
(AUG. 17.=1007. 



BISHOP'S FALLS AND THE BRIDGE, NEAR BROWN’S 
Where the gorge begins. 
The miles of the Esopus below the 
Ashokan dam will of course be about ruined for 
twenty 
fishing purposes, since it must depend for water 
entirely upon such 
that is a matter 
at certain almost 
smaJl. brooks as enter it. But 
affect 
This section, having much less fall, is not par- 
seasons 
which does not the trout angler greatly. 
ticularly good trout water, excepting for a short 
distance. It is well stocked with bass and has 
the usual collection of fish common to slow flow- 
ing streams in New York State, so that the in- 
habitants in the region will miss many a good 
meal of suckers, eels, perch and chub. 
The to be lost 
to the angler, besides the half mile of the Bush- 
kill, is the six miles of the Esopus from Boice- 
actual trout water which is 
. 
STATION, 
At this point the water in the completed reservoir will extend far up the mountain sides. 
ville to Olive Bridge, every inch of it good fish- 
ing. 
As against this loss the fisherman may fairly 
hope to profit by the enormous amount of trout 
which will develop in the reservoir. As the law 
now stands fishing and boating will be allowed 
upon the lake, and those who enjoy lake fish- 
Also, of 
streams to 
ing have sométhing to anticipate. 
course, the trout must go up the 
spawn and so keep them well stocked. 
It seems pretty safe to conclude that in the 
long run the trout fisherman will gain by the 
construction of the reservoir, barring one danger. 
That danger is the possibility of the lake be- 
pickerel and the 
That 
coming stocked with 
trout 
young 
devoured by them. such an occur- 

BISHOP'S FALLS AND THE OLD MILL. 
This is one of the beauty spots of the Esopus. 2 
horseshoe-like rim above was constructed of stone and timbers. ’ 
The cascades, on a level with the mill, are natural, but the 
rence is by no means a remote chance is proven 
by the fact that at least one of the tributary 
streams now has pickerel in it. The Little 
Beaverkill, which flows into the Esopus at Cold 
Brook, is quite likely to be the source of in- 
fection. Near the head of this creek is a small 
pond, and by some means pickerel have been 
placed in it. As this stream leaves the pond it 
is quite different from other mountain’ brooks. 
It flows for a couple of miles through pasture 
land which is nearly level, and a resident of the 
region, upon it this season, 
evel stretch the pickerel had about 
commenting 
that in this 
said 
driven the trout out. More than likely these 
pickerel will find their way into the Ashokan 
reservoir and stock it, even should it escape 
other sources of stocking. Besides this, at least 
one private 
filled with these fish. But if this happens the 
pickerel are not going to have everything their 
own way. Such water as the Esopus has been 
shown to be, or for that matter almost any other 
of the mountain streams, is not the place for 
a pickerel to set up housekeeping very comfort- 
ably. And, too, the big brown trout are pretty 
capable of looking-out for themselves, and they 
will be the principal inhabitants of the lake. 
If we turn from fishing for fish’s sake to an- 
other point of view, some things are going to 
be lost which cannot be recovered. Probably no 
six miles of any stream in the country are better 
known to anglers than that section of the Esopus 
which is fo be flooded. Many a man has -care- 
fully stored away in his memory some pleasant 
recollection connected 

with it. It may be his 
first big trout, it may be a camp site, it may be 
a rugged old hemlock whose shelter he sought 
during a shower, or it may be the little fire he 
built while he sat and watched the rifts at lunch 
time. Almost every rock along the Esopus marks 
for some man an incident which had a _ thrill 
connected with it. Such men learn with dis- 
appointment that the waters will one day creep 
up over their markers and hide them. 
There is yet another interesting subject con- 
nected with this great undertaking; that is, the 
5B? 
inhabitants of the region. There are at least 
eight little hamlets and the intervening farm 
houses to be removed. All told, these build- 
ings make homes for several thousand people. 
Money can remove them, as it will the highways 
railroad, but for 
build other homes. 
The valley was originally settled by the Dutch, 
which, of course, means that they are in no wise 
a transient population. Most of them own their 
homes, and many are living in the same houses 
that their grandfathers lived in. It is a charm- 
ing spot, protected and shaded by beautiful 
As one drives through the region 
he sees here and there a house which, if it might 
speak, could tell us what the real meanings of 
the words Tory and Revolution are. Here is a 
building which was once an inn on the famous 
Kingston turnpike; there is a quaint little meet- 
ing house, and over beyond that old gnarled or- 
chard, the leaning tombstones mark five genera- 
tions of the same name. 
The officials in charge are advancing the work 
as rapidly as law and the magnitude of the un- 
dertaking will permit, and yet the position- in 
which the inhabitants are placed is trying. They 
know that they are to be banished, but do not 
know when. They can make no definite plans 
for the future. It would not do to abandon 
and the some money cannot 
mountains. 

lake, tributary to the Esopus, is* 





























































