Editing Ethan Allen (section)

===Onion River Company===
Allen joined his cousin Remember Baker and his brothers Ira, Heman, and Zimri to form the Onion River Company in 1772, a land-speculation organization devoted to purchasing land around the [[Winooski River]], which was known then as the Onion River. The success of this business depended on the defense of the Wentworth grants. Early purchases included about {{convert|40000|acre|ha}} from Edward Burling and his partners; they sold land at a profit to [[Thomas Chittenden]], among others, and their land became the city of Burlington.<ref name="Jellison77_86">Jellison, pp. 77–86</ref>

The outrage of the Wentworth proprietors was renewed in 1774 when Governor Tryon passed a law containing harsh provisions clearly targeted at the actions of the "Bennington Mob".<ref name="Jellison92">Jellison, p. 92</ref><ref name="Nelson108">Nelson (1990), p. 108</ref> Vermont historian Samuel Williams called it "an act which for its savage barbarity is probably without parallel in the legislation of any civilized country".<ref name="Jellison92"/> Its provisions included the death penalty for interfering with a magistrate, and outlawing meetings of more than three people "for unlawful purposes" in the Grants.<ref name="Jellison92"/> The Green Mountain Boys countered with rules of their own, forbidding anyone in the Grants from holding "any office of honor or profit under the colony of N. York".<ref name="Jellison94">Jellison, p. 94</ref>

Allen spent much of the summer of 1774 writing ''A Brief Narrative of the Proceedings of the Government of New York Relative to Their Obtaining the Jurisdiction of that Large District of Land to the Westward of the Connecticut River'', a 200-page polemic arguing the position of the Wentworth proprietors.<ref name="Jellison94_5">Jellison, pp 94–95</ref> He had it printed in Connecticut and began selling and giving away copies in early 1775. Historian Charles Jellison describes it as "rebellion in print".<ref name="Jellison96">Jellison, p. 96</ref>