Identifications of McCloud River, California, fishes, referred to in a paper based on a letter of J. B. Campbell

44 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

NOTES ON

ITI'CtiOUD

KIVER,

C'AIvIFORNIA,

AND SOME OF

ITS

FISHES,

BASED UPON A I^ETTEB OF

J. B. C'AIUPBEL.1.,

OF THE UNITED STATES FISH

COMITIISSION.

MoCloud Kiver, Shasta County,

California,

May

6, 1881.

Prof.

Spencer

F.

Baird,

U. S. Commissioner of Fish and_Fisheries, Washington,D. C.:

Sir^:

The

Uuited States Fishery^isestablished,one

and

one-halfmiles fromthe junction ^of the

McCloud

with the_Pitt, in arough

and moun-

tainous country culminatingⁱⁿ high^limestonepeaks on ^theeast.

Four

milesabove the_fisheryisthetrout-rearingestablishment, ^ofwhich Mr.

Myron

^Greenissuperintendent. East^ofthetrout

pond

^isa small creek orbrook,running between^limestonej)eaks. Threemilesfrom the trout pond,

and

on thewest side of the_river, isa small farm _belonging to

Henry

Mirey.

One

mile above_Mirey'splace^isthe

home

of the _writer, consisting of aniceorchard and garden on ^the east side of the _river, together with a^beautifulcreek that doesnotvary

more

than_{4 degrees} during thewinter,

and

_rangesfrom53to57 degreesduring ^the summer.

For

the next 65 or70 miles there are neither white

men

^norIndians.

There is a mill branch in

summer,

^{but none in winter.}

The

entire country^is mountainous.

The

riverisveryrapid.

The

temperature^of the waterattheUuited States _Fisherj^,in the summer, ^isfrom 55to 60 degrees^at

midday

^{inthehottestweather.}

From

thefishery up,theriver getsone_degreecolder inabout_{every 10} or12miles forthe distanceof65 or 70miles. Thereis a_largespring that breaks out ⁱⁿ the

bed

of the river, forming

more

thantwo-thirds ofitsvolume.

From

there

up

^the water becomes very

warm,

^{from 60 to 70} degrees.

About

threemiles fromthe spring begins a^seriesofthree_falls,eachofwhichhas a descent of about 50to60 _feet,

and

isabout two miles from thenext.

Under

thesefalls there area great

many

^{trout. I} have caught one hundred inless than

two

hours.

They

are smaller than those lower down, ^av- eraging aboutone-half

pound

^toone

pound

ⁱⁿweight.

From

thesefalls

up, the water is quite ^still

and

sluggish (with the exception ^of about halfa mile_just abovethe_falls, whereitisvery rapid) for

many

miles, traversing a lava country. There areplenty ^{of trout}above,

and

_they

are

much

_larger than those belowthe _falls, averaging about 8 ^to 10 pounds.

Through

^{seven miles of this} sluggish water there are few

trout,butas the waterbecomes

more

rapid smallbrook trout are plen- tiful.

The

river is about130 to 140 miles in length,

more

or _less, I should judge, butit has neverbeenmeasured. Trout inhabit theriver tothe head-waters.

Iwill

now

endeavorto giveyou ^adescription of

some

of the

McCloud

Eiver_fish, beginning^{at the}

mouth

^of the stream.

The

first is

known

asthe ^"riflepike." Its colorisdarkishbrown. It

BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

45

has a small

month and

^a com])aratively small head.

The

fleshisA^ery solid,bnt ratherfnll of bones_{; yet} the fish is considered excellent for the table.

The

"rifle pike" ^isfound ⁱⁿ the river through ^thelastfour milesofitscourse. Itbecomes_veryfat,

and

weighs from^{2 to}5 pounds.

The

secondiscalled"whiteflsh." This splendid^{fishisso-called}because ofitswhiteflesh. Itpreferssluggish water, although ^Ihave seen itin rapid water about twelve miles above the

mouth

of the river.

The

"_whitefish^''_{has a}

large

month

andaverylargehead.

The

_examplesthat Ihave seen varied from4 to28poundsⁱⁿweight, but largerones

have

been _caught.

The

third is the "dolly varden" or "

wye-dardeek-it," a ^beautiful trout with goldenspotson theback

and

_sides,

and

with scalesso small as tobe_hardlyperceptible to the

naked

_eye.

The mouth

isbig

and

the headislarge

and

not beautiful.

The

flesh is invariably red

—

_{a cherry}

red. Itweighs from ^{2 to}15 pounds. ^It frequents the ^river from the junction ^tothe spring, therebeing none above _{the spring}

and

few near the rivermouth. If onetakesholdof the "_dolly varden^" it slips

away

nearly^like

an

eel.

The

fourth is the sucker, which inhabits the lower twelve or four- teen milesof theriver. Itreaches as

much

as 3 to 5poundsⁱⁿ weight, averaging about¹ pound.

The

fifth is the red-sided_trout,,or,asitiscalled in

New

_{York, the}rain-

bow

trout. I willmention_onlyitshabits, as

you

have undoubtedly^seen

many

^{of them. Itfeeds almost}entirelyonthe bottomof the_river, but

willtake a_flythrough March,April,

and

_partof

May,

^{asthe riveristhen}

literallyalivewithinsects. It alsofeedsonsalmon eggs

when

thelatter begin ^to spawn,

and

on old dead _salmon, at which time it becomes veryfat,

and

will rarelytake a hook. It feeds very^little during ^the spawningseason, whichisinthe _winter, from January^{10 to} Ajiril,

and

sometimes until

May

^1.

Eainbow

^{trout run} ux> the small streams to spawn, sometimes^; but the majority^of

them spawn

^inthe

main

river.

They spawn

invariablyongravel beds, digging a smallroundholeinthe gravel^to correspond with their

own

_lengths.

The

male accompanies the_female,

and

liesclose toher_side,

and when

the female_depositsher

ova

themale_{ejects his} milt.

They commence

feedingimmediately^after spawning. ^I

have

_caught

them

weighing two

and

one-half pounds. ^I could giveyou^{full details of their} spawning, but^Ihavenot _space.

The

^{sixth is} a _bull-head, from ¹ to 3 inches in length. ^{It is} very destructive to salmon

spawn and

^{the littlesalmon} while they^retainthe

umbilicalsac.

Any

^time

you

^{should desire further} i^articulars, send

me

^aletter

and

Iwill answerit withpleasure. ^I have been_writing to Seth Greenfor overtwo_years,

and

have _given

him

full i)articnlarsconcerning the^fish of thisregion and their habits.

Ifyou

want

to

know how

the

McCloud

trout thrivein

New York

_you

46 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES

FISH COMMISSION.

can_applyto him, ^{as I} have_supplied

him

withallthathe has _gotfrom thatriver.

He

took

some spawn

^from

them

this season.

Iomitted to state that the "dolly vardens" areverydestructive to other_trout,or any kind^offish.

They spawn

ⁱⁿSeptember

and Novem-

ber. Theireggs^areaboutone-halfthesizeofthoseofthe

common

trout.

The

fisharevery^{difSculttoobtain.}

They

^{will liveina small}jilacewhere the

common

troutwouldnot. Ihave kept

them

ina pond,about 6 feet square, foramonth, where ^the

common

troutwouldkillthemselves ina shorttime.

They

appear^tobe

more

_hardy. Ihave watchedthesalmon

and

thetroutduring^theirspawning

more

_{than any}other

man

^{in this}part ofthe country,^asIhavefisheda greatdeal,

and

have been_{fishinglonger} than any one

who

takes

any

interest in thematter. I

came

herein1855j

I have caught hundreds

and

_probablythousands.

J. B.

CAMPBELL.

[Note.

— Thespecies referred toinMr. Campbell'sdescriptions are the following: "RiflePike," Gilas^.', ^^White&sh,^^Ptychochilus oregonensis (Eich.) Ag.; "DollyVarden," Salvelimis malma (Walb.) Jor. & Gilb.;

"

Sucker," Catostomusoccidentalis

Ay

res; " Red-sidedTrout," Salmo ^iri- deus Gibbons; "BullHead," ^{Uranidea sp.}

—

_Editor.]

TBE

ORIOIIV

OF THE

ITIEIVHADKIV

INDUSTBV.

By CAPT.

^{E. T.}

DEBLOIS.

[Note.

—

InthefoUowiugarticle,Captain DeBlois has thrownnew_lightuponseveral longmootedquestions, especiallythedate of the discovery of the value ofmenhaden

oil, the origin ofmeuhadenoil manufacture; ^the application of pressure ⁱⁿ the manufactureoffish oil, and the invention ofthe purse seine, besides placing upon recordan important^seriesofobservationsupon^thegrowth^{of the} menhaden _fishery withinthe past half century.

—

Gr.

Brown

_Goode.]

In 1811

two

_{men, one}

by

^the

name

of Christopher Barker,

and

the other

John

_Tallman,

commenced

the businessof

making

^oiloutofmen-

haden

_fish, with the use of

two

_{iron pots,}

upon

^the shore, afewrods southof

what was

thencalledtheBlackPoint wharf, nearPortsmouth, R.I.

They

^{boiledthefish in}the pots ^orkettles,

and

bailedthefishand contentsinto hogsheads, puttingon_{top the}fishinthehogsheadspieces of boardwith stoneson_{top, toi)ress} the fish

down

so thattheoilwould

come

on _top,

and

also inorder that the oil could be

skimmed

oft.

A

man by

the

name

of

John Hunt was

the oil

man who skimmed

^off the

oil,

and

_putit u^)in barrels for market. It

was

sent to

New York

to market

by

^ahouseorx^eoplethatweredoing businessⁱⁿ Newport,^R.L, by ^the

name

of Muuroe,

who

wereinthe

West

Indiatrade.

Barker

&

_Tallman, itseems, found the oil business to be profitable, forin 1814 they added

two more

_pots totheir business,

and

the

same

falltwoother

men commenced

the

same

_business,

by

^the

name

of

Muu-

roe,very near Barker

&

Tallman's works.

The

business

was

carried on