Where in the World is Coltons Point and St. Clements Island?

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Cross and Light House - St. Clement's Island

First let me acknowledge my beloved publishing partners here at the Coltons Point Times.

Beamish - Neapolitan Mastiff

CuChulainn Deo Irie (Coolin) - Irish Wolf Hound

Mr. Henry - Fila Brasileiro, Brazilian Mastiff (Bloodhound) 

As for Coltons Point and St. Clements Island, it is a question I get occasionally and since there are so many new readers I want to address it. We are the only newspaper in the oldest continuously lived in chartered settlement in the colonial United States. Yes, older than Jamestown, older than Plymouth and older than St. Mary's City, places most people think of as the oldest. If you are not familiar with US history, the three places I mentioned all ceased to exist by the 1690's. That means we existed 142 years before our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and went to war with England.



St. Clements Island just offshore from Coltons Point was the landing site for 321 colonists on two tiny ships, the Ark and the Dove, in 1634 and the area has been lived in ever since. It is also the first place in the world with religious freedom as the first English charter guaranteed religious toleration. We are also the site of the first landing of Roman Catholics, first Mass performed in the colonies, first Jesuit priests and the first colony to live peacefully with the Native Americans. If that isn't enough we are the site where the first relic from the True Cross of Jesus came to America and miracles were performed with it.



While the original St. Clement's Manor land grant was huge, stretching all the way to Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York City, none of which existed at the time, the immediate area around Coltons Point is known as the 7th District.

For those of you not familiar with the 7th District in Southern Maryland I thought I would offer a little primer in the highly unlikely event you ever fall off the edge of the world and find yourself here. First of all it is one of the oldest landing points for the colonization of the original thirteen colonies way back in the early 1600's. St. Clements Island, the actual place where the English pilgrims landed, is just off Coltons Point where the pilgrims first saw the Indians and set foot in Maryland. These are the last two places on the map in the 7th District at the Potomac River.

Now I am not a pilgrim nor related to pilgrims but an awful lot of people here are and it seems that the older the family the more likely they inter-married with other families that have been around about 383 years, since 1634. That means when you meet a Dorsey, Bailey, Combs, McKay, and all the other names you see on signs down here you might just be meeting the relatives of all the prominent and aristocratic families.

The 7th District folks came here for religious and other freedom and for the last 383 years have been fighting anyone who tried to tame them. Long before the existence of New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, DC these folks had established rights to the 7th District. The early settlers were a combination of water men, farmers and tobacco farmers and starting in 1639 other people started trying to take this place away from them.

Nessie in Scotland

Bessie in Maryland

The local Native Americans never tried, I suspect they knew better, and this was about the only place in America where the settlers and Native Americans lived in harmony which tells you a lot about the people who settled as they respected the rights of the Natives. Since it was the only place in the New World that promised religious freedom a lot of other people wanted to stop them. The Puritans and a few other groups seemed to think they had the only connection to God.

So the locals fought off the other white men for about a hundred years before they joined the fight against the Brits as the concept of freedom just kept spreading. In a couple of wars the British actually attacked this area which goes to show military intelligence hasn't much changed after all these years. The 7th District eventually became the last frontier in Maryland which it remains to this day.

Along the way the Civil War was fought and being we were well south of the Mason Dixon line but still in Union controlled territory, the 7th District became one of the primary smuggling points for getting supplies and arms to the Confederates since the Union had blockaded all the southern ports. One Union officer said at night the Potomac River was filled with black painted boats sailing supplies across the river to the Confederates in Virginia.

Upcoming scandals we will be reporting on include the English and French support for the Confederate army that was channeled through this area and the fact the English backed John Wilkes Booth and was to pick him up here after the killing of President Lincoln. Of course there is also the disappearance of Booth for almost a week during the manhunt in the area of the 7th District.

Eventually the rest of Maryland got civilized and soon the election of governor in the state always seemed to be tied between the Baltimore Democrats and the Washington DC area Republicans and it was the band of outcasts down in the 7th District that decided many an election throughout the 20th century. I suspect this was the way the folks of the 7th District got even with the politicians. Many a person can recall seeing a candidate for governor from up north sneak into the District, spend a weekend sharing some moonshine with the old boys, and going home to win the election. In the 7th District the vote could be controlled as about everyone was a Catholic Democrat and they knew statewide elections were dependent on them for success.

We had our share of celebrities as well but they always seemed to live just across the water from the 7th District. From Coltons Point you could see where George Washington was born and where Robert E. Lee was born on the Virginia shore.

There is no local government nor local police in the entire 7th District as the people could never see the need for the bureaucrats. Most justice was handed out locally including disposal without the expense of trial or jail for anyone terrorizing the people. No crime wave lasted long.

Of course to this day there are no governments, street lights, stop lights, sidewalks, sewers, water pipes, gas lines or anything else found in most civilizations. The fire and emergency personnel are volunteers. About half of the roads planned for Coltons Point have never been built and you better check the goods in the local store for expiration dates before you buy anything.

People here still eat fish, oysters, crab and clams harvested from the river although the politicians up north have done about everything possible to destroy the environment. More than nine Bald Eagles share year round residence in the Point along with many a strange specimen that can be seen wandering out of the swamps and wetlands on dark and foggy nights.

There is a distinct social structure that has evolved over the centuries involving the Ancients, Water men, Yuppies, Yippies, Yappies, Come Downers and Come Backers.  Since there are no Native Americans left our version of the ancients are the hillbillies, moon shiners, deinstitutionalized head cases, religious zealots, and of course Confederates who run around singing "Don't give a damn what the Yankees say the South's gonna rise again."

The Water men are the raucous survivors of the original colonists, the fisher men, crab men, oyster men, clam men, eel men, (yes I said eels as in scary slithering things on the river bottom) and the people who supported them like the marinas, crab shacks, oyster and clam processing joints etc. There aren't many left and that is one of the enduring tragedies of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The Yuppies are the new rich who move here to get away from what they spent their lives working to get. Yippies are the younger generation now beyond youth but still trying to find their way through life with a soft spot for environmental issues, nature, birds and privacy. Yappies are Yuppies and Yippies with a big mouth who show up expecting to find all the laws of more civilized places like dog catchers, police and all the other conveniences of modern society.

The Come Downers are the city folk who discovered the quaint place along the river and made their way here to escape where they are from or to exploit the area for material gain which never seems to happen. Finally the Come Backers are the kids of the Ancient families who escaped long ago only to discover the rest of the world will never replace what they had here in the first place and eventually they find their way back home.

Down here the Postmaster knows everyone on a first name basis. The local bar doesn't want any more customers as that might put them in a higher tax bracket. There is no fast food, no place to eat period without driving about 10-20 miles, and little need to put on airs. It don't matter whether you are rich or poor, you all eat crabs, oysters and clams the same.

Now that is a little of what you find down here in the 7th District of Southern Maryland, ferocious defenders of individual freedom a lot of character from a lot of characters, a place steeped deep in history, a keen sense of fair play, a desire to help your neighbors no matter what their social status might be, a bit cynical when it comes to the promises of the government or elected officials, but people who will never turn their backs on people in need, unless, of course they deserve it.

Coltons Point is a quiet village of about 250 people on the Potomac River where it is seven miles wide, just before it reaches the Chesapeake. Bay. Though we are only 60 miles from Washington, DC there are no governments, no police, no traffic lights, no street lights, no sidewalks, no water, no sewer, no gas lines, no churches, no city hall, no fire department, no sirens, no bureaucrats of any kind and not much of anything in the way of commercial development. We value freedom and independence above all else. This year we celebrate our 384th anniversary.

None of that has anything to do with the Coltons Point Times (CPT) except I happen to live here. Before I found myself in Coltons Point I lived in Iowa, Arizona, Nebraska, California, Washington DC, Virginia, New Jersey and Kentucky. In addition I had worked several years in New York City and Nashville.



Perhaps that is why the CPT seems to cover a lot of national and international issues. It may also explain why an online newspaper in one of the smallest villages in the USA has up to 144,000 readers every month. The last time I checked we had readers from 96 different nations, all 50 states, and Washington, DC.

Our mission is to tell the truth, be an independent voice, share interesting material with our readers and help keep you informed with the inside information on government, politics, science, health, housing, music and a whole bunch of other stuff. When the world stage gets boring we offer a little history and local color that may be of interest. We want to keep the news makers from politicians to news media, Wall Street to the Middle East honest and that has been a lot of work lately.


You may have noticed we are about the last newspaper on the internet to NOT allow those frustrating ads, banners, pop ups, video ads and all the other things created to track and annoy you. We do not require you to register because you have enough people already spying on you. I encourage you to check through our online archives as many stories are updated over time such as the House of Rothschild, Wall Street, and policy issues like the collapse of our health care system, terrorism, culture, and many others.

Reader comments are encouraged and responses will be given if needed. You can even ask me to email you privately in your comment and I will not post your email for the world to see. I have responded in numerous languages although the translations might be a little rough.

Since we do not accept advertising or do our own advertising people find us through searches for issues and images as we often have pretty entertaining photos and cartoons with our stories. You can set up an RSS news feed to your home page to get the latest headlines on articles I post.


Word of mouth is our strongest means of exposure and we would greatly appreciate it if you would tell your friends, family and associates about us and give them the site. Most search engines like Google can easily locate us by searching for the Coltons Point Times or you can click on: http://coltonspointtimes.blogspot.com/ to directly connect.


We appreciate having you in our family and hope you check in for the latest news often. Thank you.

Jim Putnam, Publisher

My Life with an Irish Wolfhound - CuChulainn Deo Irie

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You know, some things just happen in life when the stars align and the Gods decide that maybe it is time to make things interesting for some lonely human. Little did I know it might be me. After years of fruitless searching for an Irish Wolfhound wherever I was traveling from coast to coast, I was about to give up.



Now I admit my standards might be a little excessive. But I had studied everything I could find about these dogs over the years although I was surprised to discover just how little was available. I mean this is one of the oldest breeds of dog in existence and can be traced back at least 3,500 years to ancient Ireland. This dog was the stuff of Irish legends.



"I will give thee a dog which I got in Ireland.
He is huge of limb, and for a follower equal to an able man.
Moreover, he hath a man’s wit and will bark at thine enemies but never at thy friends.
And he will see by each man’s face whether he be ill or well disposed to thee.
And he will lay down his life for thee.”
(from "The Icelandic Saga of Nial”)



According to Irish Wolfhound websites, The dog of kings and the king of dogs, the Irish wolfhound is a living symbol of the Celtic people. A dog from the time of heroes, it is entwined in Irish lore and legend. The tallest of dogs, the noble Wolfhound is an enormous, rough-coated shaggy-browed hound, built on galloping lines and is a member of the Greyhound family and combines their great speed with enormous power. Even as he lies by a modern hearth or romps about an enclosed yard, gallops in a meadow or along a beach, it is easy to imagine him as the prominent figure he once was in the feudal life of the Middle Ages. He was coveted for his hunting prowess, particularly in the pursuit of wolf. With the disappearance from Ireland of these animals, and the excessive exportation of the dwindling ranks of Wolfhound, the breed was allowed to become almost extinct.



Wolfhounds were, indeed, so highly thought of that only kings, warriors, nobles and bards were legally allowed to own them. They were the companions of the regal, and housed themselves alongside them. But their function was far from ornate - they were considered the guardians of their noble masters, and they were indeed bred to hunt wolves and capture wolves, and to go in for the kill. It is not surprising to note that there are no known wolves in Ireland today.



A dog of nobility, an Irish wolfhound was so valued in the 1700s that a condemned man could buy his life with one. Once upon a time the Irish Wolfhounds were used to fight wild animals in the arenas of imperial Rome. They were known to have defeated lions in battle.

Queen Elizabeth was given a pair of Wolfhounds in the middle of her reign and Lord Cromwell, in 1652, was so concerned about the exportation of Wolfhounds from Ireland and the rapidly vanishing breed that he banned any further exporting. By the later part of the 19th Century, Irish wolfhounds very nearly became extinct. An Irish wolfhound was the first pure-bred dog in the New World; one traveled with Columbus on his fourth voyage.



In spite of its size, the Irish wolfhound is absolutely trustworthy with children. All this information plus the fact my mother's side of the family was from Ireland was enough to convince me that I needed one to complete my portfolio of canine sidekicks which by this time was pretty extensive.

I determined that I must find one whose parents were natives of Ireland in order to make certain I was getting close to the original breed since cross breeding and limited numbers of wolfhounds tended to weaken the breed after too many generations away from Ireland.



Now I studied the breed standards and fully expected to find what is known as the "super breed" which refers to a throwback to the ancient lineage. These are standards that come closer to the ancient breed than modern dogs. I was not disappointed.

AKC MEET THE BREEDS®: Irish Wolfhound
An Irish Wolfhound must be "of great size and commanding appearance." He has a large, muscular greyhound-like shape, and he is the tallest of dogs, but not the heaviest. A superb athlete and an endurance runner, an old Irish proverb describes him perfectly: "Gentle when stroked, fierce when provoked." The breed’s recognized colors are gray, brindle, red, black, pure white, fawn and others.

Irish Wolfhound Breed Standard
General Appearance
Of great size and commanding appearance, the Irish Wolfhound is remarkable in combining power and swiftness with keen sight. The largest and tallest of the galloping hounds, in general type he is a rough-coated, Greyhound-like breed; very muscular, strong though gracefully built; movements easy and active; head and neck carried high, the tail carried with an upward sweep with a slight curve towards the extremity. The minimum height and weight of dogs should be 32 inches and 120 pounds; of bitches, 30 inches and 105 pounds; these to apply only to hounds over 18 months of age. Anything below this should be debarred from competition. Great size, including height at shoulder and proportionate length of body, is the desideratum to be aimed at, and it is desired to firmly establish a race that shall average from 32 to 34 inches in dogs, showing the requisite power, activity, courage and symmetry.

How could you not want to experience sharing a home with an ancient member of Irish royalty? These gentle giants were the stuff of legends and at long last my search for the perfect Irish Wolfhound with genetic ties directly to Ireland came to a conclusion in northern Maryland.



When I moved to Maryland a few years back I discovered a breeder in Northern Maryland with puppies meeting the exact qualities I required. A male, first generation removed from Ireland and with all the classic standards the American Kennel Club expected in a show quality dog though I had no expectation of ever showing him.

Unfortunately the breeder said all pups were taken and she would call me when the next litter came along. I was disappointed having come so close for the first time in several years. But a week later she called me back and said the buyer of one from Georgia had been diagnosed with cancer and could no longer devote the attention to the dog necessary so she cancelled her order. He was mine if I wanted him.



When I got to the breeder two pups were left to pick up, a male and female. They were the cutest, most innocent looking little wolfhounds resting in their cage. About 7 weeks old, there was absolutely nothing about this little guy that foretold of what was to come. So I sat down and waited to see if he would come to me. The male made the first move then along came the female. But the male crawled up on me and parked himself. I was surprised at how small and delicate it seemed at seven weeks old compared to the vision I had of the full sized warrior.



So I walked away with the little critter and on the journey home he started whimpering, maybe he wasn't quite ready for adventures. By the second night away from mamma he was sleeping with me curled in my arms or sprawled across the pillow above my head. It was quite cute. Six years later he is still sleeping with me although now I am the smaller one, but that gets a little ahead of the story.



His first week he inhaled some strong flea and tick spray and literally died, seizing up and suddenly stopped breathing with no heartbeat. I grabbed the little guy and ran into the bathtub and shoved him under freezing cold water and somehow the shock jolted him back to life.



It was then I decided he was a fighter, having already faced death and come back so I named him CuChulainn Deo Irie, Gaelic for CuChulainn, warrior spirit of Ireland. Since no one in Coltons Point spoke Gaelic I just called him Coolin, or Cu for short.



I had no idea what I was getting into with this unusual little creature. He grew in spurts, in about six week intervals. He would eat like a horse during that time, grow a couple of inches and a lot of pounds, then stop growing for six weeks. Every time his color seemed to change.



I waited a year to start exercising him as I knew large breed dogs face their most dangerous period the first year when most people over-exercise them when their bones and joints are still in fluid. Then we took two walks a day of approximately 2 miles total. I knew he was allergic to flea treatment because of his near death experience so I had to find some natural way to fight fleas and ticks since he did like to romp through the woods and along the shore.



After two trips he refused to go to the vet and I had to find a most unusual vet in Southern Maryland who would make house calls. Dr. Guyther and her Vet-A-Pet traveling show became one of Coolin's great friends and admirers. The doc treated horses so I knew she could handle Coolin.



As he continued to stretch out at an alarming pace a few things became obvious. First, he could never be left in a kennel because he simply would not fit in a cage. His idea of a cage based on my raising him was the living room. Second, he did not like dog food as he did not consider himself a dog but a far superior being.



From day one he insisted on sleeping with me and for the first year it was on the bed. It was the genetic breeding, I could tell. Slowly but surely a host of mysterious habits came from Coolin as he grew into his royalty genetics. Once he got too big for the bed he would only lie down on his own bed. Since he liked to hang out with people some of the time and stay out on a porch there had to be two beds, one inside and one out, with about five comforters each.



This was a most peculiar dog. He like having a light cover on him even though he had a fur coat. Then there were the pillows. He insisted on a pile of pillows. These I moved from bed to bed. When he moved to the bed he would arrange them under his head or push them to the side so he could lie on them.



As he grew and surpassed the breed standards I began to wonder. You see, AKC said the Wolfhound male should get about 32-34 inches high and weigh an average of 125 pounds. Occasionally a genetic throwback would come along more like the ancient breed and could weigh up to 175 pounds. They also said he should stop growing at 4 years old.

Coolin shattered the breed standards. He now stands nearly 39 inches at the shoulder, and measures over 7 feet 3 inches from nose to tail. As for the weight, with no fat whatsoever he still weighs in at about 250 pounds. That makes him much more like the ancient super breed.



Concerning the things no one told me about Wolfhounds, where do I start? No one mentioned the two beds, or that he liked them clean. If the top blankets and pillow cases were not regularly cleaned he refused to lie down on the bed. And my little Lord demanded he get baths, toweled and brushed weekly. What in the hell was that all about? I never owned a dog that demanded baths.



Then there was the eating. As for the diet, forget it. What I ate he ate unless he ate better. Hands down peanut butter sandwiches are his favorite, along with sushi, salads, hamburgers, hot dogs and on and on. He prefers variety, as in a different meat each day. Some days he refuses to eat what I serve and will not touch the food until he gets what he wants. He just won't have a bad chicken day.



For breakfast his Irish breeding makes him love crescent rolls. After breads or rolls he expects a small bowl of milk to wash down the food. He may be the slowest eater I've ever seen. One small bite at a time and chew it 25 times, then swallow. Then wash the legs and feet and eventually he will get back to the food. Half hour meals are the norm.

When he eats, which he does lying down, the food must be no closer than 3 inches from him. Too close and he moves away. Too far away and he waits for you to move it closer. When he eats half the plate he expects it to be rotated so the food is close to him. Don't rotate and he don't eat. If he is getting several different things for his meal don't dare mix them. I may give him meat, wet dog food, dry dog food and bread for a meal. He gets up and changes position before he will eat the next course of his meal.

Are you beginning to get the idea that Coolin thought he was moving in with the Rockefellers or Rothschilds, not me?

A people person, Coolin wanted to hang out with the humans but did not like being touched unless he gave you permission. If people approached him and didn't follow directions a low growl would rumble across the room. It would stop anyone.

Acutely aware of his size and the hazards of being huge, Coolin was very careful. He would not walk on wood floors. Of course my whole house has wood floors so he only went where I put rugs. His long, gangly legs kept him from attempting to walk up flights of steps. He knew better. He would never enter a room he could not safely back out of.

Most astonishing of all, in spite of the fact he looked down on most tabletops, he never knocked anything off a table or knocked over any furniture. And we never caught him stealing food off the table. We had been warned the Wolfhound was entirely capable of snatching a steak or roast but only when you were not looking. He didn't.

Coolin has a variety of voices he uses to communicate with you. There are different tones and sounds when he wants food, wants out, wants you to come play with him, and wants to be left alone. If you study them you develop a whole new way of communicating with animals. His mysterious eyes are also used to communicate. If I ask him what he wants his head continues facing you but he shifts his eyes to what he wants, like the water bowl if it is empty, or dirty. He might want his towels put down over his bed when coming in from the rain. If he is hurt he will show me where so I can fix him.



Other dogs are inferior creatures to Master Cu but he did make friends with an abandoned Irish Setter named Holly and shared his home, food, bed and masters with Holly. He is the most unselfish animal you will meet. He also saved birds that were hurt and brought them to me to fix. When lying on the front porch little birds would fearlessly hop around him as his eyes followed them picking up crumbs of his food.



He really does not like being around small dogs as he is afraid of hurting them accidently, they move too fast. Nor does he like being around small children for the same reason. If a Wolfhound is raised with the children they are exceptional guardians and playmates.



The Irish Wolfhound is a sensitive, meaning they have a mystical sense of the character of a person. It was why they were favorites of the ancient Druids and were often used as Demon chasers to protect Celtic villages from evil. If he senses evil or something wrong with someone he will not let the person near you.



Mostly they are gentle giants, incredible companions, lovable bears and amazing athletes. Loyalty is inherent, protecting you is a given, nursing you when you are sick or hurt is automatic and knowing how to read your every emotion is commonplace. You could not find a better friend. But you better be ready to provide your Little Lord with royal service. They do not stay little for long.

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