XXVII -REPORT OF OPERATIONS AT THE UNITED STATES 

 TROUT PONDSJIcCIMD RIVER, CALIFORNIA, DURING THE 



By Livingston Stone. 



Hon. Spencer F. Baird : 



Sir : In pursuance of your instructions to establish a station for tak- 

 ing and distributing the eggs of the California brook trout (Salmo iridea), 

 I examined all the streams emptying into the McCloud Biver for a dis- 

 tance of twelve or fifteen miles above the salmon-breeding station, and, 

 on the 25th of July, selected a location for the purpose mentioned at the 

 mouth of a stream on the east side of the McCloud, four miles above the 

 salmon fishery. The location is eminently favorable for the work, and 

 possesses the two essentials for a trout-breeding station, viz, great 

 abundance of clear, cold water, and excellent facilities for capturing 

 wild trout for breeders. It is also only four miles from the fishery res- 

 ervation, which will undoubtedly prove to be a great convenience in the 

 carrying on of the two places. 



The name of the stream which was selected for the trout-breeding sta- 

 tion is the George Crook's Creek, a creek deriving its name from that of 

 a white settler who was murdered there by the McCloud Indians in 1873. 



We found everything there, of course, in its primeval condition, aud 

 had to do a great deal of hard work to grade the place properly, and to 

 bring a sufficient supply of water to the requisite elevation. This work, 

 and the catching of breeding-trout, occupied most of the time till about 

 the 1st of September, when we began to put up the hatching-house and 

 dwelling-house. 



The greatest drawback to the place is that it is approached only by 

 an Indian trail from the fishery reservation, and all supplies of every 

 description have to be packed upon the backs of men or horses. It 

 would not be very difficult, however, to build a wagon-road there, and 

 some day this will, perhaps, be done. When this road is built I think 

 it will be the most favorable location for trout-breeding that can be found 

 in California. 



The establishment of a trout-breeding station in an uninhabited region 

 like the canon of the McCloud furnishes so many peculiar features that 

 you will perhaps excuse considerable detail in describing how it was 

 accomplished. 



The first thing was to find a suitable location. With this object in 



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