Catamount (LSD 17) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 10 text:

THE CATAMOUNT TAVERN When a sturdy Vermont hunter stuffed powder into his musket one sunny afternoon in the 1770 ' s aimed through his crude sights at a strange looking mountain lion, and fired, it is doubtful that he was aware that the results of that shot would play such a large role in the active vocabulary of the hundreds of men who would serve aboard the United States ' Landing Ship Dock, number 17, nearly two hundred years later. With his shot hitting true, the hunter dragged his game into the community of Bennington, Vermont, then a part of the region called the New Hampshire Grants. The type of the mountain lion he had killed was called the painter . These animals were never numerous in the region but were greatly feared by the local inhabitants. Perhaps spurred on by their admiration for his deed, the hunter proceeded to have the animal stuffed, and presented it for display to Bennington ' s leading tavern. Stephen Fay, proprietor and founder of the tavern, happily accepted the gift and had it mounted on the wall. At the same time that this local marksman had felled his prey, other muskets were being loaded in Bennington, but for more profound reasons. The settlers, there since 1767, were involved in a dispute between the Royal Governors of the provinces of New York and New Hampshire, each of whom claimed the region containing Bennington to belong to him. Were New York to win the disagreemeiU, the claims of the present settlers would have been invalidated. In rcsistcnce to such an occurrance, Kthan .Mien, famous RcNolutionary War hero, formed a small guerilla l)and of volunlccrs whom he called the CJrccn Mountain I ' oys. These men took it upon themselves to defend the settlers ' claims to their homes and farm. :. Fay ' s tavern quickly became the logical site for town meetings. A sjx-cial con ention was even held there to discuss and settle the claims of the two states for the territory which is now Wrmont. It was not long before Allen ' s band of vigilantes began to muster there in the e enings. Finally Fay named his drinking place The Green Mountain Tavern . — 6 —

Page 9 text:

THE EXEC LIEUTENANT COMMANDER HERBERT H. VANAMAN Lieutenant Commander Herbert H. ' anaman, Executive OfBrcr, was born in Winamac, Indiana, and enlisted in ilic U. S. Navy in November, 1930, at Gary, Indiana. He served nearly eleven years as an enlisted man before being appointed warrant machinist, in August, 1941. He received a full commission aboard the L ' SS Rigel (AR-lll on June 15, 1942. He has served in many ships during his naval career, among which were; the USS Gannet (AM-41) from 1931 to 1931; the U SS Utah rAG-16) from 1935 until 1911 s-hen he was transferred only a few mouths before she was sunk at Pe.irl Harbor; and the USS Rigel frnm I ' .ljl to 1943. Lt. Chndr. ' anaman was also attached to a torpedo boat scjuadron during ti -e monilis of 1!I13 in the Kllice Islands; the Motor Torpedo Roat Base at Tulagi in 1943 for nine months; Motor ' roriirdn Hoat Squadron Training Genter, Melville, R. I., two months in 1914; and Bureau of Ships, Washington, 1). C., from 1911 to 1947 where he received a citation for Outstanding Clontributions to Engineering Design for Motor Torpedo Boats. While aboard the USS (Jrand Canyon (AD-28), in 1949, as Repair ofTicer, he was jiromotcd to Lieutenant Commander. He was Inspector of Xaval Material in St. Louis, Mo., from 1 !) ' () to 1953 and reported aboard the Catamount to serve as Executive Officer shortly before she sailed for the Far Ecst. Lt. Cmdr. ' anaman was married December 18, 1938, to Miss Ruth E. ( Iar (y of I ' e.iinnoni, IVnnsyKania, and has two children, ' alerie Lynne, 13 years old, and Herbert H., Jr., 12 years old. — 5

Page 11 text:

After the hunter ' s painter had been inouiiK-il iiiid the Boys had had oci asion to stare at it long enough - perhaps after a few not-so-serious cNciiinf ' s - ii was suggested that, by a stretch of the imagination, the expression on the animal ' s face resembled ilicir own grinning defianc e to the Yorkers . With this remarkable tliscovery achieved, they aiIoi)ted the painter as a somewhat inanimate mascot and suggested renaming the tavern for tlic beast. Since Painter ' ravcrn did not seem (juite romantic enough, they chose the less common name for the animal, the Catamount . ' I ' lic Revniutionary War sprang into a reality sf)on afterwards and leaders of Conncticut and Massach- usetts soon louiul tliemselves staring at the defiant ( ataniouiit as they plotted various courses of action with .Mien. Most iintable of these courses was the att.uk on Fort Ticonderoga, regarded as the strongest British fortific.ition on (lie (ontinciit. Early in May, 1775, Allen lead a small band of men from the Catamount tavern and sci ed the fortress. When F.ngland ' s Hurgoyne sent an expedition to capture Hcnnington in August, 1777, the Catamount tavern was still functioning us headquarters for the colonists. It was there that their Clouncil of .Safety was in session during the strategic Battle of Bennington. Only a few weeks before the battle, the settlers had declared themselves independent of both New Hampshire and New York and had become a soverign independent republic called Vermont. When this republic fmally became a member of the United States, the Catamount tavern served as the site for several sessions of the state legislature. The state ' s first court was held inside its walls and the first man sentenced to death in Vermont was tried and convic ted in the tavern and was hung within sight of it. The building was destroyed by fire in 1877, but today it has two outstanding memorials commemorating the part it played in the initial steps toward Vermont ' s freedom. One is a large monument on the tavern ' s site in Bennington. The other is the USS Catamount LSD-17j, perhaps the only ship in any navy to have been nametl after a tavern. Courtesy of the Benninston Museum The last known catamount shot in Vermont, 7 feet long and weighing 182 pounds. The sharp-shooter is known only as a Mr. Crowell.