Settled and resettled

Greenfield from Poet's Seat Tower, 1917

"You go to towns in Massachusetts, Greenfield, first settled in 1686. Wouldn’t it be cool if it said, 'Greenfield. First settled c. 13,000 B.P. or approximately 13,000 Before the Present. Resettled.' Maybe we could say even, 'Resettled by whites,' Or, 'Resettled anyway, 1686.' It would have a different impact. And of course it would help explain why the town is called Greenfield, because it was a green field and the fields were left by Native people who had already been farming them.

-- James W. Loewen, historian and sociologist

Marker in downtown Greenfield.