350 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



lector. Whenever the character of the paper permits it, the summary 

 is given in briefer form. 



The first printed references to fishes of the Missouri Eiver basin that 

 have come under our notice are those by Lewis and Clark in the jour- 

 nal of their famous expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River in 

 1803-1800. The original edition of the history of this expedition was 

 published in 1811. 



In 1893 appeared the elegant and splendidly annotated new edition 

 by Dr, Elliott Coues. In this edition all the fishes mentioned in the 

 original journals and note books of the expedition are identified when 

 the reference is sufficiently full. 



The fishes mentioned are, as would be expected, those which they 

 "were able to catch for food, and we find the following noted with suffi- 

 cient detail to render identification possible: Ictalurus punctatus, 

 Leptops olivaris or Ameiurus lacustris, Stizostedion canadcnse boreum, 

 Moxostoma aureolum, Pantosteus jorda?ii, and SalmomyMss lewisi. 



The following are the more important notes on the fishes seen. The 

 references are to the new edition of Lewis and Clark, in four volumes, by 

 Dr. Elliott Coues (New York, 1893) : 



Vol. i, p. 54 : "White catfish [Ictalurus punctatus], tlio eyes of which were small, 

 and its tail resembling that of a dolphin " ; Missouri River near mouth 

 of Papillion Creek, near present site of Omaha. 



Vol. i, p. 76 : " August 16. * ' A party had gone out yesterday to the Malia 



Creek [and] a second went to-day. They made a kind of drag with 

 small willows and hark, and swept the creek. The first company 

 brought 318 fish, the second upward of 800, consisting of pike [prob- 

 ably Lucius lucius], bass [Micropterus salmoidesf], fish resembling salmon 

 trout, red-horse [Moxostoma au-reolum'], buffalo fish [Ictiobus sp.f}, rock- 

 fish, one flat-back, perch, catfish, a small species of perch called on the 

 Ohio silver-fish, a shrimp of the same size, shape, and llavor of those 

 about New Orleans aud the lower part of the Mississippi. We also 

 found very fat mussels." Few, if any, of these are certainly identifi- 

 able. This locality is in the present Dakota County, Nebraska, a little 

 south of Dakota City. They called the place " Fishing Camp." 



Vol. i, p. 88: "Some large catfish, nine that would together weigh 300 pounds." 

 Nine miles below mouth of Bow Creek, Cedar County, Nebraska . These 

 may have been Laptops olivaris or Ameiurus lavustris. 



Vol. I, p. 320: '• Wo have caught very few fish on this side of the Mandans, and these 

 were the white catfish of two to five pounds"; Missouri River near 

 mouth of Beauchamp Creek, Mont., longitude about 108° W. 



Vol. ii, ]). 363: "The white cat [-fish] continues as high as Marias River, but they 

 arc scarce in this part of the Missouri, nor have we, caught any of 

 them since leaving the Mandans which weighed more than six pounds." 



Vol. ii, p. 364: "I amused myself catching those white [cat-] fish yesterday. I 

 caught upward of a dozen in a few minutes; they bite most freely at 

 the melt of a deer which Goodrich brought with him for the purpose 

 of fishing." (Lewis.) This locality was near the mouth of Marias 

 River, longitude about 110° 30' W. 



Vol. ii, p. 367: "Both kinds of white fish" [/. punctatus and Stizostedion canadcnse 

 boreum]. Falls of Missouri. 



Vol. in, p. 1159: " Some catfish and soft-shelled turtles were procured"; near mouth 

 of Tomme River. 



