Summary of Humboldt River Resources (1829-1950)
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SUMMARY OF HUMBOLDT RIVER RESOURCES (1829-1950) From Bob McQuivey, Retired, Nevada Department of Wildlife February 9, 2008 INTRODUCTION - The following represents references to fish and fisheries resources in the Humboldt River, such references found in reviewing historical newspapers and as gleaned from reviewing journals and diaries of early emigrants. Also included are all of the pertinent statutes relating to fisheries management objectives attendant to the Humboldt River system, and references from the early Fish Commissioner’s reports. ORAL INTERVIEWS Early day range, livestock and wildlife observations as recalled by Mr. Sid Tremewan, first forest supervisor of the Humboldt National Forest in an interview on March 31, 1964. Document may be found in the files of the U.S. Forest Service in Elko and the Northeastern Nevada Historical Society. When we were on the Evans [ranch], the cutthroat trout would come up out of the Humboldt River to spawn every spring. They would run almost all the streams from Pie Creek to North Fork. When they started back after spawning, lots of them would end up in the irrigation ditches. I have gone out behind the Evans in the ditch next to the meadow and picked up three or four of those cutthroat every morning. They would weigh three or four pounds. 1829 Ogden, Peter Skeen - Snake Country Journals; edited by Glyndwr Williams; London; The Hudson's Bay Record Society; 1971. [Ogden returned to the Humboldt on April 8, 1829, and the daily logs provide the following] April 9, 1829 - ...We found thirty Indians employed in fishing salmon trout, about eight inches in length, remarkably fine. They gave us all they had, about fifteen...Here we again found fifteen Indians fishing... [Vicinity of Elko] June 1, 1829 - [At the Humboldt Sink] ...As far as I could observe their [Indians] sole subsistence, particularly those in the upper quarter, appears to be fish of a small kind, strongly resembling carp...To this may be added... 1833 Leonard, Zenas - Adventures of Zenas Leonard Fur Trader, as edited by John C. Ewers. [From the narrative of Zenas Leonard] University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1959. [The year is 1833 when Zenas Leonard was treveling with Joseph Walker and other trappers west of the Rocky Mountains] [At the Humboldt Sink] - These Indians...subsist upon grass-seed, frogs, fish, &c. - Fish, however, are very scarce - their manner of catching which is somewhat novel and singular. They take the leg- bone of a sandhill crane, which is generally about eighteen inches long, this is fastened in the end of a pole - they then, by means of a raft made of rushes, which are very plenty - float along the surface of these lakes and spear the fish. They exhibit great dexterity with this simple structure - sometimes killing a fish with it at a great distance. They also have a kind of hook by which they sometimes are very successful, but it does not afford them as much sport as the spear. This hook is formed of a small bone, ground down on the sandstone, and a double beard cut in it with a flint - they then have Summary of Humboldt River Resources Page 1 Compiled by Bob McQuivey, Retired, Nevada Department of Wildlife February 9, 2008 a line made of flax. This line is tied nearest the beard end of the hook, by pulling the line the sharp end with the beard, catches, and turns the bone crossways in its mouth. 1841 Stewart, George R. - The California Trail, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1962 339pp. [From the Bartleson-Bidwell Party who traveled to California in 1841] September 1841 - Gradually their journey became one of those starvation marches so common in the history of the west. ...Jimmy John, an ardent fisherman, occasionally got a few trout... Nunis, Dr. Doyce B. Jr. - The Bidwell-Bartelson Party 1841 California Emigrant Adventure; Western Tanager Press, Santa Cruz, California, 1991. September 23, 1841 - ...A few fish were caught, some of which were trout, which led us to the conclusion that this was a branch of Mary's river... [Narrative of Nicholas "Cheyenne" Dawson 53 years later] On the eighteen or twenty lean oxen that had drawn our wagons, we subsisted until we entered the Sierra Nevada, for there was no more game to be had. When the oxen were gone, we lived on horse and mule meat, and acorns... ...At night we struck a lake on the bank of which was an Indian village. The Indians supplied us with fish, roasted whole, which we gladly ate without critisizing the method of cooking. The next day we passed another lake having a considerable stream emptying into it... [Humboldt Sink] [The two diaries of James John] September 23, 1841 - ...Camped on the bank of a small creek, the head of the south branch of Mary's river. Here we caught a few small trout. September 28, 1841 - ...The valley is wide here and the mountains not high. We see plenty of Indians signs today and where they have made fish traps along the river... 1845 Snyder, Jacob R. - Diary of a trip to California as recorded in the biography of Caleb Greenwood referenced in this document. August 19, 1845 – [Goose Creek] Caught some fine trout and shot a crane. The meat of this bird very much resembled that of an antelope both in appearance and flavor. It was five feet from the tip of one wing to the other when extended, colour light blue September 2, 1845 - ...Fished this day with a seine but caught nothing. [On the Humboldt upstream from Winnemucca] 1846 Clyman, James - His diaries and reminiscences. California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 5, Number 3, September 1926, and Volume V, Number 4, December 1926. May 3, 1846 - ...They are a poor race and their country is poorly supplied with game and [they] manufacture a kind [of] robe of rabbit skins which are cut into small stripes and weave them together with the lint of some kind of weeds from which they likewis make ropes for snares and fishing tackel... Summary of Humboldt River Resources Page 2 Compiled by Bob McQuivey, Retired, Nevada Department of Wildlife February 9, 2008 Lienhard, Heinrich - From St. Louis to Sutter's Fort, 1846; University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma 1961. September 3, 1846 - ...What was even more interesting about this spring was the half-dozen litle fish, four to five inches long, which played in this natural aquarium... [South Ruby Valley] September 18, 1846 - We often wondered how the Shoshonis made a living...In the occasional pools of water along the river there was seldom a fish to be found... [Humboldt River] 1847 Blackburn, Abner - Frontiersman, Abner Blackburns's Narrative; edited by Will Bagley, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1992. October 1847 - ...Come to an Indian camp. They apeared (sic) friendly and [we] traded for some fish... [Humboldt River] October 1847 - Past through the canion [South Fork of the Humboldt]. A few Indians [came] in sight and would run off on sight. Come right onto one. He was fishing with a long stick forked and had barbes on the end. He had a lot of fish. We traded for them... 1848 Ricketts, Norma Baldwin – The Mormon Battalion U.S. Army of the West 1846-1848; Utah State University Press, Logan, Utah 1996. August 28, 1848 – Humboldt River, 22 miles. When they camped on the river bank, Azariah caught trout for supper. September 4, 1848 – Humboldt River. The company laid by to rest the teams and had a mess of fish for supper… September 9, 1848 – [Moved back toward the Humboldt River] …returned to the place where they camped two days before. The Humboldt River came out of the ground here. They caught numerous trout for supper. Low mountains surrounded them, providing plenty of grass and a beautiful scene. September 12, 1848 – Thousand Springs Valley, 17 miles. They camped at the headwaters of Goose Creek, a tributary of the Columbia River, with plenty of trout. The grass was good. September 13, 1848 – Goose Creek, 16 miles. They continued along Goose Creek and had another fine supper of small trout… Goose Creek increased in size, caused by small tributaries running into it, as they traveled along its banks. Gudde, Erwin G. Bigler’s Chronicle of the West. University of California Press, Berkeley, California 1926. [Bigler was part of the Mormon Battalion traveling from California to Salt Lake City in 1848] September 4, 1848 – Laid by and killed a beef, while some went-a-fishing and caught a fine lot of what some of the boys called salmon trout. [Upper Humboldt River] September 7, 1848 – The next morning we rolled back to the campground we had left the morning previous and camped here within a few rods where the Humboldt River comes out of the ground. Summary of Humboldt River Resources Page 3 Compiled by Bob McQuivey, Retired, Nevada Department of Wildlife February 9, 2008 We caught lots of trout. The surrounding country looks beautiful with low mountains all around with plenty of grass. [Humboldt River] September 12, 1848 – Passed over some rough road. Made sixteen miles and camped. Here I caught a fine mess of trout. [Goose Creek] 1849 Johnston, William G. - Overland to California; Biobooks, Oakland, California 1948; 272pp. July 5, 1849 - About noon we reached the headwaters of the Humboldt, or Mary's River...Where we struck it, it was scarcely more than a rivulet, and almost hidden from sight by the tall grass bent over it. A well of considerable depth, in which were myriads of minnows that could be caught easily in our hands, was another of the curious natural objects brought within view today.