Israel Putnam Wolf Den

Israel Putnam Wolf Den is a natural cave in Pomfret, Connecticut, traditionally identified as the site where Israel Putnam killed what is remembered as Connecticut’s last known wolf in 1742. According to a version recorded in 1788, the wolf had killed seventy sheep on his farm, and Putnam tracked it to the den, entered by torchlight, shot it, and was hauled out by a rope tied to his ankles. Though later retellings likely embellished the story, biographers generally accepted the cave and wolf episode as factual. The exploit became a lasting part of Putnam’s early legend before his later military prominence.

Pomfret, Connecticut · United States