Holding a master’s degree in history, Putnam resident Anthony Cosentino serves as a social studies teacher at Rhode Island’s Woonsocket High School. Outside the classroom, he plays reggae music with his band, Truth in Soul, and also enjoys cooking, fishing, and hiking. In addition, Anthony Cosentino trains and works with the volunteer fire department in Putnam, Connecticut, which he joined in 2008.
The town of Putnam plays a significant part in American history, and features the legend of Connecticut’s “last wolf.” Putnam is a small town of about 9,300 people in northeastern Connecticut. Originally called Aspinock, it was incorporated in 1855 and named Putnam in honor of Israel Putnam, an American general who served with distinction in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars. Before he was known as General Putnam, though, he was often called “Wolf Putnam” or “Old Wolf Put.”
In 1742, Israel Putnam was a 24-year-old farmer in Pomfret, a town near present-day Putnam. He and his neighbors were suffering serious livestock losses due to the predations of a single gray wolf. One winter night the wolf reportedly killed 70 of Putnam’s sheep. As she fled the scene, Putnam and some other farmers and their dogs were able to follow her. They tracked her through the snow to her den, a small cave by a stream.
When efforts to smoke the wolf out failed, the farmers sent their dogs in after her, but they scampered out, wounded and frightened. Finally, Putnam tide a long rope to his legs and crawled into the cave. The first time he went in, he determined the wolf’s location, kicked vigorously, and the farmers dragged him out. The second time, he brought a loaded musket with him and shot the wolf. The third time he entered the cave, he ascertained that the wolf was indeed dead, and was once more hauled out, this time dragging the wolf’s carcass with him.
The wolf’s den was marked and preserved, and is now a popular attraction at Connecticut’s Mashamoquet Brook State Park. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it’s a great destination for a family outing.
