148 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[AtlO. S2, 1896. 
age and generosity were blended in the alembic from 
which his nature was evolved. Learned in the literature 
of books and in the lore of field sports and the natural 
kingdom; a poet, a sportsman, a soldier and a mathema- 
tician; suggestive; inventive, steadfast and true, such is 
the man as he is known to the editor of this journal and 
to those who know him better.," As the editor of the 
Insurance Times has described Col, Raymond so much 
better than I could, and in fewer words, I am content to 
quote him and not to attempt to improve on his concise 
and truthful description. 
In 1874 Mr. Edward Laverack, of Shropshire, England, 
offered for sale two of his most famous setters, Pride of 
the Border and Faiiy. These were sought for by several 
sportsmen both here and abroad, and after some corre- 
spondence their breeder decided to sell them to Col. Ray- 
mond, who at once arranged for their importation and 
transportation to Fox Farm. This was the first pair of 
that renowned and highly bred strain of setters sent fj'om 
Mr. Laverack's kennels to America, and their presence in 
this country excited much attention among sportsmen 
and in the sportsmen's press, both here and abroad, in 
England and on the contment. Fairy was a great beauty 
and a natural fielder, staunch on the point and at backing, 
with great pace, fine nose and grand staying qualities. 
Pride of the Border at first seemed puzzled at both the 
Bcent and the habits of our quail and ruffed grouse, but 
after a short experience on both he showed extraordinary 
intelligence and brain power in working on his birds and 
was a most admu"able and satisfactory field dog, working 
on game as closely and knowingly as a man could do if 
he had a dog's form and faculties. Neither of these Lav- 
erack setters retrieved game, but they made a rattling 
brace on a snipe meadow, backing on sight at any dis- 
tance, absolutely staunch on point and dropping in 
good old-fashioned style to wing or shot. They still 
live in loving memory of many human hearts, and 
their strain, crossed with the Morford stock, is still 
carefully bred; its inherited physical and mental 
qualities and capabilities, the resultants of gene- 
rations of selection, training and association, making 
these canines as thorough workers in the field as they are 
affectionate and intelligent friends and companions at 
home. They are so human that it is often said of them, 
"They think themselves folks," and the best in the house, 
be it window-seat, lounge or hearth rug, is never too good 
in their own way of taking it for these two comprehen- 
sive and comprehending members of the family. Never- 
theless, vmlike Squire Kayses, famous pointer Lee, of Sus- 
sex county, N. J., these setters can't catch fish with hook 
and line, and if they have occupied mucb space in this 
narrative it is because they deserve it. No sketch of Col, 
Raymond would be complete without an extended notice 
of this importation of some of the best blooded setters of 
England and of their having been bred to some of the 
native stock, for which American lovers of high-class set- 
ters will ever be under obligations to Col. Charles H, Ray- 
mond. 
During the period that the Fox Farm Kennels were in 
existence it was my fortune to be a guest of the proprietor 
and to talk bird dog as well as turtles with him, whUe 
picking the wing of a partridge at his table. I have long 
since forgiven him for saying that Nell was imperfectly 
broken and would not "back a point." Of course she 
would not back, because she never hunted with another 
dog until he had her. How could she? That is not just 
what troubled me. There was an insinuation that at 
eighteen years old I could not train a bird dog to perfec- 
tion. That thing tasted sour forty years ago, but to-day 
it looks as if my cousin Charles may have been right. 
It is many years since I have cared to shoot anything 
except ducks, which come to hand dead. I have grown 
tender-hearted and say, with lago, ' 'Though in the trade 
of war I have slain men," yet I have cried over a doe 
whose fore-shoulders I had broken, and refused to shoot 
more when my retriever brought a live quail to be killed 
by hand. Therefore fishing came to be the more enjoyable 
sport, because there was no regret when the lower form of 
life was taken, no keen suffermg because of a lower ner- 
vous system, but there is always a latent interest in any 
kind of sport in which a man has once engaged. To 
prove this it is ohly necessary to point to the fact that 
Col. Raymond still has a faint liking for fishing. Not for 
the kind which we had in boyhood, for it is possible that 
a pond full of painted and spotted tortoises, or a pool full 
of frogs with an assortment of stones at hand, would 
hardly be attractive to him to-day. He is blase on tur- 
tles, frogs and sunfieh, and needs more exciting game and 
a broader field. He fishes occasionally, incidentally, as it 
were, when nothing better offers in the way of sport. 
Every June he visits, as a guest. Camp Albany on the 
Restigouche River, and there he occasionally casts for, and 
even occasionally lands, a fine salmon; but I fancy he 
does this in a perfunctory way, because there is nothing 
else to be done. How I would like to stand on the bank 
and criticise his fly-casting, and thereby get revenge for 
his remarks on the training of Nelll 
The owners of Camp Albany are Messrs. Dudley Olcutt 
and Abram Lansing, of Albany, N. Y., two skilled and 
accomplished salmon anglers, learned in all the intricate 
lore of that grand art; but it can hardly be possible that 
Col. Raymond, lacking as he is in that virtue of patience 
which alone bears good results to the angler, can profit by 
their precepts and example, yet he occasionally sends a 
fine salmon to a friend, and as Col. Olcutt and Mr. Lan- 
sing both say that he actually catches them, I am certain 
that he does; and the fact that there are no bullet holes in 
them proves that his Jock- Scott, silver-doctor, or other 
combination of hair, fur, feathers and steel can be cast by 
my friend with occasional effect. 
Later, in November, and on the ducking shore it is dif- 
ferent. Then the gallant colonel is himself again, and no 
doubt returns the compliment to his friends of Camp 
Albany, and sets them a pace which may worry them to 
follow. Shooting from a blind, over decoys, that truly 
presidential sport, the great delight of the sportsman of 
or past middle age, when the long tramp over hill and 
through marsh after pointer or setter seems now to require 
more exertion than it did in youth, has a fascination for 
Mr. Raymond, and a better appointed shooting box than 
his at San Domingo, on the Gunpowder River, I fancy 
would be hard to find, and few indeed are the places 
where better sport has been found. But duck shooting, 
like all other earthly joys, must have its day and fade 
away. Each year the ducks are fewer and their flights 
further between, so that ere many more years in their 
turn shall have flown the canvasbacks and redheads will 
have gone to join the once countless flocks of passenger 
pigeons and the innumerable caravans of the bisons, "and 
the places that knew them," throughout our broad land, 
from Alaska to Florida, "shall know them no more, for- 
ever." Fred Mather. 
THE McCLOUD RIVER. 
Shasta Mountains, G&L— Editor Forest and Stream: 
The principal river of California, the Sacramento, drains 
a vast scope of country with varied and wonderful re- 
sources. The main tributaries of the Sacramento have 
their sources in the northern and eastern parts of the 
State, and are fed by the melting snow in the Sierras. 
Among these tributaries are the McCloud, the Pit, the 
Feather and the American rivers. 
Besides the rivers mentioned there are numerous fine 
streams that flow from the crystal springs of the Sierras, 
many of which would be designated and dignified by the 
name of rivers in most States. In California there are 
streams from .50 to 100 miles in length known by such 
names as Clear Creek, North^Cow Creek, Old Cow Creek, 
South Cow Creek, Battle Creek, Deer Creek, Bear Creek 
and many others less romantic. However the white man 
may outrank the Indian, even the Digger tribes of Cali- 
fornia, in the refinements of civilization, he is not noted 
for his taste in naming the streams and other natural pro- 
visions in this State. I shall refer to at least one specific 
instance in this paper. 
Of the streams mentioned all of them are notorious for 
their trout, either their entire length or in their upper 
waters. Aside from trout, however, and the periodical 
run of salmon the fine streams of the State and the 
Pacific coast are notably scantily supplied with food fishes. 
The Sacramento, adapted as it is to most all kinds of fresh- 
water fish, had but the trout, a kind of rifii« pike, the 
sturgeon and the sucker. The alleged propagators of 
food fishes, the Fish Commissioners, took the matter in 
hand some years ago. They supplied the stream with 
carp and catfish, and wherever they got such worthless 
and prolific varieties is one of the problems no one seems 
able to solve. At present the main Sacramento is swarm- 
ing with carp and catfish. They are taken by boatloads 
and fed to hogs and used as fertilizers. Neither of them 
are game fish or fit for the table except as a last resort in 
city restaurants. In the winter, when the river overflows 
into sloughs and ponds, these fish go out to browse in the 
fields along the river, and it is a fact that they are eating 
up the grass and starving out the wild ducks and geese. 
The carp and catfish have not as yet reached Moimt 
Shasta and the higher Sierras to browse on the mountain 
sides and starve out sheep, cattle and deer; but they are 
getting up well into the canons and cold water, and it is 
believed they are destroying the trout and salmon spawn. 
I was told recently that black bass have been planted in 
the river and that they will destroy the carp. It is my 
opinion that the bass have been given a huge contract, 
and that they will have to be constantly reinforced. Even 
then I think I would bet on the carp surviving the 
bass. 
I intended to devote this paper to the northern tribu- 
taries of the Sacramento, notably those that are now des- 
ignated as the Sacramento, McCloud and Pit rivers. The 
three streams were in our early maps called the East, 
Middle and West forks of the Sacramento. Now the 
West Fork is known as the Sacramento proper, the Mid- 
dle Fork the McCloud, and the East Branch the Pit. The 
McCloud and the Pit join about twenty miles from the 
Sacramento, and the two combined make much the larger 
stream. 
Following their windings, the three streams above their 
confluence are each nearly 100 miles in length, flow chiefly 
through broken and mountainous country, and are splen- 
didly adapted to and are well supplied with trout, salmon 
trout and (in season) with salmon. Of the trout there are 
several kinds and every size ranging under S-pounders. 
The Sacramento or West Fork is most accessible, the Cal- 
ifornia & Oregon Railroad having numerous stations along 
its course. The upper waters of the McCloud and Pit are 
reached by wagon road, the easiest route being twenty 
miles from Redding. Probably the fishing is best in the 
McCloud, as it receives the least attention. This stream 
was named by the Indians Winnemim (Clear Water), and 
that is, in the opinion of those least dull or prosaic, the 
most signiflcant, graceful and appropriate name. Ross 
McCloud was an early mountaineer, and doubtless worthy 
of remembrance; but why, after usurping their territory, 
should we not permit a few Indian names to survive, 
especially when as applicable and beautiful as Winne- 
mim? 
About twenty-five years ago, or in 1871, the Govern- 
ment established a trout hatchery on the Winnemim (or 
St. Cloud), and later a salmon hatchery. Some years ago 
the trout hatchery was abandoned, having fulfilled its 
mission, and the State having gone into the business on 
the Sacramento. Now only salmon eggs are taken on the 
Winnemim, 
I visited this hatchery or, as it is commonly called, the 
fishery — or Baird — the latter being the post office name, 
about the middle of July. The fishery is located in the 
cafion of the river, surrounded by rugged mountain 
scenery. The station consists of a store, boardinghouse, 
the hatching houses and the residence of the superintend- 
ent, Mr, Livingston Stone, Mr. Stone has been in charge 
for many years. The store is supplied with the neces- 
saries of life, among them being fishing tackle adapted to 
the stream. The boardinghouse is ample for the accom- 
modation of guests and is at present in charge of Mrs. 
Derby, who thoroughly understands the science of fixing 
up trout and salmon for her table. 
The salmon reach the fishery early in the spring, while 
the water is yet running high, and they keep coming up 
throughout the summer. About the first of July the crib 
dam is put in the river. This dam extends entirely 
across the river and is made of slats with interstices IJin. 
These slats are made in sections about 8ft. wide, so that 
they can be removed during high water. About the mid- 
dle of the stream a trap, also made of slats l^in, square, is 
placed. This trap is about 16ft. square and is let down 
into the water 12 or 16in. In its lower side there is a 
A-shaped trap door through which the salmon enter go- 
ing up stream, and then they find themselves caged. 
When the writer was there only a few fish were being 
taken, for table use, as the eggs were not yet mature for 
hatching purposes. When the trap was left open salmon 
were constantly crowding into it and the fishery people, 
e.i.ter selecting those they wanted, put the others back 
into the river. Their manner of doing this is open to 
criticism. 
The trap often contained forty or fifty fish, ranging in 
weight from those of 2 or 31bs. to those of 40 or 501bs. 
weight. The male fish were taken to supply the fishery 
or an occasional visitor, and the females were scooped up 
in a hand net, like a landing net, and thrown over the 
dam. The immense fish floundered and struggled, often 
bruising and mangling themselves in their struggles in 
the trap and when taken up in the nets. They were fre- 
quently tumbled out over the dam to fall upon rocks, and 
otherwise roughly used. It would seem to be a simple 
matter to release them from the trap in some easier and 
more humane manner. 
The salmon, however, are perhaps handled as consider- 
ately as they handle themselves. They are constantly 
jumping and floundering about in the stream upon rocky 
riflies and other obstructions. They leap over the dam 
occasionally, and to do this they must rise about 6ft. and 
flounder over the planks and cribs 6 or 8ft. more. Even 
as early as this in the season many were bruised, torn and 
cut, and now and then could be seen a dead one. 
When these wonderful fish reach the head tributaries 
of the Sacramento they are 300 to 400 miles from their 
home, the ocean. They have had to pass the muddy 
waters of the lower Sacramento, dodge the many seines 
there, climb for many miles up rocky canons, where the 
waters are white with spray and foam, with their inces- 
sant thunder upon the great broken fragments of moun- 
tains, huge boulders, and sharp and jagged ledges of 
quartz and slate. No wonder some of them are bruised 
and cut. 
The foreman of the fishery informed me that it is the 
belief there that very few if any of the salmon return to 
the sea. He said they could judge very nearly by the 
fact that of the thousands known to be above the dam 
few of them came down stream aUve. Late in the sum- 
mer the river is lined with the dead fish, and the few 
that come down stream again seem to be exhausted and 
dying. If it is true that the salmon do not return to the 
sea, then they must spawn but once, and that function is 
the fulfilment of their mission and the climax of their 
lives. 
At the fishery they begin to take the eggs or spawn 
early in August. When this is done in conjunction with 
the trap in the dam, a large seine is used. The seine is 
drawn immediately below the dam, and most of the 
spawning fish are secured by that means. A number of 
native Indians are employed in the taking and handling 
of the fish. 
A large proportion of the spawn taken is sent abroad to 
other States, and some to foreign countries. The State 
hatchery takes many of the eggs from this one. Last 
season the product of the hatchery was 600,000 young sal- 
mon. The foreman stated that the eggs were hatched in 
the hatching houses and kept until the water became too 
warm to keep them longer. They were then liberated in 
the river. 
It seemed to me that there should be facilities here to 
regulate the water and keep it at the proper temperature 
as long as desired. It would also seem that 600,000 young 
fish was a comparatively small number for a season s pro- 
duct. Indeed, Uncle Sam does not evidently bestow the 
attention and support here that so important an establish- 
ment should receive. 
The McCloud, or Winnemim, is doubtless one of the 
favorite streams of the salmon, and it is one of the few on 
the Pacific Coast that are likely to remain unmolested, 
unobstructed and unpolluted. It seems in every natural 
advantage peculiarly adapted to the propagation of this 
valuable fish, and, upon the principle that what is worth 
doing is worth doing well, it wovdd seem that such an 
establishment conducted by this Government should incu- 
bate many times 600,000 salmon eggs. 
After the middle of July the Winnemim trout do not 
rise often to the fly. Earlier the fly-fishing is good. I 
tried for a couple of hours without a nibble. Then an 
Indian came along and showed me how to fish to catch 
some. He had some salted salmon roe for bait, an ordi- 
nary small hook and sinker was used, and the hook let to 
the bottom in the eddies and deep holes. When hooked 
the trout were game enough, and I got several from 1 to 
2lb8., and numerous smaller ones. A young salmon was 
caught by one of the party on a fly. 
Probably there is no finer stream on the coast than this 
one. While we caught all the trout we had use for in the 
few hours we fished, we could have enjoyed many days 
in the locality and along the river, but our time was lim- 
ited. A few days before our visit the foreman at the fish- 
ery, Mr. Seymour Bass, took a trout on a fly -rod which 
weighed 41bs. 15oz. Ransacker. 
ANGLING NOTES. 
Another Big Bass. 
The note concerning the capture of a small-mouth black 
bass from Lake George weighing 7ilbs. had scarcely been 
written when I was informed of the capture of another 
big bass of the same species from the same lake. Mr. 
Edward P. Moore, a market man, tells me that a bass was 
brought to his market in Lake George to be weighed on 
the evening of Aug. 10. He weighed the flsh himself and 
the weight was 71bs. 3oz, When first taken from the 
water the fish weighed 3oz. more, or7ilbs.,and it was 
taken to the market to have the weight confirmed. 
So long as any living man can remember no black bass 
of more than G^lbs., or thereabouts, in weight has been 
taken from this lake until this season, when two bass of 
over 71bs. each were taken only a few days apart. It may 
be said that such big fish have always been there, but no 
one has been fortunate enough to catch them previous to 
this season. On the other hand, is it not fully as reason- 
able to say that the greater weight comes from the intro- 
duced food? 
Lake George contained no crayfish until they were in- 
troduced by the State as bass food, and now the lake is 
well stocked with this crustacean. The introduction of 
the big lake whitefish which now swarms the lake with 
the native "frost fish," and are not caught except as bait 
for lake trout, has doubtless added greatly to the food 
supply of the so-called game fishes. 
Black bass from Lake George, when introduced into 
other waters where food abounds in unlimited quantities, 
have grown to lOlbs. in weight, so the food supply must 
exert an influence upon the fish in the lake which must 
