How Maple Syrup Was Discovered?

Native Americans even have legends about how maple sugar was discovered. The 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.

How did natives make maple syrup?

Rocks were heat red hot in the fire and dropped into the baskets of sap to heat it to the boiling point. Repetitively adding hot rocks as others cooled down allowed the water in the sap to evaporate until eventually the sap became maple syrup.

When did they discover maple syrup?

The first written documentation of maple sugaring in North America was reported in 1557 by French explorer André Thévet.