HOW THE TROUT CAME TO CALIFORNIA. 2/3 



and Gallatin, and throughout the Missouri basin 

 as far to the east as a decent fish can live. But 

 these trout of the Upper Columbia are now 

 separated by the great falls of Shoshone from 

 those of the rest of the stream. They have re- 

 tained their primitive characters. 



The wash of the Bad Lands in Dakota fills the 

 clear river with fine clay and quicksands, and in 

 yellow water over quicksand bottom one does not 

 look for trout. The Black Hills of South Dakota 

 are full of clear streams, but there are no trout 

 in them. The bad water of the main river into 

 which these streams flow shuts off the trout from 

 them. The fact that the trout are shut out shows 

 that conditions have not materially changed since 

 the trout came into the Missouri. The cataracts 

 which fall from the lava beds in the Yellowstone 

 Park have also excluded trout from a great 

 number of beautiful streams, as the Gardiner, Gib- 

 bon, and Firehole Rivers, and the charming ex- 

 panse of Shoshone l and Lewis Lakes. This 

 shows that these waterfalls were formed before 

 the trout crossed the Divide. 



From the tributaries of the Missouri or the Snake, 

 the trout crossed in some way as yet unknown to the 

 headwaters of the Platte, and filled all the brooklets 

 of the Colorado Parks. From these it again over- 

 flowed into the neighboring waters of the Upper 

 Arkansas. The fact that through all these streams 

 of Eastern Colorado and Wyoming the trout are 



1 In these streams are now trout in abundance, various 

 species having been introduced by the U. S. Fish Commission 

 in 1888. 



18 



