$6.95 USD
Quarterly Summer 2015
In This Issue: Plastics, Airplanes, and Fishing Rods The six degrees of trout and salmonids: MSU Bozeman's Bud Lilly Trout and Salmonid Collection Why Montana Went Wild: Revolutionary Trout Management in the 1970s Bozeman History According to 3rd Graders
A publication of the Gallatin Historical Society
gallatinhistorymuseum.org
The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly
Table of Contents
Summer 2015, Vol. 38, No. 3 6 Executive Director’s Letter & President’s Letter
QUARTERLY EDITORS: Jim Cashell, Ken Hamlin, William Jones M. Mark Miller, Rachel Phillips, Kathy VanDyke
8 Memberships & Donations 10 Memorials
Cover design & layout: Rachel Phillips
Issues of the Gallatin History Museum Quarterly are mailed to all members of the Gallatin Historical Society. The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly is published four times a year by the Gallatin Historical Society, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is “To preserve, promote and foster the history of Gallatin County and southwest Montana.” The Gallatin Historical Society operates the Gallatin History Museum at 317 West Main Street in Bozeman, Montana. The museum is open during the winter from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Summer hours (Memorial Day – Labor Day) are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5.00. Members and children 12 & under are admitted free.
11 Tribute to Patrick Donehoo 12 Items Donated to the Museum 13 Plastics, Airplanes, and Fishing Rods By Kate Geer, Dick Geer, and Virginia Mohr 19 The Six Degrees of Trout and Salmonids: MSU Bozeman’s Bud Lilly Trout and Salmonid Collection By James Thull 23 In Their Own Words…. Why Montana Went Wild, with Dick Vincent 28 A Third Grade View of Bozeman and Gallatin Valley History Compiled by Kathy Van Dyke and Pat Hamlin
GALLATIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS: William Jones, Executive Director Rachel Phillips, Research Coordinator
34 Pages from the Past Compiled by Barb Clawson & Emily Copeland
DIRECTORS: Cindy Shearer, President Ken Hamlin, Vice-President Nicholas Davis, Treasurer Mary Ellen Fitzgerald, Secretary
38 Image Gallery
Richard Benson • Jim Cashell • Tom Clark Richard Conover • Nicholas Davis • Mary Ellen Fitzgerald Ken Hamlin • Kelly Kelsey • Francie McLean Joyce Pollastro • Jane Quinn • Cindy Shearer EMERITUS: Bill Grabow Esther Nelson • Lou Ann Westlake
ON THE FRONT COVER: "Trout Pool" in Sixteenmile Canyon, taken from a souvenir Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway promotional booklet, 1914.
VOLUNTEERS Lois Adams • Helen Backlin • Emily Beeson • Richard Benson • Ellie Bowles • Nan Brandenbergerpayne • Jim Cashell Tom Clark • Barb Clawson • Richard Conover • Emily Copeland • Nicholas Davis • Leslie Eddington • Sally Fishman Mary Ellen Fitzgerald • Jane Foster • Kate Geer • Jerry Geise • Ken Hamlin • Pat Hamlin • Ivy Huntsman • Lain Kay Michelina Kazeminejad • Kelly Kelsey • Meredith Lewis • Carolyn Manley • Francie McLean • M. Mark Miller Nick Nickelson • Sandra Oldendorf • Norm Olson • Joyce Pollastro • Jane Quinn • Dee Seitel Cindy Shearer • Vikie Stoltz • Mary Taylor • Pam Thane • Kathy VanDyke • Arlene Wylie • Vicky York
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Hours (Labor Day - Memorial Day) 11 AM - 4 PM • Tuesday – Saturday (Memorial Day - Labor Day) 10 AM – 5 PM • Tuesday – Saturday
Membership Levels & Annual Fees Individual - $45 • Family - $60 Settler - $100 • Homestead - $150 Pioneer - $250 • Patron - $500 Contributor - $1,000 • Benefactor - $2,500 Business Membership Levels & Annual Fees Jefferson - $150 • Gallatin - $250 Madison - $500 • Yellowstone - $1000 Missouri - $2500
Admission Museum Members admitted free. $5 per person. Children 12 & under free. Volunteer Your Time Tour guiding, research, museum bookstore, publications, cataloging, displays, articles. Advertise in the Gallatin History Museum Quarterly! 4 issues 1 issue Full page: $160 $580 Half page: $90 $300 Quarter page: $45 $160 Business card: $30 $100 Back cover (3/4 page) $200 $700 Inside back cover (full page) $180 $625 Inside front cover (full page) $180 $625 Page 3-5 (full page) $165 $600 Page 3-5 (half page) $90 $310 Call (406)522-8122 for more information.
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Executive Director’s Letter Summer season has been busy at your museum. We have had lots of new people stopping by and are getting positive reviews. We will be changing the look of the big room on the main floor and will make it available for functions. To start with we are hosting a reception Thu. September 24 for the Montana History Conference. We are also hosting a dinner for the board of Humanities Montana on Fri Sept. 18. Thrive of Bozeman will do a fundraiser reception Thursday Nov. 5. We are developing a fee schedule for functions. The groups pay for all food etc. and for tables and chairs. We will have very limited responsibility, we are just renting the space. Keep us in mind for parties, receptions, etc. Attendance is up and we have been busy in August. One individual was here recently with his family and was stunned with what is in here. Has lived here 29 years, knew we were here but didn’t realize the size of our building or the extent of the collection. Planning is ongoing for the second season of the speaker series. Updates will appear on our web site, in the Get Out and on Facebook. Stay tuned! Our business membership has become popular and if you have a business, consider upgrading your membership. Also, membership makes a wonderful gift for friends and family on those special occasions. We are always in need of volunteers. If you have some free time consider spending time at your museum. We get lots of interesting visitors and it is fun to visit with them. Visitors enjoy visiting with local residents that can tell stories about the history. The bookstore had been rearranged and more current books are on the shelves. I try to keep local history books stocked. I also search for out of print used copies of great books such as Phyllis Smith’s Bozeman and the Gallatin
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Valley a History. Keep us in mind if you are looking for a good book. They always make a great gift. What a great way to welcome a new neighbor to town, a local history book. Call and we can set what you need aside. We will also be putting in other gift items. Bill Jones, Executive Director
President’s Letter “If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d be a shortage of fishing poles.” D. Larson Dear Gallatin Historical Society members and friends, Summer in Montana for most of us I’d venture to guess is a time of travel, family and adventures…all of which creates opportunities for the making of great stories and the sharing of them. For me fishing does that also, great stories can be made even if the truck got stuck in the mud and you never got a line wet. My family has more laughs retelling the inevitable mishaps that come with our outdoor adventures, the aluminum boat that flew off the roof of the truck or the time that one of the boys didn’t hold the rope when we put the boat in the water and the other boy ended up in the middle of the lake until a passing boat came to his rescue.
Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
I think that the appeal of fishing, is that in its simplest form it is Opie walking down a dirt road with a homemade stick fishing pole and string to an epic once in a lifetime Montana river trip with a brand new graphite Winston fly rod. Either way and everything in between are memories made and stories woven to be told around campfires, on porches and around family holiday gatherings. Fishing is an equal opportunity activity, the youngest can catch the biggest, the oldest can catch the most and everyone can feel a sense of belonging. This is the same feeling we want to share with you at the Gallatin History Museum, that the youngest of our visitors and the oldest of our visitors can experience a sense of belonging and share in the common interest of our past. I truly hope that you enjoy this issue of our great American pastime and that it sparks your memories of being outside or remembering that favorite Uncle’s fishing stories. As we continue to expand our programs, tell more stories and share more of our collection we thank you, our members, donors and supporters, for helping us achieve our mission, “To preserve, promote and foster the history of Gallatin County and Southwest Montana.” There are some great new exhibits, speakers and some fun being planned for this fall. We’ll keep you posted of our happenings on Facebook, email and the website or you can pop in and we’d be happy to tell you a story. Fondly, Cindy Shearer Board President
Special Thanks To… The crew from Bedrock Church who so happily donated their time to clean our restrooms! Josh & Kathy Lockie with Lockie Photography for generously donating landscape prints for our new fishing exhibit.
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Memberships & Donations WE THANK THOSE WHO RENEWED THEIR MEMBERSHIP, JOINED, OR MADE A DONATION DURING THE MONTHS OF APRIL, MAY, & JUNE, 2015. Contributor Dorothy Refling Patron Heather Jernberg Julie Videon Martha Weaver Pioneer Marcia Anderson Jon Chaney Dick & Rita Fish Gerald & Ladona Geise Sal & Carol Glenn Lalani Jim & Bea Taylor Homestead Lee & Billie Jean Blackwood Bruce & Janna Christensen Gordon & Kathy Decker Anna Marie DeYoung – Sky Federal Credit Union Marie Fisher Ken Groff Ben Lloyd – Comma-Q Architecture Settler Paul & Mary Lou Aicher John Alderson Patty & Doug Bartholomew Don & Diane Beeman Robert & Sara Donahoe – SD Steel Shops, Inc. Brian England & Joyce Pollastro Don Frye – Haufbrau Victor & Wendy Gerez Lesley Gilmore Wallace Graham Dennis & Katherine Hoffmann Donald & Connie Kent Charles Ketterman & Ruth Kopec Marilyn King Marty & Kathryn Lambert Mike Lane David Larson Scott & Teresa LeProwse
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B. Lee Mallory III Michael & Andrea Manship Rita Merkel – Chalet Sports JoAnne Mueller Robert & Mollie Nickelson H. Rand & Michele Oslund Patricia Paynich Jay & Amy Phillips Chris & Maddy Pope Ann Prescott Marguerite Reeves Marcia Rider Bob & Vivian Schaap – Story Hill Farm William Simkins Joe & Terri Sologub Walter Steingruber David Sullivan Margo Susco Mary Vant Hull Kenneth & Judith Weaver Theodore Williams Hank & Darlene Wruck Dr. Kenneth & Jenny Younger Family John & Joann Amend Carrie & Bill Ancell Ken & Ann Anderson Mike Anderson Steve & Sharon Arts Tracy Asbell & Family Ron & Sherry Bates Mitch Britzmann & Jean Munch Paul & Renee Brodt Charles & Sally Broughton Harold & Ila Brown Rod & Nora Brunner Bill & Pam Bryan Ray & Kay Campeau Charles & Judy Conser Richard & Priscilla Dysart James & Carol Ellis Larry Emmelkamp Hayden & Marlene Ferguson Michael & Robin Ferrara Dan & Sandra Figgins Alan & Janie Forsythe
Sam & Barb Gianfrancisco Marsha Goetting & Gary Peterson Chad & Florence Groth Charles & Margaret Hagen Ed Hahn & Pamela JonesHahn Alice & Mardeen Hanks – Our Farm House Don & Eloise Hargrove Andrew & Bonnie Jackson Jack & Jane Jelinski Dia Johnson Richard & Rosemary Lee Karen & Alan Leech Rick & Donna Lewis Lynn & Rod Lien Scott & Zoe Mayer Donald & Katherine McBride Kenneth & Donna McCulloch John, Marilyn, & Jacqueline Mitchell Richard & Valerie Monroe Jacquelyn & Roscoe Montgomery Jack & Kathryn Ann Moore Harry & Rebecca Murphy III Deborah & John Nash Wade & Jennifer Nason Neil & Pam Poulsen Frank & Lorraine Pratt John & Denise Pugh Bob & Jonnie Risk Tom & Melanie Ross Robert Schumacher Milo & Carol Todd Wesley True Herman & Patricia Vander Vos Paul Wagner Dan & Helen Walker Bill & Kathy Webster Dale Williams – Williams Gallery, Inc. Individual Evelyn Acton Betty M. Anderson Michael Anderson Charles Angel
John Bader Joseph & Janelle Barnett Anthony Barton James Beasley R. Dale Beland Joan Berg Julie Blockey – Southwestern Montana Financial Center, Inc. Jody Boland Ron Brekke Robert Cass Bill Chapman Gayle Clifford Emily Copeland Jason & Katie Daughenbaugh Jack Davis Steven & Judith Davis George De Belly Donna Dehn Ann Dickerson Rudolf Dietrich Margaret Dusenberry David & Linda Erdahl Troy & Mary Evenson Marjorie Fehrer Georgia Ann Flattum Aaron Foulkes Shirley Francisco Toby Gee Robert Gibson Suzanne Gorder Bruce Gourley Joyce Grande Michael Harris & Pepin Corso-Harris Joseph Hauseman Howard & Susan Heahlke Doris Henson Edward and Margaret Hines Patrick Holland Margaret Houghtaling Marjorie Hunt Iverna Lincoln Huntsman Hillary Hutchison Richard & Martha Jachowski William Jameson Vicki Juhl Robert Kallestad Michelina Kazeminejad
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Marjean Keehr Michael & Terry Kelly Bob Kern Anne Forsythe Kero Donalee King Ralph Lee John & Margaret Leeper Donna Lehman Ralph & Myra Lemke Larry Leonard Joy Linfield Karen May Lorna McCormick Earl & Donna McCulloch Robert & Sharon McIlhattan Wilma Meredith Carol Metcalf Betty Miller Duane Mohr Gini Mohr Barry Neu David & Molly Niven Wayne Oldach Sandra Oldendorf David & Rolla Olsen Carole Olshavsky Steven Opp
Ann Orser Angelina Parsons Rachel Phillips Harold Picton Paul Quinn Suzanne Renne Roger Robison Jack & Karen Rogers Mike Salvagni Mike Sand Vernor & Arlene Sande Ann Schaefer Wyman Schmidt Merry Shyne Emily Sieger Georgia Simkins Joe & Jo Jo Skinner William Slaughter Kenton Smith Rozella Smith Jay Sprott Vikie & Bob Stoltz John Sveen Eileen Tenney Stan & Daryl Todd Jim & Charlene Townsend John VanDyke
Alene Vogel Leoti Waite Joann Wattier Arleene Weppler General Sharon DeHaan Jim Miller Camilla Stoneback Schlosser Richard Sprout Donors Loren & Evelyn Acton Ray & Kay Campeau Steven & Judith Davis Marge Dogterom Audelle Estes Exxonmobil Foundation First Security Bank of Bozeman Meryl Fishman FOE Ladies Auxillary #326 Gary & Grace France – France Land & Livestock Harold & Sarah Kohler Gee Victor & Wendy Gerez Gilhousen Family Foundation Ed Hahn & Pamela JonesHahn Historic Preservation Board of Gallatin County William Jameson Eleanor Kinyon Longfellow Parent Association Lyle Manley Jean Marshall Donald & Katherine McBride Jim Miller
Montana History Foundation Jack & Kathryn Ann Moore Gail Seeley John & Georgia Simkins Herman & Patricia Vander Vos In Honor of… Mary P. Jones – Pamela Jones-Hahn and Ed Hahn
Business Memberships Jefferson Amatics CPA Group Bitterroot Capital Advisors Bozeman Granite Works Bozeman TV & Appliance, Inc. C & H Engineering & Surveying Cannery District Partners, LLC Mountain Arts Pottery/Coffee Pot Stockman Bank WIPFLi Yellowstone Bank Gallatin Allegra Marketing & Printing Best Burger First Security Bank of Bozeman Sunrise Campground Madison Story Distributing Co.
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Memorials WE THANK THOSE WHO HAVE MADE A MEMORIAL DONATION DURING THE MONTHS OF APRIL, MAY, & JUNE, 2015. Gift acknowledgments have been sent to the families of those honored. *Memorials totaling $100 or more. **Memorials totaling $1,000 or more. Names of deceased under both categories are engraved on the museum’s memorial board. Annette Alderson** John & Louise Alderson Alice Aughney* Walter R. Sales Tim Babcock* Walter R. Sales June Blackwood Carolyn Morgan
Loretta Lee Chapman* Bill Chapman Suzanne Renne Ethel “Fuss” Damuth* Marcia Anderson David & Patricia Hebner Sidney Hoffman "Hup" Davis Carol Metcalf
John “Jack” Fellerhoff* Vernor & Arlene Sande Tom Fellows* Jim & Joanne Kack Loretta Fenno David & Patricia Hebner Alvin Goldenstein Margaret Dusenberry
Georgianna Niven Borgen* David Niven
Pat Donehoo* Stan & Michele Crouse James & Linda Hauptman
Landon L. Groth* Chad & Florence Groth
Stanley Carlyle* Sharon Harvey
Marcia Edsall* Jim & Joanne Kack
Gail Hendricks Joseph & Janelle Barnett Lois Hiebert Sharon DeHaan David & Patricia Hebner Lloyd Keehr Marjean Keehr Harold Kimm* Walter R. Sales Stanley Kimm* David & Patricia Hebner Walter R. Sales
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Volume 38 / Number 2 / Spring 2015
Roy Metcalf* Junior & Bitsy DeGidio Gary & Grace France – France Land & Livestock Rob Myers* Walter R. Sales Bert Pruitt Suzanne Renne Nancy Robertson* Gary & Carol Walter Mary "Marget" Robischon* Walter R. Sales William “Bill” Thomas Vernor & Arlene Sande Steve Toohey Jim & Patricia Monger Arnold Wade Ken & Pat Hamlin Gordon Williamson* Margaret Kraft Vaughn & Bernadette Kraft Arthur G. & Denise Overturf Suzanne Renne Walter R. Sales Jerry & Shelley Vallereux Pat Vowell
Specializing In All Your Printing Needs
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303 East Main Bozeman, MT 59715 406.587.0677
Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
Patrick Robert Donehoo 1946 – 2015
Pat Donehoo.
Photo courtesy of Evelyn Chatwood.
Pat was a member of the Gallatin Historical Society since 1991 and served on our board 2011-2012. Pat was a thoughtful and helpful individual who did not hesitate to help anybody in need. A volunteer for many organizations, Pat was the first to raise his hand to help. Over the years he played Santa Claus, volunteered at the Springhill school and church, Bozeman Opera, Shriners at MSU football and basketball games, Meals-on-Wheels, Bozeman Deaconess, Bozeman Rest Area, First Presbyterian Church, Bozeman Senior Center, Gallatin History Museum and learned braille to help a friend, to name a few.
Pat cared for his mother Gertrude deeply and would take her all the places she needed or wanted to be before she passed. Pat left a large bequest to the Gallatin Historical Society and we are deeply grateful. In his honor, the board has established The Gallatin Historical Society Special Purpose Account to be used for awards and scholarships among other uses in the Gallatin Valley that the board wishes to support. Continuing his thoughtfulness in death, Pat donated his corneas and other organs to help those in need. Pat’s huge smile, genuine laughter and huge hugs will be missed by his friends.
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Items Donated to the Gallatin History Museum April 1, 2015 – June 30, 2015 Robert Baldwin
safety razor with case
Anne Banks
BWAGS notebooks, binders, and archival materials
Bozeman School District 7
Bozeman schools papers, course of study book, film strips, Gallatin County School District map
Roy Cattrell
doll buggy
Martha Drysdale
Rose Story Hogan family bible
Emil Erhardt, Terry Jensen & Marshall Cook
photographs of a 1960 horse/human race, Gallatin County
Sharon K. Fisher
photo album belonging to Mary Hunter Owens
Ken Hamlin
8 books for the bookstore
B. John Heetderks
My Autobiography, by B. John Heetderks
Clementine Herrin & Myrna Orton
map of Gallatin County
Paul & Sandra Joubert
Central Park school photograph & records, weather records
Rosemary Lee
4 Union Pacific magazines
Alta Newman
child’s rocking chair, centennial mugs, photographs, books, pamphlets, maps
Norm Olson
Book: Artists of the Old West
David Perlstein
1927 Vocational Congress photo, Bozeman
Joyce Slingsby
Book: The Art of the Old West
Joni Staffanson
BHS reunion books, magazines, Bridger Bowl & Bozeman photos, Buttrey Foods nametag
Valley View Golf Club
photo and photo scan of old Valley View Clubhouse
Holly Wagner
Wagner and Hammond family photographs and memorabilia
Mary Kay West
6 framed pictures for the bookstore
Celinda Williams
Montana State Housekeepers’ Society constitution & by-laws
Charles Williams
cedar post table lamp
New in the Bookstore…
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Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
Plastics, Airplanes, & Fishing Rods By Katharine Howald Geer, Virginia Mohr, and Richard D. Geer
“Fishing in a Mountain Stream.” Northern Pacific Railroad promotional postcard.
Gallatin History Museum Collection. P15912, 08.1352
D
uring the 1960s and 70s, as today, avid fly fishermen combed the East and West Gallatin Rivers, the Madison, the Jefferson, and scores of smaller trout streams. In one of their camps, if you happened to be in the right place at the perfect time, you might have come across a smallish figure in the typical shapeless fishing hat with a creel bouncing off his hip. Just another typical Montana visitor trying his luck with a fly? Not exactly…for this wizened angler was actually a wellknown pioneer in the fly fishing industry who left more than he took away from his trips to Montana. This individual, Dr. Arthur Mark Howald, brought his legacy of plastics research, fishing, and children to the Gallatin Valley, and his story will fascinate anyone who loves gently landing a fuzzy fly on a dazzling riffle above where, it is hoped, large trout await their next meal.
PLASTICS
In order to cast that fly softly upstream, a successful fly fisherman needs a pliable and manageable launching tool. The proverbial branch with a string tied onto the end did not fit the bill at all, and flexible bamboo had become the choice for fly rods prior to the First World War. However, with the advent of a new substance after the end of World War I, chemistry and recreation collided in a whole new way. Coined from a Greek word meaning “able to be molded,” plastics refer to man-made materials shaped into different forms. Remarkably versatile today, they can be hard, soft, transparent, decorative, resistant, or even liquid as adhesives and paints. Before the 1920s, though, the uses of such synthetics were limited. Years of rapid prosperity followed the end of the war. Business was booming; the “Model T” was changing America’s mode of travel; and aviation blossomed into a new industry, given a boost by
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Charles Lindbergh’s solo plane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. It was a time of short skirts, bobbed hair, and changes in traditional lifestyles. Accompanying these were innovations in education, health, and in the science of synthetics.
use as he weighed meat for local housewives. Ponderously heavy, these scales were made of enamelware over steel in order to make them white and clean looking, for what homemaker would want to buy meat measured on a dirtylooking scale? The next step was to make these scales more manageable, so the forwardlooking company turned to the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh and financed a fellowship to research a lighter-weight machine. Dr. Howald headed the project.
Individuals were recharged with optimism and hope. One young chemist receiving his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in 1922, found himself dreaming of a new future with a young undergraduate, one of only two It was known from his previous women in a graduate-level project that resins compounded mathematics class. Wanting to from urea and formaldehyde foster this budding relationship made excellent glues; however, with pretty Katharine, Arthur Light-colored butcher scale. now the combination of these Mark Howald chose to stay in Image courtesy of the authors. products led to a molding the area after earning his Ph.D. compound that was not only Thus, he became part of the useful for butcher scales but also a myriad of other products. Mellon Institute, which had fostered close ties with the Although synthetic plastics (products that could be molded) University of Pittsburgh. Joining research fellowships had actually begun with Dr. Leo Hendrick Baekeland’s between industries and the Mellon Institute, Dr. Howald put his mind to solving problems and developing innovative Bakelite in 1909, as John E. Pfeiffer wrote in the June 1939 ideas for the next ten years – 1922-1932. As a result, he became immersed in preservatives, adhesives, and resins – the last two were components of our modern plastics. Meanwhile, in 1926, Arthur and Katharine married, and the first three of their four children were born in Pittsburgh. Dr. Howald first worked for the mining industry, developing preservatives to maintain timbers used underground, then for the wood products industry itself, creating the urea/formaldehyde glues to laminate wood for plywood and paneling. After making his name in these fields, he moved onto a third project – one spearheaded by the Toledo Scale Company. In Ohio, the Toledo Scale Company produced scales for the hometown butcher to
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Arthur Mark Howald and Katharine Howald on a dock on the Allegheny River. Image courtesy of the authors. Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
issue of Mechanix Illustrated: “There is a fly in every ointment. The catch in the case of Bakelite, for example, is that it can’t be made in bright colors or white. In 1928 the Toledo Scale Co. needed a plastic with the latter color. Butchers’ scales must be white. Actual tests show that housewives associate white so strongly with cleanliness that they won’t buy meat weighed on scales with other colors….What was needed was a permanently white material, lighter than castiron and a strong.”
Company making even lighter-weight butcher scales than before. Even more, however, molded plastic products of all sorts and of various colors emerged from the company: buttons, ashtrays, radio cabinets, and novelty items – all predecessors of thousands of modern plastic-based products. In 1942, with Dr. Howald as its technical director, a new business research facility began in Toledo, the Plaskon Company.
AIRPLANES
Then came World War II, and the Plaskon Company turned to research for the War Department. By manufacturing airplane parts from fiberglass and plastic resin materials rather than aluminum or steel, the company could produce planes that were just as strong but wouldn’t interfere with radar transmission. Wartime innovations included a bomber produced in Great Britain with a nose cone made of the new materials, and in the U.S. one experimental plane was actually manufactured entirely from fiberglass/resins.
FISHING RODS
With the end of the war, the Plaskon Company turned again to peacetime uses. As it happened, Dr. Howald was not only a research chemist, but an avid trout fisherman. During one fishing trip, his treasured bamboo rod broke at the tip. An independent thinker who made what he needed from whatever was available, he fashioned a new tip for his bamboo rod of materials he had utilized during Plaskon’s wartime projects. Pleased with the results, he began to experiment with making Dr. Arthur Mark Howald at Plaskon. a fly fishing rod utilizing these new processes. Image courtesy of the authors. Bringing with him his new prototype rod blanks, Dr. Howald went to the Shakespeare Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan to purchase the hardware needed to The new product – a pressure-treated combination of urea complete his rods. As innovative manufacturers of fishing and formaldehyde, weighing one third of a comparable tackle and related items, Shakespeare realized the potential enamel-on-steel design – became known as Plaskon, and of Dr. Howald’s experiments and invested in the this moldable plastic designed for butcher scales opened up development of the first fiberglass fishing rods, using the a wide new field of manufactured plastics. The research “Howald Process” with Dr. Howald as their consultant. promised such success that the Toledo Scale Company offered Dr. Howald a research position. As a result, in the An article from the summer 2000 issue of Livingston, midst of the Great Depression, the Howald family of five Montana’s Angler’s Journal by Bob Wiltshire describes moved to Toledo, Ohio where the growing field of plastic what happened as follows: research provided them with steady work. The Toledo Scale Company split and formed the Toledo Synthetic Products The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly / www.gallatinhistorymuseum.org
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“In 1944 Dr. Arthur Howald faced two problems with his fishing, one that is still common today and another that, fortunately, we don’t worry about. His first problem was that he was the father of typical children. Thus, through a series of misadventures, a number of his fly rods had been trampled, slammed, and otherwise broken. His second problem was that there was no practical
The need to find ferrules, guides and tip tops led Dr. Howald to contact the Shakespeare Company. They provided him with the hardware he needed to complete the rods and the first fiberglass rods were ready to be fished…The rods proved to be usable fishing tools and the fiberglass rod evolution had begun….In 1945 at the Chicago coliseum Shakespeare introduced the Wonder Rod. This
One of the original rods, hand labeled: “No. 7 – Feb 1946 amh.” way to repair the rods. This was due to the fact that World War II had choked off the supply of bamboo which was the only practical rod building material…. His new idea for fishing was to develop a fiberglass fly rod. Using his knowledge of resins, fiberglass and current technology, he determined that the best way to proceed was to fashion an inner core to provide the shape of the rod and serve as a base to apply fiberglass and resin to. He selected balsa wood to be the core material. He believed that its light weight and ease of shaping would make it the perfect material for a rod core. …Dr. Howald produced 5 or 6 (the exact number is lost to us) of these first fiberglass blanks. Only then did he turn to his next problem….As a chemist he knew about the materials but as a recreational angler he knew little about rod building and design.
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Image courtesy of the authors.
first commercial fiberglass rod was quickly accepted by a nation looking for alternatives to the costly and almost impossible to find cane.” In an association that lasted the rest of his life, Dr. Howald and the Shakespeare Company continued experimenting with various methods and materials for fly rod construction. Many types were created, though very few remain today that feature the original wood core, since these balsa cores would gradually absorb moisture; and the resulting swelling of the wood put too much pressure on the fiberglass, causing the rod to crack and split. Eventually, a removable steel mandrel replaced the wood core, increasing the longevity of these rods. From Dr. Howald’s personal belongings here in Bozeman, however, his son, Reed, has kept one fishing rod labeled “A.M. Howald 1946” hand printed by Dr. Howald. This would undoubtedly be one of the first rod blanks that were then finished with parts obtained from the Shakespeare Company and that Dr. Howald took to Henry Shakespeare. This rod, then, would have retained the rare, original balsa wood core. Another account of this fly rod development, published by Philips “Gabby” Talkington on his website
Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
“Antique Lures,” tells a slightly different version, a story written and submitted by Eric Foster Jeski: “In 1944, Dr. Arthur Howald, Technical Director for the Plaskon Division of Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company, was on a trout fishing trip in northern Michigan when he broke the top of his pet bamboo rod. Because replacement tips were impossible to obtain during the war, he used his knowledge of glass fiber/Plaskon resin fabrication to experiment with rods made entirely of fiberglass….He revealed his experiments to Mr. Shakespeare’s son, Henry Shakespeare, the Company’s new Vice President and General Manager.
Patent rights were secured to produce the world’s first fiberglass fishing rod, the “Howald Glastik Wonderrod,” and Henry put the Shakespeare Company back into the rod making business. At the Tackle Manufacturer Association meeting that year, the president of the Montague Rod Company asked Henry if he was not making a big mistake in thinking that the American angler would abandon splitbamboo for a fiberglass rod costing nearly sixty dollars, and speculated that perhaps they might sell fifteen or twenty rods in the first year. ‘We already have orders for that many thousand!’ Henry replied.”
Jeske continues with another quirk in the story, “For the purpose of product testing, and possibly a little bit of publicity, the top section of a Dr. Howald asked fiberglass Wonderrod was Henry what the ideal Arthur Mark Howald fishing in Montana, 1991. attached to the main door of rod should cast like, Image courtesy of the authors. the Kalamazoo offices, so that and Henry told him the rod would flex each time that no one had yet made an ideal rod, since each the door was open” (Jeske…) fisherman and each fishing situation would require a different rod action in order to be An interesting sidelight about fiberglass fishing rods is that considered ‘ideal.’ Dr. Howald then wanted to meet in the 1940s, another California rod maker was also working with the foremost authorities on fly rod casting on developing a fiberglass rod using a different and rod design. He met with Paul H. Young, the manufacturing process. One of the members on their team famous bamboo rod maker from Detroit, on the had also labored in the wartime airplane project. There could have been a long legal battle over patent infringement. North Branch of the AuSable River, and later However, these wise business men decided to use their time, with Henry’s friend Charles Ritz of France. energy, and financial resources to separately develop the Howald returned from these meetings with the best rods they could rather than involving themselves in impression that there was room for two more fly litigation – to the benefit of hundreds of fishermen. rod authorities, namely Henry and himself.
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In 1963 two children of Dr. Howald moved separately to Bozeman, Montana – Reed and Elaine Howald and Dr. Duane and Kate (Howald) Mohr. No doubt visiting his children and grandchildren was the first drawing card that brought Dr. and Mrs. Howald into the Gallatin Valley. However, its renowned fishing habitats soon became a lure that kept the Howalds returning every summer for fly fishing (and visiting family). Dr. Howald continued his association with the Shakespeare Company developing fly line finishes and then graphite fly rods. While their home base remained a farm near Toledo, Ohio with winters frequently spent in South Carolina (the new home base of the Shakespeare Company fiberglass manufacturing enterprise), the Gallatin Valley served as a second, summer home as well as a treasured fishing paradise. Having designed and built a guest house on the Reed Howald property east of town, Dr. Howald continued testing, experimenting, and fishing in the area; favorite spots included the Gallatin Rivers, Rocky Creek, Baker Creek, and Ben Hart Creek. After his wife died here in 1990, he moved permanently to the Gallatin Valley to be near family, spending the rest of his years in the guest house he had constructed. In April 1992, at the age of 92, he died at his Gallatin Valley cabin. A child of immigrant parents from the hill country of Missouri, this renown chemist was also a reserved and relatively unknown fly fisherman, who loved the sport and preferred a simple life. Even though he could adapt to a working relationship with rich and famous businessmen, his real love was a quiet day on a trout stream, fishing from one bridge to the next. His family remembers his cigars, his love for his bird dogs, and his many fishing camps along Gallatin Valley trout streams. He would have thought of his legacy as being his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, but to many fishermen he represents an innovator in the fishing industry who made available to them quality fly fishing rods at reasonable prices – providing those with modest incomes the tools to enjoy world class trout fishing in the Gallatin Valley and beyond.
running the farms. In 1953 our son was born. Two years later, in 1955, Hank suffered a heart attack at the age of 33. That was a very shocking experience and he could not resume normal activities for months. We continued to farm the two places and a dairy with some hired help until 1958. After that we decided to discontinue farming and find something easier About the Authors: As a result of her husband’s declining health the Heys family moved to Arizona in 1964. Mrs. DeBoer currently lives in Sun City, Arizona. She does not often have the opportunity to visit the Gallatin Valley but continues to hold it dear in her heart. Her sister, Ann Van Dyke, lives in Bozeman. Her brother, Peter Blanksma, lives outside of Bozeman and still farms with his sons. Kathy Van Dyke knew nothing about the Dutch community in the Gallatin Valley prior to marrying into the Van Dyke clan 11 years ago. Now she’s fascinated by, and proud of, the Dutchmen’s contributions to the area economy and local history. Kathy is a member of the Gallatin Historical Society and a past President of the Board of Directors. 1 “Gallatin Valley main industry was agriculture,” by Lynn Israel, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, March 1983. 2 Smith, Phyllis. 1996. Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley. Two Dot Publishing, Falcon Press, Helena; see also Burlingame, Merrill G. 1976. Gallatin County’s Heritage: A report of Progress – 1805-1976. 3
Id. (Burlingame)
About the Authors: Written as a family project by Katharine Howald Geer, daughter of Arthur Mark Howald; Richard D. Geer, Katharine’s husband who married into the family; and Virginia Mohr, Katharine’s daughter and the granddaughter of Arthur Mark Howald.
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The Gallatin History Museum Volume 38 / Quarterly Number 3 // www.gallatinhistorym Summer 2015
The six degrees of trout and salmonids: MSU Bozeman’s Bud Lilly Trout and Salmonid Collection By James Thull
A portion of MSU’s Trout and Salmonid Collection.
D
id you know that the Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections library at Montana State University houses what is very likely the world’s largest collection of materials on Trout and Salmonids? It’s a sad truth that, while this collection has been growing book by book over the last 15 years, still only a small number of local residents know of this tangible treasure trove of knowledge existing right in their hometown. This article will shed light on the scope of the collection, describe some of the rare gems it houses, and provide information on how anglers from near and far can utilize this Bozeman resource to satisfy their curiosity about all things related to trout and salmonids as well as gain information that will help them land the goldens, brookies, rainbows, cutthroats, and browns out there patrolling our local rivers, streams, and lakes today. The collection was founded in 2000 through the efforts of the former Dean of MSU Libraries, Bruce Morton and legendary fly-fisherman, Bud Lilly. In conversations, they
Image courtesy of the author.
determined that no library collection existed that focused specifically on all aspects of trout and salmonids. To be sure, fly-fishing collections, angling collections, and fisheries collections exist the world over, but none focus on all aspects or, as Bruce Morton used to say, the six degrees of trout and salmonids. With the Bozeman area being home to a large number of fisheries researchers, anglers, and authors like Tom McGuane and Paul Schullery; a bucket list destination for fly-fishers the world over; within an hour of the International headquarters of the Federation of Fly Fishermen; and geographically close to Yellowstone National Park and several blue ribbon trout rivers, MSU Bozeman’s Renne library seemed a natural place to create, build, and house a world-class collection of materials on trout and salmonids. The collection would not exist without the efforts of both Bruce Morton and Bud Lilly. They are responsible, and deserve the credit, for bringing to Bozeman one of the world’s most unique and comprehensive anglingrelated library collections.
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The collection was born with a donation that a friend of Bud Lilly’s made to MSU which consisted of several thousand books, government documents, and periodicals on fish and fishing. Since then, it has grown to include grey literature, VHS tapes, DVDs, pamphlets, fly catalogs, fishing guides, dissertations, children’s books, poetry, art, photography books, fishing regulations, personal papers, and nearly anything else one could imagine on trout and salmonids. The scope of the collection is one of its greatest strengths. Anything and I mean anything, that relates to trout or Books: Fishing in Iceland and Great Lakes Steelhead Fishing. Image courtesy of the author. salmonids in anyway, falls within our collection past 200 years or how the ideas of conservation developed development guidelines. We do not limit by language, and are reflected in fly fishing guides from Montana to region, format, etc. Part of the value of having such a wide Spain is something that only a collection of this scope can scope is that it allows researchers to use a wide variety of allow for. Our goal is to have the most comprehensive materials in one place. Being able to compare children’s collection in the world and then take those materials and literature with the changes in fishing regulations over the disseminate them, through digital collections, to anyone, anywhere for free.
Books: Sex, Death, and Fly-Fishing and Trout Fishing Guide: Tasmania.
Image courtesy of the author.
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The span of the collection dates from the 1500’s to materials published this year and now surpasses 11,000 volumes. Our video and DVD collection has been steadily growing as well, and the several hundred we now hold help to add a visual aspect to the collection that cannot be as easily gained with printed materials. The videos often document much more than they intended to such as the plants and wildlife found near the waterways, the flow of water, the type of equipment used, and the development of the land nearby. The collection also holds some
Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
incredibly rare items that can only be viewed in a few libraries throughout the world. We have copies of Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler published as early as 1797 and a 1531 copy of De Romanis Piscibus that only exists in a handful of library collections worldwide. De Romanis Piscibus contains what is very likely the first ever mention in print of fishing in the new world, and patrons can come into the library and hold it in their hands.
of Montana and beyond for future generations of anglers. Patrons can come into the library and hold in their hands the telegram he sent home when he was discharged from the armed services after WWII, photographs of Bud and friends fishing over the last seven decades, or letters from people like former US President Jimmy Carter sent to Bud thanking him for his services as a guide. A few other highlights from our archival collections include a small collection of Joan Wulff’s papers, also known as the Grand Madam of Fly Fishing; the papers of Bob Behnke, who was affectionately called Dr. Trout; and Bob Jacklin’s papers who is a certified master caster, 2004 Fly Fishing Hall of Fame inductee, and local guide extraordinaire. These primary source documents provide research opportunities for the scholars of today and the future that will help yield the next great works on fly fishing history, study, and knowledge.
In addition to printed materials, the collection also houses the papers of some of the world’s leading fly fishers, fishery scientists, and authors. Bud The Complete Angler, by Walton and Cotton. Image courtesy of the author. Lilly’s papers are the cornerstone of our archival collection in this area. Bud’s impact on fly fishing and the conservation of trout waters cannot be overstated. He founded one of the world’s leading fly shops in West Yellowstone, was one of the first advocates for catch and release, and has lent his time and reputation to countless endeavourers that have helped to rehabilitate and The Fly-Fisher’s Entomology, by Alfred Ronalds. preserve the waters Image courtesy of the author. The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly / www.gallatinhistorymuseum.org
Besides collecting printed materials and archival collections, we
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How to Catch Trout, by R. Osborn. have initiated several projects that will help disseminate information on the history, culture, and science of angling; preserve the memory of angling in our time; and serve as a one stop resource for all things trout and salmonid for the researcher and the individual just looking to get a line in the water around Bozeman. Our Angling Oral History Project has started to collect the oral histories of prominent fly fishers, politicians, business leaders, and authors. Some of the people we have interviewed to date include Bud Lilly, Esther Lilly, John Gierach, Joan Wulff, Bob Jacklin, Tom Morgan, Leigh Perkins, and Reed Howald. In the near future, we will begin to collect oral histories from average anglers the world over. Our plan is to document, with a few questions like “tell us your favorite fishing story” or “what has fishing meant to you”, the impact of angling in our time. What archives and libraries have always done well is to collect the histories of famous people, but they have been less concerned with documenting the histories of the average person. With this project, we will capture video from hundreds of anglers and include it in an online, freelyaccessible database, so anyone can view the interviews from anywhere in the world. The idea is that you can record your history and tell the story of the first time you took your granddaughter fishing, and in 50 years she can show that video to her grandchildren. For researchers, the access to information from so many anglers in so many places will be invaluable.
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Another even larger project is our Atlas of Angling in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This will be the most comprehensive resource available in the world for information on all aspects of angling in the area. We will collect, digitize, and scan documents, articles, photographs, regulations, and literature; create and disseminate surveys on everything from the lure of the area to changes in the environment; create videos of fish, insects, the waterways, and the human impact on the area; and conduct interviews with Image courtesy of the author. anglers, tourists, scientists, legislatures, government workers, guide shop owners, and historians to help us paint as broad of a picture as possible and provide as much information, from all aspects, on anything related to angling in this unique ecosystem. Our goal is to combine all available information on angling in this geographic area and make it available for free to researchers, tourists, anglers, and anyone with an interest. One more related project of note is the MSU Library’s annual Trout and Salmonid Lecture which has been offered each spring at the Museum of the Rockies. Past speakers have included author James Prosek, current Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park Dan Wenk, and former Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Nathaniel Reed. The Special Collections library is open to the public and available for use Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm. Tours of the collection can be arranged upon request. So, please come in and view our rare books or fishing guides and take advantage of one of Bozeman’s greatest angling treasures.
About the Author: James Thull is the Special Collections Librarian at Montana State University-Bozeman where he does collection development and outreach for the Trout and Salmonid collection. He is also an avid angler who has been lucky enough to have had tight lines on 4 continents.
Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
Why Montana Went Wild
Montana Outdoors interviews the scientist whose research three decades ago helped revolutionize trout management This story is featured in Montana Outdoors, May–June 2004 By Tom Dickson, editor, Montana Outdoors. The Madison River north of Black's Ford.
The following article is reprinted with permission of Tom Dickson, author and editor of Montana Outdoors, a publication of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. At the end of the original interview/article is a follow-up question Ken Hamlin (of the Gallatin Historical Society) asked Dick Vincent this spring, 11 years after the original interview. Also, Hamlin asked Pat Clancey, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Fisheries biologist for a status report on the Madison River’s wild trout population 41 years after stocking of hatchery fish in Montana rivers and streams was discontinued.
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n 1974, Montana did something that stunned anglers across the state and the nation: It stopped stocking trout in streams and rivers that supported wild trout populations. The move initially outraged many anglers, fishing businesses, and even some Montana Fish and Game Department staff. For decades, hatcheries had been credited with producing more and better fishing. Without stocking,
Rosemary Barnett, donor. P5287, 93.1122
many Montanans asked, what would happen to the state’s famous trout waters and the businesses that relied on legions of anglers arriving from across the country each summer? The answer, now well known, is that trout fishing improved dramatically. Once stocking was discontinued, wild trout numbers doubled, tripled, and more on many rivers. On this 30th anniversary of Montana’s discontinuation of stocking trout in rivers capable of sustaining wild trout, Montana Outdoors visited with fisheries biologist Dick Vincent, whose research on the Madison River in the late 1960s and early ’70s led to that decision. A Montana native who grew up in Norris and Garrison fishing the Madison and Clark Fork rivers, Vincent earned his B.S. and M.S. in biology at Montana State University and began working for the department in 1966. Nationally known in recent years for his studies on whirling disease, particularly on the Madison River, three decades ago Vincent and his crew showed that wild trout thrived in river
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reaches without stocked fish and suffered in heavily stocked stretches. It was research that was to revolutionize trout management in Montana and throughout the United States. How did you get started looking at the effects of stocked trout on wild trout? Actually, I was first hired by the department to develop new techniques for monitoring trout populations. Back then we didn’t have accurate ways to track trout numbers. I helped develop new electroshocking equipment and techniques so we could sample a lot of fish and larger fish. That’s how you got started working on the Madison River? Right. Once we developed the techniques, we started trying them out on rivers. We picked two stretches of the Madison—the Norris stretch, downstream of Dick Vincent at work. Ennis Lake, and the Varney Bridge stretch, about six miles upstream from Ennis—and started doing population monitoring. In 1968, we were able to convince the power company operating the two dams upstream to increase river flows. We began studying the effects of the increased flows on the Norris and Varney sections, figuring that both stretches would benefit. But that wasn’t the case. The flows helped the Norris section, resulting in better recruitment and many more 10-inch-plus fish, but not Varney. So you started looking for other factors? We were so puzzled, because at the time we were sure flows were the big issue, and it didn’t make sense that one stretch
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of the Madison was responding to improved flows and another wasn’t. I made a list to see what was similar and different about the stretches. The big factor that jumped out was that the Norris area wasn’t stocked at all, but Varney was stocked with anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 catchable trout per year. We asked ourselves: Could it be the stocking? We had no idea, but we wanted to find out. That’s when the famous study began? Well, it didn’t happen that easily. This was in 1969, and what we proposed was to not stock the Varney section for three years while stocking a tributary named O’Dell Creek, which was never stocked before but had some good trout numbers. We wanted to leave the Norris stretch alone and use it as a control. Some people didn’t think highly of your proposal, correct? That’s putting it mildly. I think people thought we Image courtesy of Tom Dickson. had a goal of closing down all stocking, but that wasn’t the case. We specifically wanted to learn if stocking catchable-sized rainbow trout was negatively affecting wild rainbow and brown trout populations. But Ennis businesses, the Fish and Game Commission, and lots of anglers didn’t like the idea of us messing around with stocking in any way. They felt that the Varney stretch would crash during the three-year study. I heard many people say, “If we don’t have stockers, what will fishermen catch? How heavily was Montana into stocking fish at the time? That was really the peak of our river stocking program. We were stocking the Big Hole, Yellowstone, Gallatin, Madison—all the best rivers, which already had great trout Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
Fish from the Gallatin River. Postcard. fisheries—with an average of 2,000 catchable trout per mile. But the department was still getting complaints about how poor the fishing was, that it was getting worse each year. So the solution was to stock even more, and whoever hollered the loudest got the most fish in their favorite stretch of river. The idea then was that the stocked fish were an addition to the wild populations, that two plus two equaled four. But a few of us biologists wondered if maybe two plus two equaled three or even less. Were you the only ones suspecting this? Some anglers had a hunch that river stocking wasn’t all it was made out to be. Bud Lilly, Dick McGuire, Tom Morgan, and a few others had been fishing these great rivers before the big stocking boom, and they told us the fishing was getting increasingly worse. And I’d seen that myself, having grown up fishing the Madison in the 1950s, when we’d catch 3-pounders. Then, in the 1960s, all we could catch were small hatchery fish. But no one knew why the fishing got worse on those rivers.
How did the study start? First we had to get permission from the commission to not stock the Varney section for three years. That was a big deal. Art Whitney, the fisheries chief, made the case that we weren’t out to end stocking but that we just wanted to learn something. That took courage. He could have made his life a lot simpler by not going against the flow. But Art was a scientist, and he successfully fought for the Image courtesy of Ken Hamlin. study. The three-year study actually began in 1970, but it included information for the years 1967–69. After just one year, we could see that the four-mile-long Varney section was improving by no longer being stocked and that most of the improvement was in the larger fish. By the fall of 1971, wild trout numbers had increased 153 percent from the 1967–69 average, from 1,500 trout to 3,800 trout. The improvement continued every year. By 1974 the total number of wild trout larger than 10 inches
Madison River. Postcard.
The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly / www.gallatinhistorymuseum.org
Image courtesy of Ken Hamlin.
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Now there were two strikes against it: One, the department was raising all those fish with little return to the angler and, two, stocking was harming wild fish. Ordinarily you wouldn’t change management policy based on just three years of data, but the numbers from the study were off the charts. The department had to decide what to do, but there was a huge fear that ending stocking would cause an economic disaster for the communities along the rivers. There were a bunch of hearings on changing the policy. But by the end of 1973, the department and the commission agreed that it didn’t make sense. The following year, the department stopped stocking trout in rivers and streams.
was 4,700, a 213 percent increase from the stocking years. What happened to O’Dell, the creek you began stocking? The wild trout population began declining. The 1967–69 average had been 515 brown trout in that 1.4-mile stretch, and it dropped to 380 in 1971 and then 280 in 1972. And the big fish numbers declined as well, dropping from 63 in 1967–69 to 14 in 1972. Were you surprised by the results? We’d suspected that stocking was having a negative effect, but when we saw large trout numbers in the Varney section triple and trout numbers in O’Dell cut in half, well, that just blew us away.
Dick Vincent.
And that caused the agency to rethink its river stocking policy? River stocking was already under some criticism because the return to the angler was so low. Within three months of being planted, 95 percent of stocked river trout are dead, either from being caught and kept by anglers, about 15 percent, or from other predators, about 80 percent. It’s not cheap to raise fish to catchable size, and when anglers are only catching 15 percent of the stocked fish, those become pretty expensive trout. In 1972, the department figured that each hatchery-reared catchable trout caught by an angler in the upper Madison River cost about $2.50. And that was back in 1972, when a fishing license cost about that much. It just didn’t make sense. The study then added weight to arguments against river and stream stocking?
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Image courtesy of Tom Dickson.
What happened then? Wild trout numbers increased, just as the study said they would. For example, in the upper Gallatin above Big Sky, trout numbers went from about 450 wild fish per mile to 2,500 once stocking ended. And after the department stopped stocking O’Dell Creek, the numbers went right back up to where they had been. Did other states follow? To a point, yes. We got calls from all over the country from fisheries departments and trout anglers. There was a ripple effect across the United States. Some people thought the new policy would be the end of the hatchery system. But that didn’t happen. Not at all. In fact the department is now rearing and planting eight million trout per year. But instead of stocking Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
rivers and streams, it plants lakes and reservoirs. And instead of stocking catchablesized fish, the stocking has shifted to smaller trout that grow to be catchable size but have wilder traits. The hatchery program now is critical for lake management and also for helping propagate species of concern such as westslope cutthroat. It’s really doing a great job.
have not had to worry about predation while feeding, swarm to food fed at concentrated locations with regular timing. Those who get to the food first survive. Thus, when hatchery fish are “dumped” in with wild trout, they are not used to finding their own food and their nutrition and survival suffers at the same time they are disrupting the feeding territories of wild trout. The behavior of hatchery trout also makes them more vulnerable to predation. The disruption of the behavior and territories of the wild trout both reduces their feeding efficiency and nutritional level and also makes them more vulnerable to predation than they previously were. Thus, both wild and hatchery fish have a lower survival rate when in the same stream area.
Other than producing better wild trout fishing, what other effects did the study have? I think the biggest thing was that people began to see wild trout as a valuable, limited resource, and that the state needs to protect habitat to conserve that resource. Back in the 1960s, anglers didn’t Jim Reed of Gallatin Gateway poses with a 13 care about stream flows and pound trout caught below the town. Bozeman Camera Club, donor. P7182, 96.457 river habitat, because if the One example of stress changes fishing was poor, you just due to stocking was an increase in detectable movement of tossed in more fish. But if you want to catch big wild fish, the resident wild trout after hatchery rainbow trout were then you need to fight for water and for habitat, and that is stocked. Normally, wild trout populations in these streams what has happened. I don’t know of a state where people show very little detectable movement (less than 5%) with have fought as hard for their rivers as they have here in most movement being very localized around feeding sites Montana. and cover. Release of hatchery trout in O'Dell Creek increased detectable movement over 1000%, which leaves Follow-up questions by Ken Hamlin, spring 2015: them more vulnerable to predation (including anglers) and reduces nutrition due to poor feeding sites. Dick, I know you did not specifically study this, but do you have an explanation for why trout numbers per mile Pat, what is the status of wild trout in the Madison River of river were lower in areas of hatchery stocking and now, 41 years after hatchery stocking was discontinued? why wild trout numbers doubled or tripled when Has the increase in wild trout numbers been stocking was discontinued? maintained? Based on my observations over the years and the results of After a decline in numbers of wild trout per mile of river in studies done in Pennsylvania, I believe that hatchery fish the 1990s due to whirling disease that affected Rainbow disrupted the natural behavior and feeding territories of trout more than Brown trout, numbers have recovered wild trout. Wild trout have feeding territories and a social currently to near or at levels recorded after stocking was hierarchy based on size and behavior that efficiently makes discontinued and pre-whirling disease. This has occurred use of available food and makes them less vulnerable to despite at least equal if not higher fishing pressure. predation while feeding. Fish reared in hatcheries that The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly / www.gallatinhistorymuseum.org
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A Third Grade View of Bozeman and Gallatin Valley History Compiled by Kathy Van Dyke and Pat Hamlin Costumed third graders at Whittier School smile for the camera.
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hroughout the Gallatin Valley, third grade students study westward migration and many classes end the travels here in Bozeman and the surrounding area. Beginning in January, the students hear about and research stories of why these early pioneers chose to leave their homes, travel by wagon train and foot over scorching prairies, enduring rains, flooding, and sudden blizzards, cross treacherous rivers, and face unhappy Native Americans living in the areas. Two schools in Bozeman that focus on our local history are Morning Star and Whittier Elementary. Morning Star classes conduct a variety of research culminating in letters to the museum, timeline books, and their opinions on our founders and their lasting legacy. Whittier students end their studies with a play. Each child picks a Bozeman character, investigates that character and then becomes the individual for the play. Through this we see a 3rd grade view of the pioneering character’s importance to Bozeman then and now.
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Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
In the following pages, the Gallatin History Museum Quarterly presents excerpts of a small selection of the efforts and views of our 3rd grade students relative to Bozeman and Gallatin Valley history. Space and permissions limit what appears here, but we appreciate and applaud the efforts of ALL Whittier and Morning Star 3rd grade historians and hope that some will continue their interest in our history and the Gallatin Historical Society. We also thank the dedicated teachers who helped with this project. Morning Star – Kathy Close, Nada Dayhoff, and Lola Jeffers. Whittier – Cherryl Underhill and Sierra Wolf.
The efforts of many more of the 3rd Grade students not featured here appear in an exhibit at the Gallatin History Museum.
Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
Morning Star School: Who Killed John Bozeman? “Just a while ago neighbors of Mr. and Mrs. Cover spotted Mrs. Cover adoring and kissing pictures of John Bozeman. Ewwwwww! Who knew Tom Cover would be so jealous to kill his own partner!” - Lizabeth O.
John Bozeman.
“Tom Cover’s wife had a crush on John Bozeman and was probably pretty jealous about how handsome Bozeman was. Finally, Tom Cover might have been jealous that John Bozeman was super popular. . . .” - Emeline S. P1179, 90.1743
“John Bozeman was very handsome so almost every woman loved him and Tom Cover’s wife liked him so Tom Cover killed him so he would get her attention.” - Ben N.
Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
“When Cover reported the murder he said the Blackfeet Indians had murdered Bozeman. His last name was Cover, so maybe it was his cover story.” - Parker Y.
“Tom Cover killed John Bozeman in a state of jealousy, rage, and furious temper.” - Evan W. “Why would Tom Cover kill Bozeman? Because he could have wanted the town named after him. So, he might have thought that if John was dead people would say he was only here two years, he doesn’t deserve the town’s name.” - Chandler M.
Morning Star students behind bars.
We Need a Fort… “First we should build a fort near Bozeman because it could make woman [sic] and children feel safe. . . . Only a fool would think that we should not have a fort close to Bozeman.” - Nathan R.
Tom Cover.
P3450, 91.1881
Did Bozeman need Fort Ellis? “You may think no but if our city didn’t have Fort Ellis, Bozeman might have been a long lost ghost town. . . . We have a beautiful city and amazing stores. Without Fort Ellis they might have been empty.” Amber C.
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“Nelson Story did some pretty bad things that could be illegal. He double-bagged flour so people would give him double the amount that he was supposed to have. He was also known for a terrible temper, and he would pistol-whip his enemies. He would throw bricks at his disobeying sons. That’s mean!” - Layna S.
A view from the gallows.
Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
The State Capital: “Bozeman had a hotel downtown and they were really trying to get it [the capital] so in the hotel they had heat, air conditioning, electricity, doormen and across the street there was a n opera house and people would dress up and go there but back then there were dirt streets and when they dressed up they had pretty shoes and they didn’t want to ruin their shoes . . . so on the second floor there was an archway that went across the street to the opera house.” - Olivia O.
Nelson Story: “Nelson Story was a good guy, right? Well, we know he was brave because he went all the way to Texas and bought $10,000 worth of cattle and brought them all the way to Montana. If he hadn’t done this he wouldn’t have been the person who began the cattle industry in Montana. So I think he is a good guy.” - Alyvia B.
The class asks some questions before a Museum tour.
Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
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Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
Whittier School: John Bozeman: “I moved to Montana Territory . . . looking for gold [but] I decided I wasn’t meant to be a gold miner. Mining is a grubby business, sort of like farming. . . . [Instead] we established businesses that supplied the miners and their families with the goods they’d need in the gold fields. We could get rich without getting dirty!” - Angel S.
Nelson Story: “My favorite story is when I took my gold to New York and then took the money to Texas where I bought 1,000 cows and trailed them all the way to Bozeman. I am famous trailing the first cattle into Montana.” - River M.
Susan and Daniel Rouse.
Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
Jim Bridger: “I became one of the greatest American frontiersmen, no brag, just fact. People named many things after me like the Bridger Mountains, Bridger Bowl and many black labs.” - Wylie A.
A Whittier class readies to perform.
Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
The Gallatin History Museum Quarterly / www.gallatinhistorymuseum.org
Jim Bridger.
P238, 90.300
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Granny Yates: “The reason I came here in 1864 was because we found out that there was gold in MT. I came here in a covered wagon. . . . [W]hen I first moved here it took me 13 trips in a wagon, back and forth from Missouri to get all of my belongings and children to Montana Territory.” - Payton J.
Mary Wells “Granny” Yates.
John Stuart, donor. P10943, 00.586
Waiting in the hall at Whittier.
Image courtesy of Pat Hamlin.
“When I came to Bozeman there were bears, trees, wild animals, bushes, squirrels and rivers.” - Fiona S.
Ellen Trent Story: “My first job as a youngling was as a pie baker and seller. . . . After my pie days were over, I moved from Missouri to Denver, Colorado. . . . When [my husband Nelson and I] started to hear whispers from the crowds in the store about people finding gold in Bozeman, Montana area, we knew we had to go check it out. . . . I was the first female ever to be in the Alder Gulch mining camp. . . . You see, I wasn’t just the normal housewife.” - Maggie D.
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Susan E. Rouse:
Rosa Beall:
Rosa Beall.
P5065, 93.807
“An interesting story that I’d like to forget is the time . . . that my children and I were threatened by a pack of wolves while my husband was away. We took refuge in the wagon box and made a sort of fort out of the trunks. . . . I was so relieved when my husband finally returned . . . that night or I wouldn’t be here to tell this story.” Sarayah J. Volume 38 / Number 3 / Summer 2015
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Pages from the Past… Compiled by Barb Clawson & Emily Copeland Bozeman Courier July 23, 1885 The fishing party on last Sunday, composed of Messrs. Hank Pease, Billy Black, Seaver Valliant and Dr. Bishop, at Spring Hill, had a rare day of sport, and captured 162 trout. Pease came off first best, with 51 trout, Billy Black second, with 45. The remaining 66 were about equally divided among the remaining three parties. Bozeman Courier August 27, 1885 A near disastrous fire started in the third story of the Cosmopolitan hotel on Friday evening last by the explosion of a lamp. The occupant of the room was absent and the apartment locked up, but the attaches of the house burst in the door and attacked the flames with small patent chemical fire extinguishers commonly known as “hand grenades.” Meantime an alarm had been sounded, and the horses attached to the steam fire engine ran away, capsizing the machine. No one was hurt but some damage was done. Avant Courier July 4, 1891 James W. Mardis and wife returned on Sunday from a week’s visit to their daughter, Mrs. Holiday, in Park County. Mr. Mardis has fished a great deal in the Yellowstone River during the twenty-five years and says he never saw the fishing better than at the present time. Bozeman Courier August 8, 1891 While enroute to Mystic Lake on Wednesday, Martin McLean and Ned
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A wagon travels through Sourdough Canyon. Date unknown.
Jim Bradbury, donor. P9820, 99.545
Latta met with a slight accident which might have proven somewhat serious. They took the wrong road for a short distance, and in turning around the buggy was upset spilling the occupants out. The team got away but was caught after having considerably crippled the buggy. The boys continued their trip to the lake on horseback however and succeeded in catching a goodly number of trout.
Avant Courier July 17, 1897 Dr. Henshall and wife of the Government Fish Hatchery have returned from their trip to the Yellowstone National Park, where the Dr. went to secure a supply of fish eggs for the hatchery.
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Avant Courier July 17, 1897 A man named Quin was arrested and brought to town Wednesday by Game Warden Keown and charged with the crime of using dynamite in Sixteen Mile creek, causing the whole sale destruction of fish in that stream. He was bound over in a $500 bond to appear at the next term of the district court.
rattlesnake with the result he is now a corpse. In his attempt to snap off the snake’s head Drago was bitten on the forefinger, but succeeded in killing the snake and completed the job according to his ante morten statement, by biting its head off. On his way to Big Timber Drago drank two quarts of diluted alcohol, one quart of brandy and one quart of whiskey. The general opinion
Avant Courier August 7, 1897 A fireman on a Montana Union train, near Butte, saved the life of a little girl who was wandering on the track, by climbing out of the cab, along the boiler and onto the cow catcher and snatching the little tot by the dress, just as the engine was bearing down upon her. That fireman is a hero and deserves public recognition. Avant Courier August 14, 1897 J. Lehrkind’s elegant residence, now nearing completion will an ornament to the north west portion of the city.
Avant Courier July 17, 1897 Dr. Foster’s new hospital, now in course of construction on Mendenhall street, is going to be one of the largest, most complete and imposing structures of the kind in Eastern Montana. The Dr. never does anything by halves, except when he makes out his fee bill: then he divides with his patients. Avant Courier July 24, 1897 On Tuesday last, Antonio Drago, a prospector employed in the Natural Bridge mining district by Joe Swindlehurst of Livingston, undertook to snap the head off a
was that the liquor and not the snake venom killed him.
Avant Courier August 14, 1897 The county commissioners have awarded a contract for the construction of a wagon road up the West Gallatin to the northern boundary of the Yellowstone Park, to Mr. V. A. Cockrill of this county, the total amount to be paid by the county not to exceed $8,150. It is claimed that the road, when completed, will be a great benefit to the county, as it will not only draw a large number of Park tourists in this direction, both going and returning, but that it will be the means of developing important timber, mining and agriculture resources along the route.
Storm Castle Rock in the Gallatin Canyon. B. H. Alexander photo.
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2849N, 91.1084
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Avant Courier August 14, 1897 The City Park Bozeman, Mont. August 13, 1897: Notice is hereby given that any person detected in turning stock into, or cutting down or injuring trees in, or otherwise injuring the City Park, will be immediately prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Information against such offenders is urgently asked. J. V. Bogert, Mayor
West Yellowstone, looking north from Park Street, 1976. grain field than he can in the creek. The main difficulty is that in this county there are several large canals. Those canals carry thousands of fish on to the ranches every irrigating season. These fish are not eating but are useful only as fertilizers. They come down the canals and in due course of time they are scattered over the grain and hay fields to die an ignominious and unsportsmanlike death. Bozeman Courier Sept. 4, 1906 Will and George Ogden and one of Mark Plumb’s boys found a package of dynamite caps and tossed them on the fire. They are still alive. Bozeman Courier Sept. 28, 1906 Two million trout and grayling fry raised at the Bozeman hatchery will be distributed soon throughout Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington. A special fish car somewhat resembling a Pullman will be used for the project.
Movies showing in 1948 Bozeman Courier July 24, 1906 There is something radically wrong when a man can catch more fish in his
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Bozeman Courier July 7, 1939 A carrot which was grown to the exact shape of a human foot with the big toe and all four smaller toes plainly and well-shaped was presented to the
PA16073-651
Chamber of Commerce by Heber Porter of the Hotel Baxter Pharmacy Wednesday morning. The carrot was raised at the county poor farm. Bozeman Courier Sept. 8, 1930 “Western to be Filmed Soon at West Yellowstone” A Hollywood studio will use the territory around West Yellowstone, Montana as the scene for a western film and will begin work on location there about the 25th of this month, the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce learned this week. The Republic Studio wrote inquiring about accommodations in the West Yellowstone territory. They will need lodging at a dude ranch or other accommodations for a party of not less than 50, the studio writes. They inquire the wages for cowboys or extras, the cost of 40 saddle ponies per day, the cost of between 200 and 300 cattle and 400 and 500 sheep to be used by the day for picture purposes. The local Chamber of Commerce placed the studio in touch with West Yellowstone people with whom the Hollywood firm is dealing.
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Bozeman Courier July 9, 1943 Due to the high waters of the Gallatin River and the abundance of mosquitos the annual July 4th picnic of the Christian Reformed Church was held at Church Hill on the church and school yards instead of the usual place at Curtis grove. The members of the protestant church had their picnic at Squaw creek, Gallatin canyon. Bozeman Courier August 13, 1943 “Well, They Still Come Pretty Big Those Canny Trout”
Bozeman Courier September 29, 1939 “Ski Club Starts Plans for Year” A delegation of members from the local club plan to attend a meeting of Livingston ski fans in an effort to help them organize a ski club. The delegation will also seek to gain cooperation from the Livingston body for the development of the Bear canyon ski project sponsored by the Bozeman Kiwanis club. The local club will appropriate funds to aid in the development of the Bear canyon site as a winter recreational area.
Your reporter didn’t get to talk to the fisherman of the week, George Schraeder, but he did talk with George’s daughter and son, Ginger and Buddy, who keep shop at the Schraeder Refrigeration store on East Main. And we got a picture of a right happy and proud angler. Fish stories grown with the telling. But this one has been pretty carefully documented. So clip it out and send it
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back East with your invitation to friends to “fish with us after the war.” Twas Friday last at 10 o’clock in the morning. George and son Buddy dropped their lines, baited with squirrel tails, into a sparkling pool of the Madison above Ennis. The pool was right where a small fresh water stream comes into the Madison. Both fishermen got a strike almost immediately. Buddy regretfully relates that his whopper broke a 30pound test leader and was gone in the flash of an eye. But George’s! He stuck. Fifty minutes later, after plying that casting rod for all the canny, crafty reserve in a fisherman of long experience like George, he landed a 27-inch Lock Leven trout. On the scale he tipped 10 ¼ pounds. George, knowing disbelief too well, got a big sign printed to place by the fish and called Chris Schlechten, the photographer. Chris took and took pictures, - no debutante was ever more excited. Then Tuesday of this week the Schraeder family started in on the fish. They’re still eating him.
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Image Gallery‌
Two anglers walk along the road near Sage Brush Point in Gallatin Canyon.
B. H. Alexander Collection. P1086, 90.1549
Steve Nile (320 Ranch) grins over his fish.
Dorothy Nile photo and donor. P8363, 98.138
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A day’s catch on Meadow Creek, ca. 1914.
Betty C. Hayes, donor. P10851, 00.494
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Patty Norton and her dog "Tootie," fishing in the irrigation ditch off of Huffine Lane, ca. 1950.
Donna M. Paugh, donor. P11945, 04.48
Bill Buckmaster, of Bozeman, poses with a large trout and a golf club. While golfing at Bozeman’s Riverside Country Club, Buckmaster poked the fish in the water with a golf club. The 4 lb. Lock Leven jumped onto the bank, and Bill pinned it down with a 5 iron. Photo by John Saxman. Chamber of Commerce, donor.
P9823, 99.548
The Kids All-American Fishing Derby at the Bozeman Ponds, 1996.
PA15891-153, 08.1331
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