idea of the source of the legend (if such it is), and therefore
also no way to assess its authenticity.  It's something of a leap from an
Indian legend to the word "Indian summer," anyway, since it seems doubtful
the originators of the legend would have called it that.

Peter Mc.

--On Sunday, March 23, 2003 5:12 PM -0500 "James A. Landau"
<JJJRLandau at AOL.COM> wrote:

> Here's a legend I read back in elementary school:  it seems that one year
> the Native Americans were too lazy or distracted or something to get in
> their winter stores and seed corn before the frosts came.  So they prayed
> to the Great Spirit who granted them an additional period of summer
> weather to finish getting in the harvest etc. before winter returned.
> Hence "Indian summer" means a special reprise of summer weather for the
> benefit of the Indians.



****************************************************************************
                               Peter A. McGraw
                   Linfield College   *   McMinnville, OR
                            pmcgraw at linfield.edu