diff options
Diffstat (limited to '37278.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 37278.txt | 1790 |
1 files changed, 1790 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/37278.txt b/37278.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..96589e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/37278.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1790 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Fly Fishing in Wonderland, by Klahowya + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Fly Fishing in Wonderland + +Author: Klahowya + +Release Date: August 31, 2011 [EBook #37278] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLY FISHING IN WONDERLAND *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: FLY FISHING in WONDERLAND Cover] + + +_A HILL VAGABOND_ + + _Snakin' wood down the mount'ins, + Fishin' the little streams; + Smokin' my pipe in the twilight, + An' dreamin' over old dreams;_ + + _Breathin' the breath o' the cool snows, + Sniffin' the scent o' the pine; + Watchin' the hurryin' river, + An' hearin' the coyotes whine._ + + _This is life in the mount'ins, + Summer an' winter an' fall, + Up to the rainy springtime, + When the birds begin to call._ + + _Then I fix my rod and tackle, + I read, I smoke an' I sing. + Glad like the birds to be livin'-- + Livin' the life of a king!_ + --_Louise Paley in The Saturday Evening Post._ + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1910, + By O. P. BARNES + + +[Illustration] + + +TO JOHN GILL + + IN WHOSE COMPANIONSHIP I HAVE PASSED MANY DELIGHTFUL + DAYS ALONG THE STREAMS AND IN THE WOODS; QUIET + ENJOYABLE EVENINGS WATCHING THE ALPENGLOW + ILLUMINATE THE SNOW-CAPPED MOUNTAINS; + AND STORMY NIGHTS BESIDE THE SEA + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +_TABLE OF CONTENTS_ + + + _GOOD FISHING! A FOREWORD_ _6_ + _IN THE DIM, RED DAWN_ _9_ + _THE TROUT--NATIVE AND PLANTED_ _14_ + _LET'S GO A-FISHING!_ _21_ + _A CHAPTER ON TROUT FLIES_ _28_ + _GRIZZLY LAKE AND LAKE ROSE_ _35_ + _A MORNING ON IRON CREEK_ _40_ + _AN AFTERNOON ON THE FIREHOLE_ _45_ + _TRAILS FROM YANCEY'S AND OTHER TRAILS_ _51_ + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +_GOOD FISHING!_ + + +_This little writing has to do with the streams and the trout therein of +that portion of our country extending southward from the southern +boundary of Montana to the Teton mountains, and eastward from the +eastern boundary of Idaho to the Absaroka range. Lying on both sides of +the continental divide, its surface is veined by the courses of a +multitude of streams flowing either to the Pacific Ocean or to the Gulf +of Mexico, while from the southern rim of this realm of wonders the +waters reach the Gulf of California through the mighty canyons carved by +the Colorado._ + +_This region has abundant attractions for seekers of outdoor pleasures, +and for none more than for the angler. Here, within a space about +seventy miles square, nature has placed a bewildering diversity of +rivers, mountains, lakes, canyons, geysers and waterfalls not found +elsewhere in the world. Fortunately, Congress early reserved the greater +part of this domain as a public pleasure ground. Under the wise +administration of government officials the natural beauties are +protected and made accessible by superb roads. The streams also, many of +which were barren of fish, have, by successful plantings and intelligent +protection, become all that the sportsman can wish. The angler who +wanders through the woods in almost any direction will scarcely fail to +find some picturesque lake or swift flowing stream where the best of +sport may be had with the rod._ + +_Several years ago I made my first visit to this country, and it has +been my privilege to return thither annually on fishing excursions of +varying duration. These outings have been so enjoyable and have yielded +so much pleasure at the time and afterwards, that I should like to sound +the angler's pack-cry, "Good Fishing!" loudly enough to lead others to +go also._ + +_The photographs from which the illustrations were made, except where +due credit is given to others, were taken with a small hand camera which +has hung at my belt in crossing mountains and wading streams, and are +mainly of such scenes as one comes upon in out-of-the-way places while +following that "most virtuous pastime" of fly-casting._ + + _THE AUTHOR._ + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration: _THE DIM, RED DAWN_] + + + + +_IN THE DIM, RED DAWN_ + + +[Illustration: _A Leaping Salmon_ + +_Photo by Hugh M. Smith_] + +BEFORE exercising the right of eminent domain over these waters, it may +be profitable to say a word in explanation of the fact that hardly more +than a score of years ago many of these beautiful lakes and streams were +absolutely without fish life. This will aid us in understanding what the +government has done and is still doing to create an ideal paradise for +the angler among these mountains and plateaus. + +There was a time, and this too in comparatively recent geological eras, +when the waters of that region now under consideration abounded with +fish of many species. The clumsy catfish floundered along the shallows +and reedy bayous in company with the solemn red-horse and a long line of +other fishes of present and past generations. The lordly salmon found +ideal spawning grounds in the gravelly beds of the streams draining to +the westward, and doubtless came hither annually in great numbers. It +may be that the habit of the Columbia river salmon to return yearly from +the Pacific and ascend that stream was bred into the species during the +days when its waters ran in an uninterrupted channel from source to sea. +It is true that elsewhere salmon manifest this anadromous impulse in as +marked a degree as in the Columbia and its tributaries, yet, the +conclusion that these heroic pilgrimages are _habit_ resulting from +similar movements, accidental at first, but extending over countless +years, is natural, and probably correct. When one sees these noble fish +congested by thousands at the foot of some waterfall up which not one in +a hundred is able to leap, or observes them ascending the brooks in the +distant mountains where there is not sufficient water to cover them, +gasping, bleeding, dying, but pushing upward with their last breath, the +figure of the crusaders in quest of an ancient patrimony arises in the +mind, so strong is the simile and so active is your sympathy with the +fish. + +[Illustration: _Mammoth Hot Springs_] + +In those distant days the altitude of this region was not great, nor was +the ocean as remote from its borders as now. The forces which already +had lifted considerable areas above the sea and fashioned them into an +embryo continent were still at work. The earth-shell, yet soft and +plastic, was not strong enough to resist the double strain caused by its +cooling, shrinking outer crust and the expanding, molten interior. +Volcanic eruptions, magnificent in extent, resulted and continued at +intervals throughout the Pliocene period. These eruptions were +accompanied by prodigious outpours of lava that altered the topography +of the entire mountain section. Nowhere else in all creation has such an +amount of matter been forced up from the interior of the earth to flow +in red-hot rivers to the distant seas as in the western part of the +United States. What a panorama of flame it was, and what a sublime +impression it must have made on the minds of the primeval men who +witnessed it from afar as they paddled their canoes over the troubled +waters that reflected the red-litten heavens beneath them! Is it +remarkable that the geyser region of the Park is a place of evil repute +among the savages and a thing to be passed by on the other side, even to +the present day? + +[Illustration: _Detail from Jupiter Terrace_] + +When the elemental forces subsided the waters were fishless, and all +aquatic life had been destroyed in the creation of the glories of the +Park and its surroundings. Streams that once had their origins in +sluggish, lily-laden lagoons, now took their sources from the lofty +continental plateaus. In reaching the lower levels these streams, in +most instances, fell over cataracts so high as to be impassable to fish, +thus precluding their being restocked by natural processes. From this +cause the upper Gardiner, the Gibbon and the Firehole rivers and their +tributaries--streams oftenest seen by the tourist--were found to contain +no trout when man entered upon the scene. From a sportsman's viewpoint +the troutless condition of the very choicest waters was fortunate, as it +left them free for the planting of such varieties as are best adapted to +the food and character of each stream. + +The blob or miller's thumb existed in the Gibbon river, and perhaps in +other streams, above the falls. Its presence in such places is due to +its ability to ascend very precipitous water courses by means of the +filamentous algae which usually border such torrents. I once discovered +specimens of this odd fish in the algous growth covering the rocky face +of the falls of the Des Chutes river, at Tumwater, in the state of +Washington, and there is little doubt that they do ascend nearly +vertical walls where the conditions are favorable. + +[Illustration: _Tumwater Falls_] + +The presence of the red-throat trout of the Snake river in the head +waters of the Missouri is easily explained by the imperfect character of +the water-shed between the Snake and Yellowstone rivers. Atlantic Creek, +tributary to the Yellowstone, and Pacific Creek, tributary to the Snake, +both rise in the same marshy meadow on the continental divide. From this +it is argued that, during the sudden melting of heavy snows in early +times, it was possible for specimens to cross from one side to the +other, and it is claimed that an interchange of individuals might occur +by this route at the present day.[A] Certain it is that these courageous +fish exhibit the same disregard for their lives that is spoken of +previously as characteristic of their congeners, the salmon. Trout are +frequently found lying dead on the grass of a pasture or meadow where +they were stranded the night previous in an attempt to explore a +rivulet caused by a passing shower. The mortality among fish of this +species in irrigated districts is alarming. At each opening of the +sluice gates they go out with the current and perish in the fields. +Unless there is a more rigid enforcement of the law requiring that the +opening into the ditches be screened, trout must soon disappear from the +irrigated sections. + +The supposition that these fish have crossed the continental divide, as +it were, overland, serves the double purpose of explaining the presence +of the trout, and the absence of the chub, sucker and white-fish of the +Snake River from Yellowstone Lake. The latter are feeble fish at best, +and generally display a preference for the quiet waters of the deeper +pools where they feed near the bottom and with little exertion. Neither +the chub, sucker nor white-fish possesses enough hardihood to undertake +so precarious a journey nor sufficient vitality to survive it. + +[Illustration: _Gibbon Falls_] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote A: NOTE--"As already stated, the trout of Yellowstone Lake +certainly came into the Missouri basin by way of Two-Ocean Pass from the +Upper Snake River basin. One of the present writers has caught them in +the very act of going over Two-Ocean Pass from Pacific into Atlantic +drainage. The trout of the two sides of the pass cannot be separated, +and constitute a single species." + Jordan & Evermann.] + + + + +_THE TROUT--NATIVE AND PLANTED_ + + +[Illustration: _A Place to be Remembered_] + +TO MANY people a trout is merely a _trout_, with no distinction as to +variety or origin; and some there be who know him only as a _fish_, to +be eaten without grace and with much gossip. Again, there are those who +have written at great length of this and that species and sub-species, +with many words and nice distinctions relative to vomerine teeth, +branchiostegal rays and other anatomical differences. I would not lead +you, even if your patience permitted, along the tedious path of the +scientist, but will follow the middle path and note only such +differences in the members of this interesting family as may be apparent +to the unpracticed eye and by which the novice may distinguish between +the varieties that come to his creel. + +In a letter to Doctor David Starr Jordan, in September, 1889, Hon. +Marshall McDonald, then U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, wrote, +"I have proposed to undertake to stock these waters with different +species of Salmonidae, reserving a distinct river basin for each." Every +one will commend the wisdom of the original intent as it existed in the +mind of Mr. McDonald. It implied that a careful study would be made of +the waters of each basin to determine the volume and character of the +current, its temperature, the depth to which it froze during the +sub-arctic winters, and the kinds and quantities of fish-food found in +each. With this data well established, and knowing, as fish culturists +have for centuries, what conditions are favorable to the most desirable +kinds of trout, there was a field for experimentation and improvement +probably not existing elsewhere. + +[Illustration: _Willow Park Camp_] + +[Illustration: _Klahowya_] + +The commission began its labors in 1889, and the record for that year +shows among other plants, the placing of a quantity of Loch Leven trout +in the Firehole above the Kepler Cascade. The year following nearly ten +thousand German trout fry were planted in Nez Perce Creek, the principal +tributary of the Firehole. Either the agents of the commission +authorized to make these plants were ignorant of the purpose of the +Commissioner at Washington, or they did not know with what immunity fish +will pass over the highest falls. Whatever the reason for this error, +the die is cast, and the only streams that have a single distinct +variety are the upper Gardiner and its tributaries, where the eastern +brook trout has the field, or rather the waters, to himself. The first +attempt to stock any stream was a transfer of the native trout of +another stream to Lava Creek above the falls. I mention this because the +presence of the native trout in this locality has led some to believe +that they were there from the first, and thus constituted an exception +to the rule that no trout were found in streams above vertical +waterfalls. + +[Illustration: _On the Trail to Grizzly Lake_] + +[Illustration: _The Little Firehole_] + +Many are confused by the variety of names applied to the native trout of +the Yellowstone, _Salmo lewisi_. Red-throat trout, cut-throat trout, +black-spotted trout, mountain trout, Rocky Mountain trout, salmon trout, +and a host of other less generally known local names have been applied +to him. This is in a measure due to the widely different localities and +conditions under which he is found, and to the very close resemblance he +bears to his first cousins, _Salmo clarkii_, of the streams flowing into +the Pacific from northern California to southern Alaska; and to _Salmo +mykiss_ of the Kamchatkan rivers. Perhaps the very abundance of this +trout has cheapened the estimate in which he is held by some anglers. +Nevertheless, he is a royal fish. In streams with rapid currents he is +always a hard fighter, and his meat is high-colored and well-flavored. + +The name "black-spotted" trout describes this fish more accurately than +any other of his cognomens. The spots are carbon-black and have none of +the vermilion and purple colors that characterize the brook trout. The +spots are not, however, always uniform in size and number. In some +instances they are entirely wanting on the anterior part of the body, +but their absence is not sufficiently important to constitute a varietal +distinction. The red dash under the throat (inner edge of the mandible) +from which the names "cut-throat" and "red-throat" are derived, is never +absent in specimens taken here, and, as no other trout of this locality +is so marked, it affords the tyro an unfailing means of determining the +nature of his catch. + +[Illustration: _The Path Through the Pines_] + +If the eastern brook trout, _Salvelinus fontinalis_, could read and +understand but a part of the praises that have been sung of him in prose +and verse through all the years, what a pampered princeling and nuisance +he would become! But to his credit, he has gone on being the same +sensible, shrewd, wary and delightful fish, adapting himself to all +sorts of mountain streams, lakes, ponds and rivers, and always giving +the largest returns to the angler in the way of health and happiness. +The literature concerning the methods employed in his capture alone +would make a library in which we should find the names of soldiers, +statesmen and sovereigns, and the great of the earth. Aelian, who lived +in the second century A. D., describes, in his _De Animalium Natura_, +how the Macedonians took a fish with speckled skin from a certain river +by means of a hook tied about with red wool, to which were fitted two +feathers from a cock's wattle. More than four hundred years prior to +this Theocritus mentioned a method of fishing with a "fallacious bait +suspended from a rod," but unfortunately failed to tell us how the fly +was made. If by any chance you have never met the brook trout you may +know him infallibly from his brethren by the dark olive, worm-like +lines, technically called "vermiculations," along the back, as he alone +displays these heraldic markings. + +[Illustration: _The Melan Bridge_] + +Throughout the northwest the brown trout, _Salmo fario_, is generally +known as the "von Behr" trout, from the name of the German +fish-culturist who sent the first shipment of their eggs to this +country. This fish may be distinguished at sight by the coarse scales +which give his body a dark grayish appearance, slightly resembling a +mullet, and by the large dull red spots along the lateral line. There +are also three beautiful red spots on the adipose fin. + +The Loch Leven trout, _Salmo levenensis_, comes from a lake of that name +in southern Scotland. He is a canny, uncertain fellow, and nothing like +as hardy as we might expect from his origin. In the Park waters he has +not justified the fame for gameness which he brings from abroad, but +there are occasions, particularly in the vicinity of the Lone Star +geyser, when he comes on with a very pretty rush. In general appearance +he somewhat resembles the von Behr trout, but is a more graceful and +finely organized fish than the latter. He is the only trout of this +locality that has no red on his body, and its absence is sufficient to +distinguish him from all others. + +[Illustration: _Distant View of Mt. Holmes_] + +No one can possibly mistake the rainbow trout, _Salmo irideus_, for any +other species. The large, brilliant spots with which his silvery-bluish +body is covered, and that filmy iridescence so admired by every one, +will identify him anywhere. There is, however, a marked difference in +the brilliance of this iridescence between fish of different ages as +well as between stream-raised and hatchery-bred specimens, and even +among fish from the upper and lower courses of the same stream. + +[Illustration: _Learning to Cast_] + +The question as to which is the more beautiful, the rainbow or the brook +trout, has often been debated with much feeling by their respective +champions, and will doubtless remain undecided so long as both may be +taken from clear-flowing brooks, where sky and landscape blend with the +soul of man to make him as supremely happy as it is ever the lot of +mortals to become. For it is the joy within and around you that supplies +a mingled pleasure far deeper than that afforded by the mere beauty of +the fish. You will remember that "Doctor Boteler" said of the +strawberry, "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but +doubtless God never did." So, I have said at different times of _both_ +brook and rainbow trout, "Doubtless God could have made a more beautiful +fish than this, but doubtless God never did." + +[Illustration: _Scene on the Gibbon River_] + +[Illustration: _Above Kepler Cascade_] + +During a recent trip through the Rocky Mountains I remained over night +in a town of considerable mining importance. In the evening I walked up +the main street passing an almost unbroken line of saloons, gambling +houses and dance halls, then crossed the street to return, and found the +same conditions on that side, except that, if possible, the crowds were +noisier. Just before reaching the hotel, I came upon a small restaurant +in the window of which was an aquarium containing a number of rainbow +trout. One beautiful fish rested quivering, pulsating, resplendent, +poised apparently in mid air, while the rays from an electric light +within were so refracted that they formed an aureola about the fish, +seemingly transfiguring it. I paused long in meditation on the scene, +till aroused from my revery by the blare of a graphophone from a resort +across the street. It sang: + + "Last night as I lay sleeping, there came a dream so fair, + I stood in old Jerusalem, beside the temple there; + I heard the children singing and ever as they sang + Methought the voice of angels from heaven in answer rang, + Jerusalem, Jerusalem, lift up your gates and sing + Hosanna in the highest, hosanna to your king." + +I made the sign of Calvary in the vapor on the glass and departed into +the night pondering of many things. + + + + +_LETS GO A-FISHING_ + + "No man is in perfect condition to enjoy scenery + unless he has a fly-rod in his hand and a fly-hook in + his pocket." + _Wm. C. Prime_ + +[Illustration: _Lower Falls of the Yellowstone_] + +MANY who know these mountains and valleys best have gained their +knowledge with a rod in hand, and you will hear these individuals often +express surprise that a greater number of tourists do not avail +themselves of the splendid opportunities offered for fishing. In no +other way can so much pleasure be found on the trip, and by no other +means can you put yourself so immediately and completely in sympathy +with the spirit of the wilderness. Besides, it is this doing something +more than being a mere passenger that gives the real interest and zest +to existence and that yields the best returns in the memories of +delightful days. The ladies may be taken along without the least +inconvenience and to the greater enjoyment of the outing. What if the +good dame has never seen an artificial fly! Take her anyway, if she will +go, and we will make her acquainted with streams where she shall have +moderate success if she but stand in the shadow of the willows and +tickle the surface of the pool with a single fly. You will feel +mutually grateful, each for the presence of the other; and, depend upon +it, it will make the recollection doubly enjoyable. + +We shall never know and name all the hot springs and geysers of this +wonderland, but we may become acquainted with the voice of a stream and +know it as the speech of a friend. We may establish fairly intimate +relations with the creatures of the wood and be admitted to some sort of +brotherhood with them if we conduct ourselves becomingly. The timid +grouse will acknowledge the caress of our bamboo with an arching of the +neck, and the beaver will bring for our inspection his freight of willow +or alder, and will at times swim confidently between our legs when we +are wading in deep water. + +[Illustration: _The Black Giant Geyser_] + +The author of "Little Rivers" draws this pleasing picture of the +delights of fishing: "You never get so close to the birds as when you +are wading quietly down a little river, casting your fly deftly under +the branches for the wary trout, but ever on the lookout for all the +pleasant things that nature has to bestow upon you. Here you shall come +upon the catbird at her morning bath, and hear her sing, in a clump of +pussy-willows, that low, tender, confidential song which she keeps for +the hours of domestic intimacy. The spotted sand-piper will run along +the stones before you, crying, 'wet-feet, wet-feet!' and bowing and +teetering in the friendliest manner, as if to show you the best pools." +Surely, if this invitation move you not, no voice of mine will serve to +stir your laggard legs. + +One should not, however, go to the wilderness and expect it to receive +him at once with open arms. It was there before him and will remain long +after he is forgotten. But approach it humbly and its asperities will +soften and in time become akin to affection. As one looks for the first +time through the black, basaltic archway at the entrance to the Park, +the nearby mountains have an air of distance and unfriendliness, nor do +they speedily assume a more sympathetic relation toward the visitor. A +region in which the world's formative forces linger ten thousand years +after they have disappeared elsewhere will make no hasty alliance with +strangers. The heavy foot of time treads so slowly here that one must +come often and with observant eye to note the advance from season to +season and to feel that he has any part or interest in it. + +[Illustration: _Park Gateway_] + +When we can judge correctly from the height of the up-springing +vegetation whether the forest fire that blackened this hillside raged +one year ago or ten; when we have noted that the bowl of this terrace, +increasing in height by the insensible deposit of carbonate of lime from +the overflowing waters, appears to outstrip from year to year the growth +of the neighboring cedars; when these and a multitude of kindred +phenomena are comprehended, how interested we become! + +Nothing said here is intended to encourage undue familiarity with the +wild game. "Shinny on your own side," is a good motto with any game, and +more than one can testify of sudden and unexpected trouble brought on +themselves by meddlesomeness. In following an elk trail through the +woods one afternoon, I found a pine tree had fallen across the path +making a barrier about hip-high. While looking about to see whether any +elk had gone over the trail since the tree fell, and, if so, whether +they had leaped the barrier or had passed around it by way of the root +or top, a squirrel with a pine cone in his teeth, sprang on the butt of +the tree and came jauntily along the log. Some twenty feet away he spied +me, and suddenly his whole manner and bearing changed. He dropped the +cone and came on with a bow-legged, swaggering air, the very embodiment +of insolent proprietorship. The top of my rod extended over the log, +and as he came under it I gave him a smart switch across the back. Now, +there had been nothing in my previous acquaintance with squirrels to +lead me to think them other than most timid animals. But the slight blow +of the rod-tip transformed this one into a Fury. With a peculiar +half-bark, half-scream, he leaped at my face and slashed at my neck and +ears with his powerful jaws. So strong was he that I could not drag him +loose when his teeth were buried in my coat collar. I finally choked him +till he loosened his hold and flung him ten feet away. Back he came to +the attack with the speed of a wild cat. It was either retreat for me or +death to the squirrel, and I retreated. Never before had I witnessed +such an exhibition of diabolical malevolence, and, though I have laughed +over it since, I was too much upset for an hour afterward to see the +funny side of the encounter. + +[Illustration: _Bear Cubs_ + +_Photo by F. J. Haynes_] + +The ways of the wilderness have ever been pleasant to my feet, and +whether it was taking the ouananiche in Canada or the Beardslee trout in +the shadow of the Olympics, it has all been good. Without detracting +from the sport afforded by any other locality, I honestly believe that, +taking into consideration climate, comfort, scenery, environment, and +the opportunities for observing wild life, this region has no equal for +trout fishing under the sun. I am aware that he who praises the fishing +on any stream will ever have two classes of critics--the unthinking and +the unsuccessful. To these I would say, "Whether your success shall be +greater or less than mine will depend upon the conditions of weather and +stream and on your own skill, and none of these do I control." In that +splendid book, "Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle," Mr. Henry P. Wells relates an +instance in which he and his guide took an angler to a distant lake with +the certain promise and expectation of fine fishing. After recording the +keen disappointment he felt that not a single trout would show itself, +he says, "Then I vowed a vow, which I commend to the careful +consideration of all anglers, old and new alike--never again, under any +circumstances, will I recommend any fishing locality in terms +substantially stronger than these 'At that place I have done so and so; +under like conditions it is believed that you can repeat it.' We are apt +to speak of a place and the sport it affords as we found it, whereas +reflection and experience should teach us that it is seldom exactly the +same, even for two successive days." + +[Illustration: _Elk In Winter_ + + _Photo by F. J. Haynes_] + +There is a large number of fly-fishermen in the east who sincerely +believe that the best sport cannot be had in the streams of the Rocky +Mountains, and this belief has a grain of truth when the fishing is +confined solely to native trout and to streams of indifferent interest. +But when the waters flow through such picturesque surroundings as are +found in the Yellowstone National Park, when from among these waters one +may select the stream that shall furnish the trout he loves most to +take, the objection is most fully answered. The writer can attest how +difficult it was to outgrow the conviction that a certain brook of the +Alleghanies had no equal, but he now gladly concedes that there are +streams in the west just as prolific of fish and as pleasant to look +upon as the one he followed in boyhood. It is proper enough to maintain +that: "The fields are greenest where our childish feet have strayed," +but when we permit a mere sentiment to prevent the fullest enjoyment of +the later opportunities of life, your beautiful sentiment becomes a +harmful prejudice. + +When the prophet required Naaman to go down and bathe in the river +Jordan, Naaman was exceeding wroth, and exclaimed, "Are not Abana and +Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than any in Israel?" The record hath +it that Naaman went and bathed in the Jordan, and that his _body_ was +healed of its _leprosy_ and his _mind_ of its _conceit_. So, when my +angling friend from New Brunswick inquires whether I have fished the +Waskahegan or have tried the lower pools of the Assametaquaghan for +salmon, I am compelled to answer _no_. But there comes a longing to give +him a day's outing on Hell-Roaring Creek or to see him a-foul of a +five-pound von Behr trout amid the steam of the Riverside Geyser. The +streams of Maine and Canada are delightful and possess a charm that +lingers in the mind like the minor chords of almost forgotten music, but +they cannot be compared with the full-throated torrents of the +Absarokas. As well liken a fugue with flute and cymbals to an oratorio +with bombardon and sky-rockets! + +[Illustration: _Having Eaten and Drunk_] + +[Illustration: _Who Hath Seen the Beaver Busied?_ + + _Photo by Biological Survey_] + + Who hath seen the beaver busied? Who hath watched the black-tail + mating? + Who hath lain alone to hear the wild-goose cry? + Who hath worked the chosen water where the ouananiche is waiting, + Or the sea-trout's jumping-crazy for the fly? + He must go--go--go--away from here! + On the other side the world he's overdue. + 'Send your road is clear before you when the old Spring-fret comes + o'er you + And the Red Gods call for you! + + Do you know the blackened timber--do you know that racing stream + With the raw right-angled log-jam at the end: + And the bar of sun-warmed shingle where a man may bask and dream + To the click of shod canoe poles round the bend? + It is there that we are going with our rods and reels and traces, + To a silent smoky Indian that we know-- + To a couch of new-pulled hemlock with the starlight on our faces, + For the Red Gods call us out and we must go! + The Feet of the Young Men--_Kipling._ + + + + +_A CHAPTER ON TROUT FLIES_ + + "Thyse ben xij. flyes wyth whytch ye shall angle to ye + trought and graylling, and dubbe lyke as ye shall now + hear me tell." + _Dame Juliana Berners._ + + +[Illustration: Water is the Master Mason] + +FIVE centuries have passed since the dignified and devout prioress of +St. Albans indited the above sentence, and the tribute to the sterling +good sense therein is that the growing years have but added to its +authority. A dozen well selected varieties of flies, dubbe them how ye +lyke, are well-nigh sufficient for any locality. There may be streams +that require a wider range of choice, but these are so rare that they +may safely be considered as exceptional. Not that any particular harm +has resulted from the unreasonable increase in the number and varieties +of artificial flies. They amuse and gratify the tyro and in no wise +disturb the master of the art. But an over-plethoric fly book in the +possession of a stranger will, with the knowing, place the angling +ability of the owner under suspicion. Better a thousand-fold, are the +single half-dozen flies the uses and seasons of which are fully +understood than a multitude of meaningless creations. + +The angler should strive to attain an intelligent understanding of the +principal features of the artificial fly and how a change in the form +and color of these features affects the behavior of the fish for which +he angles. In studying this matter men have gone down in diving suits +that they might better see the fly as it appeared when presented to the +fish, and there is nothing in their reports to encourage extremely fine +niceties in fly-dressing. One may know a great deal of artists and their +work and yet truly know but little of the value of _art_ itself; or have +been a great reader of economics, and yet have little practical +knowledge of that complex product of society called _civilization_. So, +I had rather possess the knowledge a dear friend of mine has of Dickens, +Shakespeare, and the Bible alone than to be able to discuss "literature" +in general before clubs and societies. + +Several years of angling experience in the far west have convinced the +writer that flies of full bodies and positive colors are the most +killing, and that the palmers are slightly better than the hackles. Of +the standard patterns of flies the most successful are the coachman, +royal coachman, black hackle, Parmacheene Belle, with the silver doctor +for lake fishing, in the order named. The trout here, with the exception +of those in Lake Yellowstone, are fairly vigorous fighters, and it is +important that your tackle should be strong and sure rather than +elegant. + +With a view of determining whether it were possible to make a fly that +would answer nearly all the needs of the mountain fisherman, I began, in +1897, a series of experiments in fly-tying that continued over a period +of five years. The result is the production of what is widely known in +the west as the Pitcher fly. As before indicated, this fly did not +spring full panoplied into being, but was evolved from standard types by +gradual modifications. The body is a furnace hackle, tied palmer; tail +of barred wood-duck feather; wing snow-white, to which is added a blue +cheek. The name, "Pitcher," was given to it as a compliment to Major +John Pitcher, who, as acting superintendent of the Yellowstone National +Park, has done much to improve the quality of the fishing in these +streams. + +From a dozen states anglers have written testifying to the killing +qualities of the Pitcher Fly, and the extracts following show that its +success is not confined to any locality nor to any single species of +trout: + +"The Pitcher flies you gave me have aided me in filling my twenty-pound +basket three times in the last three weeks. Have had the best sport this +season I have ever enjoyed on the Coeur d'Alene waters, and I can +truthfully say I owe it all to the Pitcher fly and its designer." + + E. R. DENNY, + Wallace, Idaho. + +[Illustration: _Following a Little River_] + +[Illustration: _At the Head of the Meadow_] + +[Illustration: _The Tongue River_ + + _Photo by N. H. Darton_] + +"One afternoon I had put up my rod and strolled down to the river where +one of our party was whipping a pool of the Big Hole, trying to induce a +fish to strike. He said: 'There's an old villain in there; he wants to +strike but can't make up his mind to do it.' I said: 'I have a fly that +will make him strike,' and as I had my book in my pocket I handed him a +No. 8 Pitcher. He made two casts and hooked a beautiful trout, that +weighed nineteen ounces, down. I regard the Pitcher as the best killer +in my book." + + J. E. MONROE, Dillon, Montana. + + * * * * * + +"I determined to follow the stream up into the mountains, but as I +neared the woods at the upper end of the meadow I stopped to cast into a +long, straight reach of the river where the breeze from the ocean was +rippling the surface of the stream. The grassy bank rose steep behind me +and only a little fringe of wild roses partly concealed me from the +water. I cast the Pitcher flies you gave me well out on the rough water, +allowed them to sink a hand-breadth, and at the first movement of the +line I saw that heart-expanding flash of a broad silver side gleaming +from the clear depths. The trout fastened on savagely, and as he was +coming my way, I assisted his momentum with all the spring of the rod, +and he came flying out into the clean, fresh grass of the meadow behind +me. It was a half-pound speckled brook trout. I did not stop to pouch +him, but cast again. In a moment I was fast to another such, and again I +sprung him bodily out, glistening like a silver ingot, to where his +brother lay. In my first twelve casts I took ten such fish, all from ten +to twelve inches long, mostly without any playing. I took twenty-two +fine fish without missing one strike, and landed every one safely. I was +not an hour in taking the lot. Then oddly enough, I whipped the water +for fifty yards without another rise. Satisfied that the circus was +over, I climbed up into the meadow and gathered the spoils into my +basket. Nearly all were brook trout, but two or three silvery salmon +trout among them had struck quite as gamely. I had such a weight of fish +as I never took before on the Nekanicum in our most fortunate fishing." + +[Illustration: _Talking It Over_] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: _Beaver Dam and Reservoir_] + +"Walking back along the trail, I came again to the long reach where I +had my luck an hour before, and cast again to see if there might be +another fish. Two silver glints shone up through the waves in the same +instant. I struck one of the two fish, though I might have had both if I +had left the flies unmoved the fraction of a second. Three times I +refused such doublets, for I had not changed an inch of tackle, and +scarcely even looked the casting line over. It was no time to allow two +good fish to go raking that populous pool. However I did take chances +with one doublet. So out of the same lucky spot on my return, I took ten +more fish each about a foot long. I brought nearly every one flying out +as I struck him, and I never put such a merciless strain on a rod +before. + +[Illustration: "_That Populous Pool_" + + _Photo by John Gill_] + +"I had concluded again that the new tenantry had all been evicted, and +was casting 'most extended' trying the powers of the rod and reaching, I +should say, sixty feet out. As the flies came half-way in and I was just +about snatching them out for a long back cast, the father of the family +soared after them in a gleaming arc. He missed by not three inches and +bored his way straight down into the depths of the clear green water. +'My heart went out to him,' as our friend Wells said, but coaxing was +in vain. I tried them above and below, sinking the flies deeply, or +dropping them airily upon the waves, but to no purpose. I had the +comforting thought that we may pick him up when you are here this +summer." + + JOHN GILL, Portland, Oregon. + + +_THE BONNY RED HECKLE_ + + Away frae the smoke an' the smother, + Away frae the crush o' the thrang! + Away frae the labour an' pother + That have fettered our freedom sae lang! + For the May's i' full bloom i' the hedges + And the laverock's aloft i' the blue, + An' the south wind sings low i' the sedges, + By haughs that are silvery wi' dew. + Up, angler, off wi' each shackle! + Up, gad and gaff, and awa'! + Cry 'Hurrah for the canny red heckle, + The heckle that tackled them a'!' + + * * * * * + + Then back to the smoke and the smother, + The uproar and crush o' the thrang; + An' back to the labour and pother, + But happy and hearty and strang. + Wi' a braw light o' mountain and muirland, + Outflashing frae forehead and e'e, + Wi' a blessing flung back to the norland, + An' a thousand, dear Coquet, to thee! + As again we resume the old shackle, + Our gad an' our gaff stowed awa', + An'--goodbye to the canny 'red heckle,' + The heckle that tackled them a'!' + --From "The Lay of the Lea." By _Thomas Westwood_. + + NOTE--I am indebted to Mrs. Mary Orvis Marbury, author + of "Favorite Flies," for copies of "Hey for Coquet," + and "Farewell to Coquet," from the former of which the + foregoing are extracts. + + + + +_GRIZZLY LAKE AND LAKE ROSE_ + + "And best of all, through twilight's calm + The hermit-thrush repeats his psalm." + _Henry Van Dyke_ + + +[Illustration: _Grizzly Lake_] + +GRIZZLY LAKE lies secluded among the timbered hills, four miles +south--south and west--from Willow Park. The long narrow bed of the lake +was furrowed by a glacier that once debouched here from the mountains to +the west, and through the gravel and detritus that surround it the +melting snows and rain are filtered till the water is fit for the +Olympian deities. No more profitable place can be found for the angler +to visit. The lake swarms with brook trout weighing from one to five +pounds, and in the ice-cold water which is supplied with an abundance of +insect and crustacean food the fish are in prime condition after July +first. The best fishing is at the southern end, near where Straight +Creek enters the lake. A little investigation will discover close at +hand, several large springs that flow into the lake at this point, and +here the trout congregate after the spawning season. + +[Illustration: _Lake Rose_] + +In order to reach this location conveniently, I, early in 1902, +constructed a light raft of dry pine logs, about six by ten feet, well +spiked together with drift bolts; since which time other parties have +added a substantial row boat. Both the boat and the raft may be found at +the lower end of the lake, just where the trail brings you to it. The +canvas boat that was set up on the lake earlier, was destroyed the first +winter by bears, but the boat and raft now there will probably hold +their own against the beasts of the field for some time. If you use +either of them you will, of course, return it to the outlet of the lake, +that he who cometh after may also enjoy. + +The route to Grizzly Lake follows very closely the Bannock Indian trail +from the point where Straight Creek enters the meadows of Willow Park to +the outlet of the lake. The trail itself is interesting. It was the +great Indian thoroughfare between Idaho and the Big Horn Basin in +Wyoming, and was doubtless an ancient one at the time the Romans +dominated Britain. How plainly the record tells you that it was made by +an aboriginal people. Up hill and down hill, across marsh or meadow, it +is always a single trail, trodden into furrow-like distinctness by +moccasined feet. Nowhere does it permit the going abreast of the beasts +of draft or burden. At no place does it suggest the side-by-side travel +of the white man for companionship's sake, nor the hand-in-hand +converse of mother and child, lover and maid. Ease your pony a moment +here and dream. Here comes the silent procession on its way to barter in +the land of the stranger, and here again it will return in the autumn, +as it has done for a thousand years. In the van are the blanketed +braves, brimful of in-toeing, painful dignity. Behind these follow the +ponies drawing the lodge-poles and camp outfit, and then come the squaws +and the children. Just there is a bend in the trail and the lodge-poles +have abraded the tree in the angle till it is worn half through. A +little further on, in an open glade, they camped for the night. Decades +have come and gone since the last Indian party passed this way, yet a +cycle hence the trail will be distinct at intervals. + +[Illustration: _The Bighorn Range_ + + _Photo by N. H. Darton_] + +By turning to the west at Winter Creek and passing over the sharp hills +that border that stream you will come, at the end of a nine-mile +journey, to Lake Rose. The way is upward through groves of pane, +thickets of aspen, and steep open glades surrounded by silver fir trees +that would be the delight of a landscape gardener if he could cause them +to grow in our city parks as they do here. Elk are everywhere. We ride +through and around bands of them, male, female, and odd-shapen calves +with wobbly legs and luminous, questioning eyes. As you pause now and +then to contemplate some new view of the wilderness unfolding before +you, the beauty, and freedom and serenity of it are irresistible, and +you comprehend for the first time the spirit of the Argonauts of '49 and +the nobility of the paean they chanted to express their exalted +brotherhood: + + "The days of old, + The days of gold, + The days of '49." + +[Illustration: _Gorge of the Firehole River_] + +[Illustration: _A Wooded Islet_] + +Suddenly the ground slopes away before us and Lake Rose lies at our +feet, like an amethyst in a chalice of jade-green onyx. The surroundings +are picturesque. The mountains descend abruptly to the water's edge and +the snow never quite disappears from its banks in the longest summer. +Here in June may be seen that incredible thing, the wild strawberry +blossoming bravely above the slush-snow that still hides the plant +below, and the bitter-root putting forth buds in the lee of a snow bank. +A small stream enters the lake at the northwest, and here the trout are +most abundant. They rise eagerly to the silver doctor fly, a half dozen +often breaking at once, any one of which is a weight for a rod. Probably +not more than a score of anglers have ever cast a fly from this point, +and a word of caution may for this reason be pardoned. The low +temperature of the water retards the spawning season till midsummer, +consequently trout should not be taken here earlier than the third week +of July. Again, nature has given to every true sportsman the good sense +to stop when he has enough, and as this unwritten law is practically his +only restraint, he should feel that its observance is in safe hands and +that the sportsman's limit will be strictly observed. + +[Illustration: _Bear Up!_] + + + + +_A MORNING ON IRON CREEK_ + + +[Illustration: _The Boy and the von Behr_] + +WHEN the snows have disappeared from the valleys and lower hills, and +the streams have fallen to the level of their banks and their waters +have lost the brown stain filtered from decaying leaves, and have +resumed the chatty, confidential tones of summer, then is the time to +angle for the brown trout. If you would know the exact hour, listen for +the brigadier bird as he sings morning and evening from a tall tree at +the mouth of Iron Creek. When you hear his lonely wood-note, joint your +rod and take the path through the lodge-pole pines that brings you to +the creek about three hundred yards above its confluence with the river. +The lush grass of the meadow is ankle-deep with back water from the main +stream, and Iron Creek and the Little Firehole lie level-lipped and +currentless. As you look quietly on from the shade of a tree, the water +breaks into circles in a dozen places, and just at the edge of a bank +where the sod overhangs the stream there is a mighty splash which is +repeated several times. Move softly, for the ground is spongy and +vibrates under a heavy tread sufficiently to warn the fish for many +yards, then the stream becomes suddenly silent and you will wait long +for the trout to resume their feeding. + +[Illustration: _Rapids of the Gibbon River_] + +[Illustration: _Along Iron Creek_] + +Stealthily drop the fly just over the edge of the bank, as though some +witless insect had lost his hold above and fallen!--Right Honorable Dean +of the Guild, I read the other day an article in which you stated that +the brown trout never leaps on a slack line. Surely you are right, and +this is not a trout after all, but a flying fish, for he went down +stream in three mighty and unexpected leaps that wrecked your theory and +the top joint of the rod before the line could be retrieved. Then the +fly comes limply home and nothing remains of the sproat hook but the +shank. + +[Illustration: _Divinity and Infinity_] + +These things happened to a friend in less time than is taken in the +telling. When he had recovered from the shock he remarked, smilingly, +"That wasn't half bad for a Dutchman, now, was it?" As he is a sensible +fellow and has no "tendency toward effeminate attenuation" in tackle, he +graciously accepted and used the proffered cast of Pitcher flies tied on +number six O'Shaughnessy hooks. + +Having ventured this much concerning what the writer considers _proper_ +tackle, he would like to go further and record here his disapproval of +the individual who turns up his nose at any rod of over five ounces in +weight, and who tells you with an air from which you are expected to +infer much, that fly fishing is really the only _honorable_ and +_gentlemanly_ manner of taking trout. In the language of one who was a +master of concise and forceful phrase, "This is one of the deplorable +fishing affectations and pretences which the rank and file of the +fraternity ought openly to expose and repudiate. Our irritation is +greatly increased when we recall the fact that every one of these +super-refined fly-casting dictators, when he fails to allure trout by +his most scientific casts, will chase grasshoppers to the point of +profuse perspiration, and turn over logs and stones with feverish +anxiety in quest of worms and grubs, if haply he can with these save +himself from empty-handedness."[B] Fly fishing as a recreation justifies +all good that has been written of it, but it is a tell-tale sport that +infallibly informs your associates what manner of being you are. It is +self-purifying like the limpid mountain stream its followers love, and +no wrong-minded individual nor set of individuals can ever pollute it. +It is too cosmopolitan a pleasure to belong to the exclusive, and too +robust in sentiment to be confined to gossamer gut leaders and midge +hooks. + +Much, in fact everything, of your success in taking fish in Iron Creek +depends on the time of your visit. For three hundred, thirty days of the +year it is profitless water. Then come the days when the German trout +begin their annual _auswanderung_. No one need be told that these trout +do not live in this creek throughout the year. For trout are brook-wise +or river-wise according as they have been reared, and the habits, +attitudes and behavior of the one are as different from the other as are +those of the boys and girls reared in the country from the city-bred. If +one of these river-bred fish breaks from the hook here he does not +immediately bore up stream into deep water and disappear beneath a +sheltering log, bank or submerged tree-top as one would having a claim +on these waters, but heading down-stream, he stays not for brake and he +stops not for stone till the river is reached. In his headlong haste to +escape he reminds one of a country boy going for a doctor. + +[Illustration: _Virginia Cascade_] + +It is one of the unexplained phenomena of trout life and habit, why +these fish leap as they do here at this season, when hooked. In no other +stream and at no other time have I known them to exhibit this quality. +It is one of those problems of trout activity for which apparently no +reason can be given further than the one which is said to control the +fair sex; + + "When she will she will, + And you may depend on't; + When she won't she won't, + And that's an end on't." + + +[Illustration] + + "I'm wrapped up in my plaid, and lyin' a' my length on + a bit green platform, fit for the fairies' feet, wi' a + craig hangin' ower me a thousand feet high, yet bright + and balmy a' the way up wi' flowers and briars, and + broom and birks, and mosses maist beautiful to behold + wi' half shut e'e, and through aneath ane's arm + guardin' the face frae the cloudless sunshine; and + perhaps a bit bonny butterfly is resting wi' faulded + wings on a gowan, no a yard frae your cheek; and noo + waukening out o' a simmer dream floats awa' in its + wavering beauty, but, as if unwilling to leave its + place of mid-day sleep, comin' back and back, and + roun' and roun' on this side and that side, and ettlin + in its capricious happiness to fasten again on some + brighter floweret, till the same breath o' wund that + lifts up your hair so refreshingly catches the airy + voyager and wafts her away into some other nook of her + ephemeral paradise." + CHRISTOPHER NORTH. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[Footnote B: Hon. Grover Cleveland in _The Saturday Evening Post_.] + + + + +_AN AFTERNOON ON THE FIREHOLE_ + + +[Illustration: _First View of the Firehole_] + +THE Firehole is a companionable river. Notwithstanding its forbidding +name, it is pre-eminently a stream for the angler, and always does its +best to put him at his ease. Like some hospitable manorial lord, it +comes straight down the highway for a league to greet the stranger and +to offer him the freedom of its estate. Every fisherman who goes much +alone along streams will unconsciously associate certain human +attributes with the qualities of the waters he fishes. It may be a quiet +charm that lulls to rest, or a bold current that challenges his +endurance and caution. Between these extremes there is all that infinite +range of moods and fancies which find their counterpart in the emotions. +The Firehole possesses many of these qualities in a high degree. It can +be broad, sunny and genial, or whisper with a scarcely audible lisp over +languid, trailing beds of conferva; and anon, lead you with tumultuous +voice between rocky walls where a misstep would be disastrous. The +unfortunate person who travels in its company for the time required to +make the tour of the Park and remains indifferent to all phases of its +many-sidedness, should turn back. Nature will have no communion with +him, nor will he gain her little secrets and confidences: + + "They're just beyond the skyline, + Howe'er so far you cruise." + +[Illustration: _Cascades of the Madison_] + +[Illustration: _Below the Cascades_] + +During the restful period following the noon-hour, when there is a truce +between fisherman and fish, we lie in the shadow of the pines and read +"Our Lady's Tumbler," till, in the drowsy mind fancy plays an interlude +with fact. The ripple of the distant stream becomes the patter of +priestly feet down dim corridors, and the whisper of the pines the +rustle of sacerdotal robes. Through half-shut lids we see the clouds +drift across the slopes of a distant mountain, double as it were, cloud +and snow bank vying with each other in whiteness. + +[Illustration: _Undine Falls_] + +Neither the companionship of man nor that of a boisterous stream will +accord with our present mood. So, with rod in hand, we ford the stream +above the island and lie down amid the wild flowers in the shadow of the +western hill. For wild flowers, like patriotism, seemingly reach their +highest perfection amid conditions of soil and climate that are +apparently most uncongenial. Here almost in reach of hand, are a variety +and profusion of flowers rarely found in the most favored spots; +columbines, gentians, forget-me-nots, asters and larkspurs, are all in +bloom at the same moment, for the summer is short and nature has trained +them to thrust forth their leaves beneath the very heel of winter and to +bear bud, flower, and fruit within the compass of fifty days. + +I strongly urge every tourist, angling or otherwise, to carry with him +both a camera and a herbarium. With these he may preserve invaluable +records of his outing; one to remind him of the lavish panorama of +beauty of mountain, lake and waterfall; the other to hold within its +leaves the delicately colored flowers that delight the senses. A great +deal is said about the cheap tourist nowadays, with the emphasis so +placed on the word "cheap" as to create a wrong impression. With the +manner of your travel, whether in Pullman cars, Concord coaches, +buck-board wagons, or on foot, this adjective has nothing to do. It +does, however, describe pretty accurately a quality of mind too often +found among visitors to such places--a mind that looks only to the +present and passing events, and that between intervals of +geyser-chasing, is busied with inconsequential gabble, with no thought +of selecting the abiding, permanent things as treasures for the +storehouse of memory. + +What fisherman is there who has not in his fly-book a dozen or more +flies that are perennial reminders of great piscatorial events? And what +angler is there who does not love to go over them at times, one by one, +and recall the incidents surrounding the history of each? + + We fondle the flies in our fancy, + Selecting a cast that will kill, + Then wait till a breeze from the canyon + Has rimpled the water so still;-- + Teal, and Fern, and Beaver, + Coachman, and Caddis, and Herl,-- + And dream that the king of the river + Lies under the foam of that swirl. + + There's a feather from far Tioga, + And one from the Nepigon, + And one from the upper Klamath + That tell of battles won-- + Palmer, and Hackle, and Alder, + Claret, and Polka, and Brown,-- + Each one a treasured memento + Of days that have come and gone. + + A joust of hardiest conflict + With knight in times of eld + Would bring a lesser pleasure + Than each of these victories held. + Rapids, and foam, and smother, + Lunge, and thrust, and leap,-- + And to know that the barbed feather + Is fastened sure and deep. + + Abbey, and Chantry, and Quaker, + Dorset and Canada, + Premier, Hare's Ear, and Hawthorne, + Brown Ant, and Yellow May, + Jungle-Cock, Pheasant, and Triumph, + Romeyn, and Montreal, + Are names that will ever linger + In the sunlight of Memory Hall. + +The whole field of angling literature contains nothing more exquisite +than the following description of the last days of Christopher North, as +written by his daughter: + +"It was an affecting sight to see him busy, nay, quite absorbed with the +fishing tackle scattered about the bed, propped up with pillows--his +noble head, yet glorious with its flowing locks, carefully combed by +attentive hands, and falling on each side of his unfaded face. How +neatly he picked out each elegantly dressed fly from its little bunch, +drawing it out with trembling hand along the white coverlet, and then +replacing it in his pocket-book, he would tell ever and anon of the +streams he used to fish in of old." + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: _Picturesque Rocks in River_] + +By four o'clock the stream is hidden from the sun and the shadow of the +wooded summit at your back has crossed the roadway and is climbing the +heights beyond. As if moved by some signal unheard by the listener, the +trout begin to feed all along the surface of the water. Leap follows or +accompanies leap as far as the eye can discern up stream, and down +stream to where the water breaks to the downpull of the gorge below. +Select a clear space for your back-cast, wait till a cloud obscures the +sun. * * * * The trout took the fly from below and with a momentum that +carried him full-length into the air. But there was no turning of the +body in the arc that artists love to picture. He dropped straight down +as he arose and the waters closed over him with a "plop" which you learn +afterward is characteristic of the rise and strike of the German trout. +All this may not be observed at first, for if he is one of the big +fellows, he will cut out some busy-work for you to prevent his going +under the top of that submerged tree which you had not noticed before. +As it was, you brought him clear by a scant hand's breadth, only to +have him dive for another similar one with greater energy. + +[Illustration: "_That Delectable Island_"] + +Well, it's the same old story over again, but one that never becomes +altogether tedious to the angler. And the profitable part of this tale +is that it may be re-enacted here on any summer afternoon. + +Some day a canoe will float down the river and land on the gravelly +beach at the upper end of that delectable island, just where the trees +are mirrored in the water so picturesquely. Then a tent will be set up +and two shall possess that island for a whole, happy week. If you are +coming by that road then, give the "Hallo" of the fellow craft and you +shall have a loaf and as many fish as you like, and be sent on your way +as becomes a man and brother. + + + + +_TRAILS FROM YANCEY'S AND OTHER TRAILS_ + + +[Illustration: _Yancey's_] + +WHEN "Uncle" John Yancey, peace to his ashes, selected the site for his +home and built his cabin under the shelter of the mountain at the north +end of Pleasant Valley, he displayed that capacity to discover and +appropriate the best things of the earth which is characteristic of +American pioneers. Here game was abundant and everything that a remote, +mountainous country could supply to the frontiersman was at hand. A +stream of purest water ran by the door, and the open, grassy meadows +were ample for the supply of hay and pasturage. The scenery is +delightful, varied and picturesque. No other locality in the Park is +comparable with it as a place of abode, and there is no pleasanter place +in which to spend a week than at "Yancey's." + +The government has recently completed a road from the canyon of the +Yellowstone, over Mt. Washburn, down the valley near Yancey's, and +reaching Mammoth Hot Springs by way of Lava Creek. This has added +another day to the itinerary of the Park as planned by the +transportation companies, and one which for scenic interest surpasses +any other day of the tour. A mere category of the places of interest +that may be seen in this region would be lengthy. + +The lower canyon of the Yellowstone with its overhanging walls five +hundred feet high, with pillars of columnar basalt reaching more than +half-way from base to summit, the petrified trees, lofty cliffs, and +romantic waterfalls, will delight and charm the visitor. + +[Illustration: "_Swirl and Sweep of the Water_"] + +The angler will find the waters of this region as abundantly supplied +with trout as any area of like extent anywhere. No amount of fishing +will ever exhaust the "Big Eddy" of the Yellowstone, and it is worth a +day's journey to witness the swirl and sweep of the water after it +emerges from the confining, vertical walls. The velocity of the current +at this point is very great, and surely, during a flood, attains a speed +of sixteen or more miles an hour. In the eddy itself the trout rise +indifferently to the fly, but will come to the red-legged grasshopper as +long as the supply lasts. + +Strange to say, they will not take the grasshopper on the surface of the +water. Two bright faced boys who had climbed down into the canyon +watched me whip the pool in every direction for a quarter of an hour +without taking a single trout. Satisfied that something was wrong, I +fastened a good sized Rangeley sinker to the leader about a foot above +the hook and pitched the grasshopper into the buffeting currents. An +hour later we carried back to camp twenty-five trout which, placed +endwise, head to tail, measured twenty-five feet on a tape line. + +This use of a sinker under the circumstances was not a great discovery, +but it spelled the difference between success and failure at the time. +So I have been glad at most times to learn by experience and from others +the little things that help make a better day's angling. + +[Illustration: _The Palisades_] + +Once when I knew more about trout fishing than I have ever convinced +myself that I knew since, I visited a famous stream in a wilderness new +and unknown to me, fully resolved to show the natives how to do things. +Near the end of the third day of almost fruitless fishing, the modest +guide volunteered to take me out that evening, if I cared to go. Of +course I cared to go, and I shall never forget that moonlight night on +Beaver Creek. We returned to camp about ten o'clock with twenty-eight +trout, four of which weighed better than three pounds apiece. + +[Illustration: _A Young Corsair of the Plains_] + +It may be a severe shock to the sensibilities of the "super-refined +fly-caster" to suggest so mean a bait as grasshoppers, yet he may obtain +some comfort, as did one aforetime, by labeling the can in which the +hoppers are carried: + + "_CALOPTENOUS FEMUR-RUBRUM_." + + * * * * * + +Then there are Slough Creek, Hell-Roaring Creek, East Fork, Trout Lake, +and a host of other streams and lakes that have been favorite resorts +with anglers for years, and in which may be taken the very leviathans of +six, seven, eight, and even ten, pounds' weight. He must be difficult to +please who finds not a day of days among them. Up to the present time +only the red-throat trout inhabit these waters, but plants of other +varieties have been made and will doubtless thrive quite as well as the +native trout. + +[Illustration: _Tower Falls_] + +Owing probably to the fact that, until recently, the region around Tower +Creek and Falls was not accessible by roads, this stream received no +attention from the fish commission till the summer of 1903, when a +meager plant of 15,000 brook trout fry was made there. The scenery in +this neighborhood is unsurpassed, and when the stream becomes well +stocked it will, doubtless, be a favorite resort with anglers who +delight in mountain fastnesses or in the study of geological records of +past ages. The drainage basin of Tower Creek coincides with the limits +of the extinct crater of an ancient volcano. As you stand amid the dark +forests with which the walls of the crater are clothed and see the +evidences on all sides of the Titanic forces once at work here, fancy +has but little effort in picturing something of the tremendous scenes +once enacted on this spot. Now all is peace and quiet, the quiet of the +wilderness, which save for the rush of the torrential stream, is +absolutely noiseless. No song of bird gladdens the darkened forests, and +in its gloom the wild animals are seldom or never seen. How strikingly +the silence and wonder of the scene proclaim that nature has formed the +world for the happiness of man. + +Within two hundred yards of the Yellowstone River, Tower Creek passes +over a fall of singular and romantic beauty. Major Chittenden in his +book "The Yellowstone" thus describes it: "This waterfall is the most +beautiful in the Park, if one takes into consideration all its +surroundings. The fall itself is very graceful in form. The deep +cavernous basin into which it pours itself is lined with shapely +evergreen trees, so that the fall is partially screened from view. Above +it stand those peculiar forms of rock characteristic of that +locality--detached pinnacles or towers which give rise to the name. The +lapse of more than thirty years since Lieutenant Doane saw these falls, +has given us nothing descriptive of them that can compare with the +simple words of his report penned upon the first inspiration of a new +discovery: 'Nothing can be more chastely beautiful than this lovely +cascade, hidden away in the dim light of overshadowing rocks and woods, +its very voice hushed to a low murmur unheard at the distance of a few +hundred yards. Thousands might pass by within half a mile and not dream +of its existence; but once seen, it passes to the list of most pleasant +memories.'" + +[Illustration: _The Shadow of a Cliff_] + +If the angler wanders farther into the wilderness than any waters named +herein would lead him, he will find other streams to bear him company +amid scenes that will live long in his memory and where the trout are +ever ready to pay him the compliment of a rise. To the eastward flows +Shoshone river with its myriad tributaries, teeming with trout and +draining a region far more rugged and lofty than the Park proper. To the +south and west are those wonderfully beautiful lakes that form the +source of the Snake river. Here, early in the season, the great lake or +Macinac trout, _Salvelinus namaycush_, are occasionally taken with a +trolling spoon. + +From north to south, from the Absaroka Mountains to the Tetons, on both +sides of the continental divide, this peerless pleasuring-ground is +netted with a lace-work of streams. Two score lakes and more than one +hundred, sixty streams are named on the map of this domain which is +forever secured and safeguarded + + "_FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE_" + +[Illustration: _Good Bye Till Next Year_] + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 26, "Whpskehegan" changed to "Waskahegan" (fished the Waskahegan) + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fly Fishing in Wonderland, by Klahowya + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLY FISHING IN WONDERLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 37278.txt or 37278.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/2/7/37278/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |