4-45 The State of Vermont

The great state of Vermont became the 14^th state in the Union on March 4, 1791.  Its capital is Montpelier.  The name Vermont comes from the French words for green mountain, "mont vert."

The Native Americans first lived in the area now known as Vermont and called themselves, the Abenaki, a tribe of the Algonquin nation.  Archaeologists discovered evidence of Abenaki villages along the shores of Lake Champlain near the mouth of the Winooski River.  "Winooski" is an Abenaki term for "wild onion". The Abenaki tribe was also located along the Connecticut River.

Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer of North America, was the first European to discover the Green Mountains.  In 1609, Champlain left his camp on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec and joined the Algonquians in an expedition against their enemies, the Iroquois. The journey up the river brought Champlain to a lake that now carries his name, Lake Champlain, on July 4, 1609.  The name "Vermont" is French, les monts verts, for "the green mountains."

In 1724, the first permanent English settlement was established along the Connecticut River at Fort Dummer, near what is now Brattleboro.  The fort was maintained by the colonial governments of Vermont and New Hampshire as a defensive outpost throughout the French and Indian Wars.  When peace was made with the French in 1760, the Green Mountains were quickly opened to settlement. Most of the new settlers were from Connecticut or Vermont and persistently resisted the claims of authority by New York. The resistance to the "Yorkers" brought the organization of the Green Mountain boys under the leadership of Col. Ethan Allen in 1775.  This army played a significant role during the American Revolution at the battles of Hubbardston and Bennington in 1777.

On January 17, 1777, Vermont was declared an independent republic in a meeting held at Westminster.  This little republic began minting its own coin and providing postal service until 1791 when Vermont was admitted to the union.  Vermont was  the first state to join the original thirteen colonies as a state.

Emblem/Symbol	Name of Emblem/Symbol	Adopted
Motto	"Freedom and Unity"
Nickname	Green Mountain State
State Bird	Hermit Thrush	1941
State Flower	Red Clover	1894
State Song	"These Green Mountains"	1999
State Tree	Sugar Maple	1949
State Flag		1923
State Insect	Honeybee	1977
State Butterfly	Monarch Butterfly	1987
State Cold Water Fish	Brook Trout	1978
State Warm Water Fish	Walleye Pike	1978
State Animal	Morgan Horse	1961
State Mineral	Talc	1991
State Gemstone	Grossular Garnet	1991
State Amphibian	Northern Leopard Frog	1998

Complete the questions below.

1.  Vermont became the 14^th state in the Union on March 4, .

2.  The state motto is "."

3.  The state tree is the .

4.  The state song is "."

5.  The state flower is the .

6.  The state warm water fish is the .

7.  Talc is the state .

8.  Vermont comes from the French words for green mountain, "."

9.  The state insect is the .

10.  The state nickname is the .