212 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



TRIP OF 1891. 



Leaving Champaign, Illinois, accompanied by my university assistant, Mr. H. S. 

 Erode, on the afternoon of August 10, I arrived at Livingston, Montana, on the 

 evening of the 13th, by way of Chicago and St. Paul, and proceeded thence to 

 Helena, to which place our outfit had been shipped from Washington and Champaign. 

 Delay in the arrival of part of the equipment made field work impracticable until 

 the afternoon of the 17th, when we made our first collections from the Jocko River 

 at Eavalli, on the Northern Pacific Railroad in western Montana. 



My immediate object on this part of our trip was an investigation of Flathead 

 Lake and its tributaries, and among these especially a small, very cold trout stream 

 previously visited by Prof. Evermanu, and noted as suitable for the supply of the 

 proposed trout hatchery. 



Flathead Lake itself offered a very interesting contrast to Yellowstone Lake, 

 examined the year preceding, but with sufficient resemblance also to make compar- 

 ison instructive. It was then commonly reached by stage from Ravalli through the 

 Flathead reservation a trip which we took on August 18, going thence by steamer 

 to Demersville on Flathead River, about 25 miles above the lake. We began our 

 collections from this river on the evening of the same day, and worked here also on 

 the 19th, collecting especially from bayous and backwaters. Through the kindness 

 of Mr. H. W. Parchen, president of the Helena Board of Trade, and of his associates 

 in a game and fishing club, I had the use of a small steam launch for the work on 

 the lake an indispensable advantage, without which we could have done only a little 

 imperfect alongshore work. Accepting the cordial invitation of this club to make 

 their club house our headquarters, we went thither from Demersville in the launch 

 August 20, and made our first surface-net collections in the afternoon of the same 

 day. This club house is built upon a large bay at the upper end of the lake, partially 

 sheltered from the rather violent winds prevailing, and yet containing water of suffi- 

 cient depth to illustrate fairly the deep-water conditions of this lake. It represented 

 also every variety of shore and bottom sandy flats, weedy shallows, rocky shores, 

 and gravelly banks and had the further advantage, for our purpose, of giving ready 

 access to a considerable tributary of the lake, named Swan River on the map, but 

 locally known as the "Big Fork." Our collections here continued over the three fol- 

 lowing days, and included surface-net work of all varieties, many alongshore collec- 

 tions, and several hauls with the dredge, made by aid of the launch, in water ranging 

 from 80 to 162 feet in depth. Considerable collections were also made on Swan 

 River, especially upon the rocky rapids a short distance above its mouth. 



On the 24th we made a horseback trip to Swan Lake, 12 miles above our quarters, 

 and spent several hours collecting with our smaller apparatus from the lower part of 

 that lake and from a cold trout stream emptying into the river a short distance below. 



On tke 25th we went by the regular steamer to the foot of Flathead Lake, where 

 we made such collections from this shallow southern end of the lake and from its 

 outlet (the Cosur d'Alene) as a heavy storm would permit, finishing our work in 

 this region on the 26th, and starting for Helena and Yellowstone Park. Our work in 

 the Park was confined to the northeastern part not visited in 1890 and to Yellow- 

 stone Lake, to which I went especially for a more thorough use of the dredge (with 

 the aid of the passenger steamer) than I could make from skiffs the year preceding. 



