The Republican journal., 1922-10-26
Putnam's Wolf Den

p,,tnam, a major general in the
lsIs.,;,narv army, was born at Salem,
ReVo; 17t8 lie was naturally bright
Mass s''arous. - despite a lack of school
ana ~ When Putnam was 81 he
eduestt't edut 70 Pcmfret, Conn, and became a
moNeu Ills daring exploit in crawling
fslmeh, 5en of a wolf and shooting the
INTO W ana his reckless feat of riding his
snlnl'l, ,,,n stairs at Horse Neck, when
holse hv the British, are incidents In
puiss,Jf. ss well known as his bravery on
DIS hLa,tIeGeld. Before entering the Revo-
inc 80 war Putnam had gained consld-
lu'iVH lame through his services in the
eiap and Indian war in l755 The fact
lieatb ~. was f:.ade major general shortly
wa entering the revolution is evidence
at.' be was a man of unusual ability.
y" .nas ,ade big hit at the battle of Bunker
M ne II doubtless will always be some
M, d;sputed question as to whether he
"Ceneral Prescott was in chief COM
W. VI If the Americans on that day.
,Ins;oo Ion; saws that documentary evidence
Lot ss the honor to Prescott. However,
snsms TO be the general opinion that
w generals acted independent of the
D.ssr wi hout dictation or consultation,
oh ah bent on defeating the eneAy. Put.
ea pas obliged to leave the army during
IA .s latter part of 1879 on account of
',roke ". of paralysis. lie died at Brooklyn,
100. aged 72,
Tbe wolf den, made famous through
,;s,orv was in Pomfret, 40 miles east or
us.tford. and three miles from Putnam's
t.. Al old wolf was making such
.s1;ons uva depredations among the live stock
b.t pnt m m entered intn
o.ombination with five of his neighbors
10 hunt alternately for her until she was
t;lled She was finally traced by the
hounds through the snow to her den in
.hs rocks. Ii was gala occasion for the
nsiehborhood The populace gathered
With all sorts Of implements. Dogs were
.,nt in but they soon came out with
Lcsrated hides and scurried homeward
One old fellow tried the burning OF sui
nbur but Mrs Wof merely sneezed.
Straw was set ON fire at the entrance OF
tbs den. but the old girl proved herself
eousl to a present-dav city hremen IN
standing smoke. Putnam told his negro
man to crawl in and shoot the varmlnt
The negro rolled his eyes and begged to
be excused. This riled Putnam and he
said he was ashamed to have a coward in
his family, anu III uC "ouid w ~ mum
self. HIS neiehbors demonstrated, de-
clarinQ he was liable to lose his lie.
| Stripping off his coat and vest, and with
long rope attached to his legs so that
be could be pulled out at given signal,
Putnam, carrying birch bark torch, was
1 lowered into the den on his trip of ex
ploration. When the animal saw Putnam
and the blazing fire she erowled and sput-
tered Putnam kicked the rope, which
was the signal to pull him out. Thinking
their friend was being attacked they pull
ed at the rope so strenuously as to pull
his shirt over his head and doing much
damage to his skin. This time Putnam
loaded his gun with nine buckshot, and
with gun in one hand torch in the other
again entered the den, and midst growl-
ing and glaring of eyes, blazed away and
made hasty departure as before.
third trip was required in order to ascer-
tain whether the beast was wounded or
dead She seemed to be quite dead, but
be was not absolutely sure until the torch
was applied to the tip of her nose. rlnd-
ing that she did not move. he took her ny
the ears, kicked the rope, and man ano
animal. were dragged out together amid
the huffahing of the crowd