Legends of the Maine Coon Cat

MAINE CATS,  Origin of the Maine Coon Cat
	


     Copyright © 1990 Beth, Dirigo
	


The State of Maine 200 years ago was particularly suited for development 
of the cat now known as the Maine Coon Cat. In those colonial times trade
flourished with ships sailing to Europe and beyond. The return trip to
England or Europe from Boston, Massachusetts was downwind to Maine, and
"Downeast Maine" is an old seafaring term. When ships put into port for
repair with Maine's magnificent timbers, cats jumped ship. Shipboard
cats were common for rodent control and good luck. The strong sea trade
in combination with family farms located near the small harbors created
the perfect environment for development of the breed. The ship cats
interbred with hardy harbor side cats. The family farms near the small
harbors gave a good and welcoming environment.

Though no one can be sure of the precise origin of the Maine Coon Cat, it is 
likely that those cats, the early gene pool of the Maine Coon Cat of today
flourished and slowly developed the distinctive characteristics unique
to the breed. Uncanny intelligence, sweet temperament, long warm coats,
good size and slow maturity contributed to survival of the Maine Coon Cat.

Two hundred years ago, and even now, the Maine harbor villages were
 isolated and the cat population was small. The gene pool of the early Maine 
coon Cat was not lost by interbreeding with large numbers of other domestic 
cats. These few early cats were nurtured and allowed to multiply until they 
naturally bred true to type in this magical location, with the beautiful sea, 
family farms and harbor side villages set in this cold northern climate.  The 
breed could not have developed in Boston, for example, because there would 
have been too  many other cats to dilute the gene pool. However, the 
Bostonian influence can be seen in the polydactyl Maine Coons that still 
naturally occur.

The best-loved color of the Maine Coon Cat has always been the brown tabby. 
It is possible that the cat got its name because a farmer’s wife, watching her 
fluffy brown tabby, exclaimed, "Look at that cat. He looks like a big old 
coon!" Maine folks, long known for their sense of humor, soon began remarking 
to each other about their "coon cats". The name stuck. Exhibited in America's 
earliest cat shows as MaineCats (but known only as "coon cats" back home), 
the breed is now formally called the "Maine Coon Cat". Maine people invariably 
still call them "coon cats". Those from other states outside Maine are the 
only ones to call these cats "the Maines". In 1985, the Maine Coon Cat was 
designated the Maine State cat by act of legislature.

Maine is still a source of lovely, pure, unregistered Maine Coon Cats. Some
of the finest are living unobtrusively doing porch - duty or as much-loved 
family companions. They may never see a cat show or registration slip, but 
are valued and appreciated for their unique quality. Pure Maine blood in a 
pedigreed Maine Coon Cat is extremely rare and hard to find today. Few 
breeders exist who breed or have bred Maine-origin Maine cats exclusively. 
The breed itself is barely beyond its infancy because the registered genetic 
base is notably very small.	

The Maine Coon Cat is truly the every day cat of New England. Many still do
barn-duty and many more are ordinary house pets. Through the efforts of a 
dedicated group of breeders in the '60's, the Maine Coon Cat has found its 
way back to the fancy show halls, since its heyday in the earliest cat show 
of America in 1895. 

In order to really understand the origin of the Maine Coon Cat, it is first 
needed to grasp the nature of the State of Maine as it has been over the 
past 3 centuries and continues today, an ongoing undercurrent of beauty, 
when separated from the signs of industrial toil and economic factors -- 
when visualized as it was 2 centuries ago, this vision and beauty lingers 
-- in the coastal villages in the salty  aiiiir and in the now quiet golden 
fields. Family farms have virtually disappeared from existence, but the 
now quiet field fields are quiescent. Barns remain, such structures that 
reminisce days of old as much as the two hulls in the Sheepscot River.

Imagine Maine's teeming clipper days. In order to really understand the 
origin of the Maine Coon Cat, one must visualize the unique characteristics 
of the State of Maine as it has been continues today. Its beauty lingers 
eastward to Mt. Desert Island and Cadillac Mountain in the deep and grand 
Penobscot of mighty tides and pointed firs. Maine lingers where winters 
are long and chill but the sea beacons ever fresh; the joys of hearth and 
home beckons ever more bright with a warmly purring, winter-hardy cats all 
the more treasured.

Imagine old Maine teeming. boat builders hammering and sawing, clipper 
captains by the score called Maine ports home, and trusty schooners sailed 
the eastern coast, and world wide vessels of commerce. Maine's villages with 
salty air and inland, the short growing season, sent many of her young men 
to find their fortunes at sea. This is from where the Maine Coon Cat came.

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