BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 371 



our country was due in a large measure to the presence of fish, which 

 furnished food in absolute abundance in the midst of desert lands ; and 

 it would be as idle to attempt to disparage the value in the economy of 

 those times as it would be to prove the value now beyond the mere 

 mention of the fact. 



The fish that attracted the most attention and were the most highly 

 considered in the early times were shad. The knowledge of these excel- 

 lent fish in the Susquehanna, at Wyoming, has become almost entirely 

 historical, if not entirely so. But few persons, now resident at Wyoming, 

 have a personal knowledge of the shad fisheries there and their value 

 to the people in the early days, and hence some of the stories told of 

 the immense hauls of them made in "ye olden time" seem to the present 

 generation more fabulous than real. 



That we may the better understand the subject, I will give extracts 

 from the writings of strangers, and then conclude with an account or 

 two of our own people and what I myself have seen. 



In 1779, when General Sullivan passed through Wyoming on his 

 western expedition against the Indians, portion of his advance were 

 located at Wyoming from May to the last of July. j\Iany of his offi- 

 cers kept diaries, in which they noted their movements from day to day 

 and touched slightly upon such objects of interest as attracted their at- 

 tention. I will give a few extracts from these diaries relating to fish at 

 Wyoming. 



Dr. Crawford in his diary, under date of June 14, 1779, says : 



"The river at Wyoming abounds with various kinds of fish. In the 

 spring it is fuU of the finest shad. Trout and pickerel are also plenty 

 here." 



George Grant, under date of June 23, says : 



" The Susquehanna River affords abundance of fish of various kinds 

 and excellent." 



Dr. George Elmer, under date of 23d June, says : 



" Spent chief part of the day in fishing'. Salmon, trout, suckers, bass, 

 and common trout are plenty in the river, of which we catched a number 

 with a seine." 



Daniel Gookin, under date of 28th June, says: 



" The river Susquehanna, on which this lies, abounds with fish. Shad 

 in great plenty in the spring, as they go up to spawn. The shores are 

 covered with these fish which have died up the river, through their too 

 long stay in fresh water." 



There were some 25 or 30 what we called shad fisheries within the 

 bounds of old Wyoming. Every available point for casting out and 

 hauling in a seine on the beach, whether on an island or on the main- 

 land, was used as a fishery, and had its owners and its seine. The 

 average number of shad taken at each of these fisheries in a season was 

 from 10,000 to 20,000, beside other fish which were caught before and 

 after the shad made their migration. 



