Battell attended Middlebury College in the early 1860s but he was forced to abandon his studies due to ill health.

On the advice of his doctor, Battell spent a weekend at a farmhouse in nearby Ripton where the clear mountain air would help cure his ailing lungs.

In addition to its role in promoting the breed, the farm produced Morgan hoses for use as cavalry mounts by the US Army in World War I and other conflicts.

In a deed dated 24 January 1911, Battell sold (for one dollar) approximately 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) of virgin forest, including the summit of Camel's Hump, to the State of Vermont.

The deed declared that "trees growing on the land herein conveyed are not to be cut...and the whole forest is to be preserved in a primeval state."

Four years later, through his last will and testament, Battell substantially added to his legacy by placing over 30,000 acres (121 km2) of Vermont's mountain forests in perpetual trust as "wild lands."