REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CXI 



INVESTIGATION OF INTERIOR WATERS. 



MONTANA AND WYOMING. 



Extensive iuvestigations were conducted in Montana and Wyoming 

 by Prof. B. W. Evermann during July and August, 1891, in compliance 

 with a provision of the sundry civil appropriation bill for the fiscal 

 year 1891-92, with the object of determining the advisability of establish- 

 ing a fish-hatching station in the Eocky Mountain region in one or other 

 of the States mentioned and of making observations relative to the 

 selection of a proi^er site for such a purpose. From a previous knowl- 

 edge of the region it was decided that the best conditions for such a 

 station as had been contemplated would be found either in the western 

 part of Montana or the northwestern part of Wyoming, and the 

 examinations were therefore limited to the area so defined, which is 

 drained by the head waters of both the Columbia and Missouri rivers, 

 having their origin on the great continental divide. Prof. Evermann 

 was assisted in his field work by Prof. O. P. Jenkins, of the Leland 

 Stanford, jr., University, and Mr. Burnside Clapham, of Monroeville, 

 Ind. Supplemental inquiries, having reference mainly to the lower 

 forms of life living in the same waters, were also carried on by Prof. 

 S. A. Forbes, of Illinois, later in the season. 



In order to comply fully with the requirements of the case, it was 

 necessary to conduct this survey on a somewhat more comprehensive 

 • basis than had been usual in the past, comprising a careful study of 

 the physical features of all the important lakes and water-courses and 

 of the different fishes which inhabit them, whether useful or otherAvise, 

 together with the conditions of environment now existing or essential 

 to their welfare, as also to that of other species which it might be 

 deemed advisable to introduce, and, likewise, the detailed examination 

 of all places which might appear suitable for fish-cultural operations of 

 the character lu'oposed. 



The following account of the water systems of this region is extracted 

 from the report of Prof. Evermann : * 



By far the greater part of Montana, nearly all that portion lying east of the merid- 

 ian of 112° 30', lies within the Missonri drainage area. In the northwest portion of 

 the State the divide lies more than a degree farther west, and in the southwest the 

 Missouri drainage extends westward to the Idaho State line. The Missouri also 

 drains all of northwest Wyoming, excepting the southwest portion of the National 

 Park and part of the region south of the Park. This part of Wyoming belongs to 

 the Columbia River basin, being drained directly by the Snake River and its trib- 

 utaries. In general it may be said that the streams of the Missouri system flow in 



*A Reconnaissance of the Streams and Lakes of Western Montana and Northwest- 

 ern Wyoming, by Barton W. Evermann, ph. d. Published first as a Congressional 

 document in Report of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries respecting: the estab- 

 lishment of fish-cultural stations in the Rocky Mountain region and Gulf States, 

 1892 (Fifty-second Congress, first session. Senate Mis. Doc. No. 65, 58 pages, 27 

 plates), and reprinted in the U. S. Fish Comm. Bull., vol. xi, for 1891, pp. 3-60, 

 plates 1-27. 



