The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-07-12
Stuffed Specimen Bought for
the Boston Society of
Natural History
ANIMAL WAS SHOT
FORTY YEARS AGO
Last on Exhibition at Bennington His
torical Pageant Was Taken to
Paris as Model for Bronze Figure on
Site of Catamount Tavern.

L II.
The I" Wardsboro catamount, - the
last cougar killed in the state of Yer
mont, is to become part of the col
lection of the Boston Society of Nat
ural History. Charles w. Johnson,
curator of the society, was guest at
the Walloomsac Inn at Old Benning-
ton recently and while here purchased
the big cat of Chelsea Harrington, the
local taxidermist. The catamount has
already been shipped to Boston but
will not be placed on exhibition until
after it has been through the hands of
an expert aud thoroughly restored.
Since it was first mounted 40 years
ago the animal has been transported
about the country to Fourth of July
celebrations and other public gather
ngs and had been considerably dam
aged. Mr.. Harrington, however, states
that an expert with museum experience
viii be able to repair all injuries and
convert the catamount into a perman-
ept specimen.
The catamount was killed in Wards
bOro in November, 1875, by three men
who tracked the animal into a dense
piece of woods. Edwin l.. White of
North Bennington, who was boy liv-
ing at Wardsboro, at the time, well
remembers the. occurrence. Only one
If the three hunters possessed a gun.
When the panther had been run into
the top of a tree the man with the
gun fred at the animal Down came
the panther and out of the woods ran
| the three hunters. Once in the open
| their courage returned and they re
entered the woods and found the pan
| Their thrcshing about on the ground
One of its fore shoulders had been
broken by the bullet and as the other
| fore foot had been lost when the ami
| NAL had been caught in steel trap
| it was powerless to inflict any injury
| upon the hunters.
One of the men carried a rope. \
| moose was thrown about the panther !
| body, the animal was tied TO a tree
| and finished with club. After being
mounted the animal was placed on ex
hibition at Wardsboro and the follow
| ing year was brought to Bennington
and placed on exhibition by the Ben
nington Battle Monument and Histori
cal society at the Shurtleff drug store
An admission of ten cents was charge,
|
| rived being turned into the treasur,
Of the society. George A. Robinson o
/ Old Bennington has among his collec
ton of souvenirs one of the handful
circulated at the time advertising tn
exhibition ut the drug store.
From Bennington the catamount wa
taken to Paris tc be used as a mode
by Bartlette, the sculptor, in the erea
tion of the life-size bronze that mark
the site of the Catamount Tavern a
Old Bennington.
The catamount's last public appear
ance was during the historical pagean
held here IN August, 1911. At tina
time the animal was brought froi
/. Wardsboro by automobile and was use
in the reproduction of the CatamouI,
. Inn, the headquarters of the Gree
Mountain Boys during the controvers
: with the New York state governmer
q and in the days of the revolutionar
= | war.
After the pageant the catamount We
= | not returned to Wardsboro but ws
d purchased from its owners by Mr.. Ro1
g inson who later sold it to Chelsea Ha
I rington of whom it was purchased f,
. the Boston society.
r Mr.. Robinson has just received
: letter from the curator saying that Il