Maine Coon Origins
Origins of our modern day Maine Coon Cat. As far as anyone can tell our Maine Coon Cat has no distinct origins that can be pinned down for sure. There are a few generally accepted beliefs, you can read and decide for yourself.
· One possibility is when Marie Antoinette took passage to America with her Turkish Angora cats, although she never made it.
Turkish Angora - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Due to political turmoil and accusations with the death penalty being assured she had tried to escape June 21st 1791 probably with her long haired cats, but was soon apprehended and on October 16th 1793 she was executed. It is believed that her cats were sent on with the rest of her voyage assemble.
· Another folk tale involves Captain Charles Coon, an English seafarer who kept long-haired cats aboard his ships. Whenever Coon's ship would anchor in ports, the felines would exit the ship and mate with the local cat population. When long-haired kittens began appearing in the litters of the local cat population, they were referred to as one of Coons Cats.
The generally accepted hypothesis among breeders is that the Maine Coon is descended from the pairings of local short-haired domestic cats and long-haired breeds brought overseas by English seafarers (possibly by Captain Charles Coon) or 11th-century Norseman. The connection to the Norsemen is seen in the strong resemblance of the Maine Coon to the Norwegian Forest Cat,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Forest_cat another breed that is said to be a descendant of cats that traveled with the Norsemen.
· After reading these brief opinions you decide, they all seem to be great stories, they all seem to be plausible. We are just grateful that we have the Maine Coon Cat. Big – Smart – Beautiful!