You can bet they waited for days when the wind was owing towards that pesky tribe living next door.
What is now the Ohio Valley belonged to the Sioux and kindred tribes in 1400 or so. The Mandan were a farming tribe as were most of the Sioux. They were pushed west and north by more aggressive tribes such as the Huron. Burning forests was the most efficient way to clear land to plant corn, squash and beans a/k/a the three sisters. The ash remains enriched the soil.
Our Siouxian ancestors didn't pick Minnesota and the Dakotas because they liked better soil and colder weather. They picked them because they were isolated and less desirable so they could be left alone. For a few hundred years, it worked.