FISH-CULTUEAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MONTANA AND WYOMING 
21 
more, but not a trout rose to the fly. We also seined Aster Creek from its mouth 
upstream several rods, but saw no evidence of the presence of any fish. It is quite 
certain there are none here, and it is equally certain that it is not these falls that keep 
fish from entering Lewis and Shoshone lakes. These facts led us to make an attempt 
to reach a fall lower down the river, the existence of which had been reported by 
hunters, bnt about which little or nothing seemed to be certainly known. Next day 
we traveled on southward, Prof. Jenkins and Mr. Hofer making a detour to the left 
of the trail and following more closely down the right bank of the river. They found 
the canon of Lewis River in this part of its course very wild and picturesque. (See PI. 
xvn.) The walls are in many places quite high and vertical. About halfway between 
the Upper Falls and the mouth of Crawfish Creek, they came upon a very beautiful 
fall of considerable size. The stream is divided by a small island into two parts, the 
larger portion of the water flowing around to the right of the island. This part was 
estimated to be at least 50 feet wide and to fall almost perpendicularly at least 30 
feet, then descend about 20 feet more in a very steep rapid, in which the stream widens 
out very much. That part of the stream passing around to the left of the small rocky 
island is about 8 feet wide, and it comes down in a series of very steep cascades and 
two principal falls, each apparently vertical. Both Prof. Jenkins and Mr. Hofer regard 
it as highly improbable that fish can ever ascend these falls. Mr. Hofer fished with 
the fly a short time just below these falls and found trout abundant. In a few minutes 
he landed six very fine fish, the largest measuring 14 inches in total length. A great 
many smaller ones were seen. So it may be considered as settled that these lower falls * 
of Lewis River are the first impassable barrier that the fish meet in their efforts to 
ascend to Lewis and Shoshone lakes. 
Crawfish Creelc . — A few miles below the Lower Falls, Lewis River receives from 
the right a good-sized tributary known as Crawfish Creek. This stream rises on the 
Pitchstone Plateau, flows perhaps a distance of 10 to 15 miles southeast, and joins 
Lewis River just before that stream unites with Snake River. This is just inside the 
southern boundary of the Park. Where the trail crosses, Crawfish Creek is 27 feet 
wide, 1 foot in average depth, and has a slow current — 100 feet in 1 minute. The 
water is very warm — 81° at noon, August 13. There must be warm springs somewhere 
along its upper course. The water is clear and seems to be pure. The banks here 
and for some distance above the ford are low and marshy in some places. The bed 
of the stream is gravelly, the rocks generally being coated with Algce. Water vege- 
tation was abundant in places. Just below the ford, Crawfish Creek becomes very 
rapid and continues so to its mouth, about 11 miles away. The banks are steep and 
rocky and covered with a heavy pine forest. A short distance below the ford are 
Moose Falls, where the creek falls in one vertical plunge a distance of at least 30 feet. 
We examined the creek very carefully both above and below the falls. No fish were 
found above the falls but trout were taken below. The bed of the stream below the 
falls is extremely rocky, rendering the use of the seine almost impossible. 
Crawfish ( Astacus gambelli) were found to be very common both above and below 
the falls. Crawfish were not found in any other stream of the entire region explored 
by us, except in Snake River and Jackson Lake south of this place. 
Polecat Creelc . — This is a stream much the same size as Crawfish Creek, and not 
unlike it in other particulars. It rises just within the Park limits, flows south across 
the line, and empties into Snake River at President Camp. 
