Fly Fisher 'I'he Museum of American Fly Fishing Maric,Hcsl(V-, V(.Rrnorit 052.5-1
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The Fly Fisher 'I'he Museum of American Fly Fishing Maric,hcsl(v-, V(.rrnorit 052.5-1 The Museum is a non-profit institution, chartered under the laws of the State of Vermont. As an educational or- ganization it is directed to the preservation and keeping of the traditions that bond the past with the present. The Museum offers a permanent public repository where the historic fly rod, reel, book, art work and fly pattern may be expertly guarded against the destructiveness of time. Contributions are tax deductible as established by the U.S. Revenue Service. A descriptive brochure is available. The permanent exhibits dt the Museum displdy the world's fincst collections of fly tishing tackle. OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES President Henry Bruns Raymond A. Kotrla Carroll C. Curtice Vice President & Curator Donald DuBois Austin S. Hogan Charles A. Fellows Treasurer Benjamin A.G. Fuller Leigh H. Perkins Arnold Gingrich Secretary & Asst. Treasurer William A. Glassford Mrs. Millie B. Delaney Gardner L. Grant Registrar Dr. Alvin Grove, Jr. Kenneth Cameron George W. Harvey Conservator Charles E. Jones Charles Olin Poul Jorgensen Mark Kerridge David Ledlie Honorarv Trustees Leon L. Martuch Sidney Neff D. C. Corkran Mrs. Leigh Perkins Harry Darbee Steve Raymond Herman Kessler Rick Robbins Wesley Jordan Willard F. Rockwell, Jr. Theodore Rogowski Ben Schley MEMORIAL CITATION Berni Schoenfield Joseph W. Brooks, Jr Ernest G. Schwiebert 1901-1972 Warren Shepard & Milford K. Smith Albert I. Alexander Louis Stoia Gene Anderegg Prescott A. Tolman Stuart C. Apte Bennett Upson Joseph Spear Beck Archibald Walker Harold Rlaisdell Milton Weiler Stanley Bogden Ted Williams Miss Kay Brodney Maxine Atherton Wykoff ~hcAmerican Ply Fisher Published by The Museum of American Fly Fishing for the plcasi~reof the mcnibcrship. SPRING 1374 Vol. I., No. 2 ADVISORY HOARD -- - -- - - - - Kenneth C,imeron TABLE OF CONTENTS Rockport, Mass. Arnold Gingri~li ARTICLES New York, N.Y. "We Also Will Go With Thee' A. I. "Pal" Alexander p. 3 Dr. Alvin Grove The Greatest American Brook Trouts Austin S. Hogan P. 7 State College, PJ. TECHNOLOGY Baird Hall The Fly Rod Splice Kenneth Cameron p. 10 M,inchcstcr, Vt. Reconstru~tir~gHistot ic Amel ican Raymond A. Kotrl,~ Trout Flies Poul Jorgenson p. 14 Wnsliington, D.C. READINGS IN AMERICAN HISTORY Leigh H. I'crkins ". lie Described It as the Best Fly Manclicster, Vt. Fishing He Ever Had Enjoyed" Steve Raymond p. 16 Stevr Raymond Making A First Class Fly Rod Reprint Maine Sports- man, Fcb. 1900 p. Sc'ittle, Wn. 19 The Historic Montana Trout Fly Mrs. Anne Sccor From Tradition to Transition George F. Grant p. 20 Arlington, Vt. MUSEUM AFFAIRS Donald Z,llincr Traveling Exhibit Available for Loan p. 22 Mdnchestcr, Vt. The Wading is Sonletimes Difficult Austin S. Hogan 13. 23 RECENT ACQUISITIONS p. 24 Au\tin S. Hogan Canbl idge, Mass. MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION p. 24 Research X Liaison THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER, the magarine of THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN FLY FISHING, is pub- li\hed quarterly by the MUSEUM at Manchester, Vermont 05254. Subscription is free with payment of ~ncrnbersliipdues, single copies 82.00. All correspondence, letters, manuscripts, photographs and materials slio~~ldbe forwarded care of the Curator. The MUSEUM and MAGAZINE are not responsible for unsolicit- ed mcinuscril>ts,photographs, drawings, materials or memorabilia. The Museum can not accept responsibil- ity for statements and interpretations which are wholly the author's. Unsolicited manuscripts can not be re- turned unless postage is provided. Contributions to THE AMERICAN FLY FISHER are to be considered gratuitous and become the property of the Museum unless otherwise requested by the contributor. Publica- tion dates are January, April, July and October. Application to mail at Second Class Postage Rates 15 pentling at Manchester, Vermont. O Copyright 1974,THE AMERICAN FLY FISIiER, Manchester, Vermont 05254. Original material appcar- ing may not be reprinted without prior permission. CKEIIITS: Museum photos by Kenneth M. Cameron. Drawings by Austin S. Hogan. Printing by Thompson, Inc., Manchester Center, Vermont. WILLIAM COWPER PRIME '1 825 - 1905 A truly beautiful example of the superiority of the glass plate negative. Photographer unknown. Prime was noted for his intellectual pursuits, was a respected journalist and travelled from New England to Florida for his fishing. Photo in the collection of A. I, Alexander. "We Also Will GoWith Thee" (ALook at W. C. Prime) by A. I. "PAL" ALEXANDER Photos by the Author A. I, A lcsutrtler is (I pci.st Vic.c~-l'rc~.sidct~le1t1(1 1)ircclor of. 111~~1->(Icr~1tio11 of' 1.7~l-?.sl~et-~?~ct~, (1 collc~~tor 01. (lt~qlit~q l~oo/<.s,i.5 c/o~p/yirltc3rc~.stcc/ in 1'1)) f'i.sI1i11,q11i.sIoty ut~d/itc>rcl- ~IIIP LIII~J cot~duc~.sUII o~~lcJoot.c0111171t7 lor //7(, 1-uwrctlc.e I..)I. I I III I I tr~ri-o11yll~ut lo110 ws will bc fO~it7dIIIIII.SIIU~ it1 i1.s 111)proclc/7atld ci/~prc~i.scil.s. One Iiunclrcd years have passed since W. C. Prime wrotc Charles Goodspeed, an admirer, who authored At~qllt~y I 00 A-l t5/11t1y( 1873), one of tlie rnost suc~essfuland, in 117 AI~IPIIL(I(1939) shows three stereoscopic photographs by many w'iys, stlangest fishing books of all time. To call it a the Kilburn Brothers. One is of Prime fishing Lonesome "fisl~ingbook" may be a gross misnomer for it is far tnore Lake, tlie sccond is of the cabin, and tlie third is of Prime than that. It is the philosophy of a 7cnlous man with firm and Bridge seated in front of the cabin "disputing the fly opinions on cverytliing from Agnes Durer to fashion and question." Intetcstingly enough, this last 1~liotogr'il)hwas tlie book is pregnant with yarns of Egypt, Syria, and Asia also itsed as the frontispiece of I civorttc I l1c5 citlci thetr Minor that havc nothing whatsoever to do with going a-fish- Illtloricc (1892) by Mary Orvis Marbury. In her text, Mrs. ing. Yet, in spite of all this, a safe wager to make is that 011 Marbury says that an uncle, J.C. Hincliman, while sojourn- the bookshelf of any dealer who handles old or sccond hand ing in the White Mountains, took the picture and sent it to angling books there will be one of the colnmon editions of her but tlie ,iriglcrs in tlie photograph were not idcntificd Walton's Conrpletc Ailylc~t (1653) where the biblical yuota- i~ntilsotne years later when W. C. I'rime and Williatn Bridge, tion From John 2 1: 3 - "Sirnon Peter said, I go a fishing: sitting in a similar manner, were observed by Mrs. Marbury. and they said, We also will go with thee." - is used on the Noticing the remarkable resemblance, she showed the pho- title page and a copy of W. C. Prime's I Go A-11~11117g tograph to tlrc gentlemen and Prime recalled that it liad where, of course, a portion is used in tlie title. been takcn sotnc fifteen years prior at Lonesome Lake. William Cowper Prime (1825-1905) was born in Cam- Whether she had in her possession at that time the other bridge, New York, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He two photographs is not known for certain but it seems was educated at tlie College of New Jersey, now Princeton. highly probable. After college, Prinw entered tlie law for a time before turn- The origin of the photograph (opposite) taken of Prime ing to journalism. He was a president of the Associated in his later years is unknown to me. I found it laid in one of Press and for eight years, he edited the New Yorlz JoumuI the first editions I have of I Go A-1 15hing without any of Cot~~mcrcc.Pritnc also held a chair in art liistory at the marks or notations. It is the only close-up photograph I College of New Jersey and a vice-presidency of the Metro- have ever seen. In 1 Go A-1 1\11tl1ythere are no photographs politan Muscun~of Art. His writings ranged to nutnerous or illustrations save one obscure line drawing takcn from si~bjects including travel, art, porcelain and fishing. Al- //7c Uiu/oyc~of Crcluturec; Moruly$eci (1480?) which shows though he wrotc a do7en books or so, l Go A-Ficl~it~yis itn- the first use in literature of a float or bobber. doi~btedlytlie best of then?. With a full summer to ply his sport froni sunrise to sun- During the summer, when the world was at a much set, Prinic knew well the waters of the Franconia area. He nlore leisurely pace than it is today, he and his fishing fished Profile Lake, Echo Lake, Walker Brook, and Nancy companion, William F. Bridge, of New York City, the ang- Brook as well as the Pemigewasset River. And, with his ler "Dupont" in I Go A-I t,111ny, headed for Franconia, a friend Dupont, he took an almost unbelievable toll of the magnificent mountain retreat area of New Hampshire. Here, native brook trout from the region. As Prime relates, "In with six hundred other guests, at the luxurious Profile fact, after a few days, we counted them only by the basket- House, 2000 feet above the sea, with its flower gardens, fuls. The Pcmigewassct seemed inexhaustible." promenading ladies, and laughing children, they made their Strangely enough, he seemed to havc no conception of I~eadquartcrsfor a summer of fisliing. saving fish for another day although concern for this liad Additionally, Prime spent much time at a si7eable log been expressed earlier and well by people such as Thaddeus cabin constructed on the shores of Lonesome Lake in the Norris with whom he was quite familiar.