Maine Coon
The ancestral origins of the Maine Coon are unknown—there are only speculation and folk tales. One story involves Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France who was executed in 1793. The story goes that before her death, Antoinette attempted to escape France with the help of Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded Clough's ship with her most prized possessions, including six of her favourite Turkish Angora (or possibly Siberian) cats. Although she did not make it to the United States, all of her pets managed to reach the shore of Wiscasset, Maine safely, where they bred with other short-haired breeds and developed into the modern breed of the Maine Coon.