2.-A RECONNOISSANCE OF THE STREAMS AND LAKES OF THE YELLOW- 
STONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING, IN THE INTEREST OF 
THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
BY DAVID STARR JORDAN. 
[Plates VI to XXII.] 
In the summer of 1889, at the instance of Capt. F. A. Boutelle, U. S. Army, acting 
snperintendeut of the Yellowstone National Park, a brief visit was made to the Park 
by Hon, Marshall McDonald, U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. It was made 
very evident from the observations of the Commissioner that much could be done 
towards enhancing the attractions of the great national “ pleasuring ground” by the 
stocking of those of its various streams and lakes which are now destitute of fishes. 
Ill September, 1889, the writer was requested by theCommissiouer to make a visit 
to the Park for the purpose of procuring exact data preliminary to the work of intro- 
ducing trout and other fishes. Dr. Charles H. Gilbert was asked to assist in this 
work. 
The memorandum of instruction ran as follows : 
“ A considerable portion of Yellowstone Park is a volcanic plateau, in which have 
been excavated the lakes Yellowstone, Shoshone and Lewis, and a number of smaller 
lakes. The drainage from this region reaches the head waters of the Snake and Missouri 
Kivers by falls impassable to fish, most of which are within the limits of the Park, 
and some beyond the limits. The waters above these falls (the aggregate basins em- 
bracing an area of some 1,500 square miles), so far as my observation extends, are 
entirely barren of fish except Yellowstone Lake and its tributaries, in which the black- 
spotted trout, Salmo purpiiratus \ Salmo mpkiss], is very abundant. I have proposed to 
undertake to stock these waters with different species of 8almonidce, reserving a 
distinct river basin for each. 
“ It is important to settle in advance what I believe to be the fact, that there is now 
an entire absence of fish fauna in the region above the falls, except Yellowstone Lake, 
and to determine precisely and fully the species to be found in the waters draining 
from the Park and below the impassable obstruction. It is also desirable to get 
information in regard to the parasitic flesh-worm which is so common in the Yellow- 
stone trout, and to receive suggestions as to the study of this parasitic worm. 
“The waters proposed to be stocked should also be examined with reference to the 
abundance of other forms of aquatic life which might serve as food for the fishes, both 
the fry and the adult. Special study in this regard should be made of the waters of 
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