936 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Ou the 25th of March there was an eclipse of the sun, and it was a 

 matter of great astonishment to the Indians that we were able to pre- 

 dict the day and hour, and even minute of its occurrence. A consider- 

 able number of Indians assembled at the fishery about the time of the 

 expected eclipse, and were extremely pleased with the facility with which 

 they could see the sun through the pieces of smoked glass which I had 

 provided, and through which they watched the progress of the eclipse 

 with great interest and patience. When the eclipse was at its culmina- 

 tion a large otter came out of the water just in front of the house, un- 

 der the impression, we supposed, that night was approaching. 



During their visit we had a good many jokes with the Indians about 

 their theory of the eclipse, which is that a "weemah" or grizzly bear 

 comes and eats up the sun. 



B— CONTROVERSY REGARDING OWNERSHIP OF FISHERY. 



From this time till the Istof July nothing specially worth mentioning 

 occurred except the controversy which sprang up between our next 

 neighbor and ourselves concerning the right of fishing at a certain 

 ground on the river. 



The facts in the case are these: In the spring and summer of 1872, in 

 the fall of which year I first began work for the United States Fish Com- 

 mission on the McCloud River, a Mr. Leschinsky and son came over 

 from Shasta to fish for salmon in the river with a seine. They cleared 

 a place for hauling the seine, caught a considerable number of fish at 

 intervals, and returned to Shasta in the fall. The first season, suppos- 

 ing from the representations of Mr. Leschinsky that the fishing-rights 

 belonged to him, I paid him something for the use of the ground, but 

 the next year I ascertained that the fishing-rights on these unsurveyed 

 lands were free to all, and consequently proceeded to draw my seine also 

 on the river without paying any toll for it. This led to a very exciting 

 collision, in which some violence was resorted to on both sides, though 

 no deadly weapons were used. After the first nightof my fishing there, 

 no disturbance occurred, and as I had the law ou my side no legal com- 

 plications followed, and Mr. Leschinsky seemed to accept the situation 

 for the time. 



On the 9th of December, 1875, however, the President of the United 

 States made a reservation of a tract of land on the McOloud River, in- 

 cluding the place where the United States Fish Commission buildings 

 were located, and also the disputed fishery ground. 



In the mean time Mr. Leschinsky had entered at the land office a claim 

 to 160 acres of land on the river, also including, as the President's reser- 

 vation did, the fishery buildings and the fishing-ground in question. 



This, of course, opened the controversy afresh on a new basis, and on 

 my arrival at the reservation this spring (1876) Mr. Leschinsky claimed 

 that the land, the fishing-grounds, and fishing-rights all belonged to him, 

 and that the United States Government and its agents had no right to 

 fish there. 



