Israel Putnam Wolf Den
Open-knowledge reference entry
Israel Putnam Wolf Den is a historic site off Wolf Den Road in Pomfret, Connecticut. At this location in 1742, Israel Putnam shot and killed Connecticut's last known wolf. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Legend
A version of the legend, documented in a 1788 biography by David Humphreys, holds that Putnam and others tracked a wolf to the cave after it had killed seventy sheep on Putnam's farm. Putnam entered the cave by torch light, shot the wolf, and was pulled from the cave by a rope tied to his ankles, dragging the wolf behind him. The story has possibly been embellished over the years, but the main themes of the story, the cave and wolf, are believed to be factual by most Putnam biographers. The exploit was part of the early career of Putnam, who went on to become an officer in the French and Indian War, a leading Connecticut figure in the American Revolutionary War and a folk hero for many generations.
Cave
The cave, a natural fissure in an outcropping of grey gneiss ledge, runs for about 20 feet back into the rock. At one time it may have opened into a small chamber, but leaves, debris, and fill have erased any evidence of this. The cave looks much as it did in the late 18th century when the tale of Putnam and the wolf was codified.
“Israel Putnam Wolf Den” enters the record as open-knowledge reference entry. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Israel, Putnam and Wolf can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Israel Putnam Wolf Den” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Israel, Putnam and Wolf provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6087152. Authority coordinates are 41.843, -71.984. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1742, 1985 and 1788.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Israel Putnam Wolf Den”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Israel Putnam Wolf Den primary sources, Israel Putnam Wolf Den archive and Israel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Israel Putnam Wolf Den”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Israel Putnam Wolf Den” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.