196 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The question as to whether, after spawning, the salmon returned to the sea, after 
the manner of the fish in the coastal streams, or simply retired to the deeper portions 
of the lake, naturally comes up for consideration. The weight of the testimony and 
evidence seems to indicate that the salmon had, possibly during a long period of years, 
become acclimated in the waters of the lake and ceased to require salt water, although 
it is not improbable that certain individuals annually made their way down the St. 
Lawrence Eiver to the large tributary of the sea at the mouth of that stream. In a 
discussion of the salmon of Lake Ontario, participated in by Prof. Baird, Mr. Seth 
Green, and others, an abstract of which is given elsewhere, this subject is further con- 
sidered. 
The usual range in the weight of the salmon caught during the period of their 
abundance was from 7 to 40 pounds, individuals of the latter size being uncommon ; 
the average weight was probably about 10 pounds. Mr. B. E. Ingersoll, now of 
Oswego, New York, informs me that his father killed a fish in Salmon River that 
weighed 42 pounds. 
From a mass of notes and correspondence from fishermen and others concerning 
the former occurrence of salmon in Lake Ontario, a few extracts are here presented 
which are thought to add to the published knowledge of the history of salmon in that 
region. 
Mr. B. E. Ingersoll has furnished some interesting statements concerning the 
former occurrence of salmon hi the Salmon and Oswego rivers. Writing of the former 
stream he states that fifty or sixty years ago the river was well supplied with salmon. 
He was born and lived within 100 rods of the river until 16 years of age. His grand- 
father was the second man to settle in the town of Richland, and his father was 
brought to the region at the age of 2 years. The abundance of salmon seems to 
have been a very important factor in the settlement of the region; the salmon were all 
the settlers had to depend on for ready money, and constituted a valuable and easily 
accessible food. About fifty years ago his father and a Mr. Arthur Matheson, while 
fishing from a boat with jacklight and spear, caught 601 salmon in a single night. 
Mr. Ingersoll has heard his father relate the circumstances of a visit to the Oswego 
River to spear salmon. He bad his log cabin on the shore of the river on the present 
site of the Doolittle House. At that time there was only one store in Oswego, which 
Avas situated on what is now the corner of West First and Cayuga streets. The elder 
Ingersoll entered into a contract with the proprietor of the store by which the latter 
was to take all the salmon caught during the two weeks’ sojourn on the river at the 
uniform rate of 2 cents a pound. For about a week only from 25 to 50 fish were 
speared each night, and the storekeeper during that time continually importuned 
Ingersoll to catch more fish. Another school of fish then struck on and from 300 to 
400 were taken each night. This was more than the dealer could handle, and he paid 
$50 for the privilege of suspending the contract. 
It was nothing uncommon for teams fording the rivers and creeks at night to kill 
salmon with their hoofs. An old settler living in the town of Hannibal told Mr. Inger- 
soll that one night while driving across Three-Mile Creek the salmon ran against his 
horses’ feet in such numbers that the horses took fright and plunged through the water, 
killing one large sahnon outright and injuring two others so that they were captured. 
The farmers living near the smaller creeks easily supplied their families with salmon 
caught by means of pitchforks. 
