AMERICA'S GREATEST PLAYGROUND 



29 



Installations Made in 1864 Near Virginia City. 



station to raise all the pheasants needed to stock the state, besides an 

 enclosure can be made of suitable size and material for holding two 

 deer, two antelope and two elk. This station is on the Yellowstone 

 Park Trail and thousands of tourists pass each season. A system of 

 rearing ponds are now being constructed and when completed this sta- 

 tion will be second to none in the West. The hatchery is capable of 

 holding one million fry for a short time only, but when the ponds are 

 completed the station will be capable of producing many millions of 

 fingerlings each season. 



Hebgen Dam: In the month of May, 1919, racks and traps were 

 installed in the river below the dam in an effort to collect eggs from 

 the rainbow, native and grayling which could be seen below the dam. 

 Thousands of the different species were captured but most of them were 

 barren due to their constant leaping upon the apron below the dam 

 where the water comes through the tunnel. Efforts were made to col- 

 lect eggs from the fish which spawned in the creeks above the dam, 

 but since the water in the lake rises in the spring and falls in the 

 winter, a difference of 75 or 80 feet between low and high water mark, 

 it was impossible to obtain results. During the winter of 1919-1920 

 the Hebgen hatchery was destroyed by a snowslide. Since there was 

 neither a suitable water supply or fields adjacent where it was possible 

 to collect eggs, a station will be built at the West Fork of the Madi- 

 son. This location is much more desirable in every way. It is acces- 

 sible at all seasons of the year, is close to several very promising egg 

 fields and has an unlimited supply of clean water as well as a most 

 favorable site for the construction of rearing ponds. 



Lower Madison: A temporary hatchery was erected on O'Dell 

 creek, a tributary of the Madison river, and graying eggs collected and 

 hatched. Due to high water the dam, which was the source of the 

 water supply for this station, was washed out, and as the hatchery 

 was filled with rainbow eggs, a considerable loss was sustained. The 

 man in charge of the work at this station was used jointly by both 

 the Game and Pish Departments, a most unsatisfactory arrangement 

 for the man as well as for the departments. Grayling eggs will be col- 

 lected again at this point the coming season. 



