man gave the rod to a second, who finally 
passed it to a third. Still the fish fought on. 
Twenty-two hours had passed since the 
first fisherman had felt the tug on his 
line that meant a bite. Suddenly, the 
salmon gave one great desperate jump. 
The rod in the man’s hand broke, the 
line snapped, and away went the salmon! 
No one knows what happened to that 
salmon, but it is pleasant to think that 
he had a long sweet rest and lived happily 
for many months afterwards. He was a 
fish that deserved to be called king of 
the river. 
TAKING CARE OF OUR SALMON 
So many salmon were caught every 
year that there was danger that they 
would become scarce, as the buffalo and 
other game have. So the United States 
Government set up places on certain 
streams to do nothing but raise salmon. 
These are called salmon hatcheries. 
45 
