East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1913-01-18
ISRAEL PUTNAM.

"Old Put" as General Israel Put
nam was familiarly known among his
comrades, was born in Salem. Massa
chusetts, one hundred and ninetyfive
years ago on January 7. 171S.
When twenty-one years of age Put
nam moved to Pomfret. where he
began the ancient and honorable bus
mess of farming. His descent into the
VOLTS den. shooting the ferocious
beast by the light of its own glaring
eyes. showed his audacious courage,
and he tackled his rocky, stumy farm
with the same unconquerable resolu-
ton that he did the wolf.
But his-career as farmer was to be
a brief one. The French and Indian
war called him from the peaceful bus
mess of agriculture to the stormy life
OF a soldier, and many were the per-
lis through which he passed during
that bloody conflict That he was
brave is shown by the fact that in one
encounter he came out with fourteen
bullet holes in his clothes.
At Fort Edward, when all others
fled, he fought back the fire from
magazine in which were stored three
hundred barrels of gunpowder, pro-
tected by only a thin partition His
face, hands, and almost his entire
body were blistered by the great heat.
In 1858 party of Indians took him
prisoner, bound him to a stake and
made ready to burn him. The flames
were already scorching his limbs when
French officer broke through the
crowd of red devils" and saved his
life.
When the Revolutionary War be-
gan Putnam stood squarely with the
patriots and their cause. The Brit
ish offered him money and the rank
of major general if he would fight on
their side, but he could neither be
daunted by toll and danger nor brib-
ed by gold and honors. Heart and
soul he was with his countrymen, and
there wasn't gold enough in the Britt
ish treasury to buy him.
When the news of the Battle of
Lexington came Putnam was plough
ing in his field at Pomfret. Leaving
orders for the militia company to fol-
low, he jumped on his horse, and,
riding a hundred miles in eighteen
hours, arrived in Cambridge on the
morning of the 21st, ready for what
ever they wanted him to do
He did heroic service along with
Stark and Warren at Bunker Hill. He
fought with conspicuous courage and
ability during the Battle of long Is
land, and was one of the last to leave
New York after the disastrous con-
flict.
In 1777 he was placed in charge Of
the Hudson river defenses, and was
the first to see the strategic import
ance of West Point.
In 1879. at the age of sixty-one,
the old hero was stricken with paral-
ysis and retired; but his heart re-
mained faithful to the cause he had
served so we'll, and it is pleasant to
remember that when he died in 1890
in his seventy year, his coun-
try had been free for almost a de-
cade.
Israel Putnam was a whole man
and a true American. Simple in his
habits, honest, true as steel, un-
daunted by fear and proof against
corruption, he will ever stand as one
of the heroic characters in our coun-
try's history. As people we can
well afford to be immensely proud OF
him; and it goes without saying that
it is both our privilege and duty tC
see to it that our children and oul
children's children shall not forget his
staunch manhood and incorruptibl,
riotsm.-EXaminer