A Different Angle on the Expedition did fish and fishing alter the fate of lewis and clark?
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| MAY–JUNE 2005 | fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors
“I amused myself in fishing,” wrote Captain since leaving St. Louis in the spring of 1804. Their Meriwether Lewis the evening of June 15, 1805. best success came while fishing a Missouri River tributary in today’s Nebraska, catching more than The Corps of Discovery was camped below the 800 fish in a single day. Great Falls of the Missouri River, and that afterThe group’s master angler was Silas Goodrich, noon Lewis and other men of the expedition had whom Lewis described as “our fine fisherman.” enjoyed catching several cutthroat trout by baiting During the day, the young private often dropped their hooks with “melt” (deer spleen). a line from the end of the keelboat as it moved The Lewis and Clark Expedition was an angler’s upstream. In the evenings, he would lead the men dream trip. On some days, members caught bass, in casting lines from the sandy banks, at times catfish, trout, or other species as fast as they could hauling in fish by the dozens before dark. They bait a hook. But fish meant more to the expedicaught smallmouth bass, freshwater drum, northtion than occasional amusement. Fish were imporern pike, and, most beloved by the men, catfish. tant in the collection of scientific information. The tasty catfish fillets were Lewis and Captain William excellent food, and the fish Clark recorded 11 species of were easy to obtain. In what fish unknown to Americans at is now South Dakota, Clark the time, and they mentioned wrote, “Numbers of Cat fish more than 30 different species cought, those fish is so plenty throughout the journey. Fish that we catch them at any also staved off extreme hunger, time and place in the river.” providing the expedition with Once the expedition enprotein at times when deer and tered Montana, in April 1805, other game were scarce. And it the men began encountering was the sight of salmon on the new fish species. It was in this Lemhi River in today’s Idaho stretch of the Missouri that that told Lewis the Pacific Channel catfish, a Corps favorite. Lewis first described the sauger Ocean was finally within reach. and goldeye. But the fish seemed less abundant than before. On May 22, Lewis wrote, “We have caught but few fish since we left the Mandans, they do not bite freely….” Fortunately, that creDuring the first summer of the expedition, the Corps of Discovery members became accustomed ated no food hardships, for the expedition had to pulling large quantities of fish from the Misentered a region of North America with nearly souri River. The men had regularly caught fish limitless quantities of game. The captains wrote USFWS
YELLOWSTONE CUTTHROAT BACKGROUND BY BILL PRIEST
YE OLDE ANGLING ESSENTIALS On the back of a flyer printed by the Old Experienced Tackle Shop in Philadelphia, proprietor George R. Lawton listed some of the fishing supplies purchased by Captain Meriwether Lewis in 1804 for the expedition, including reels, line, hooks, and that perennial angler favorite, a “sportsman’s flask.”
By Nick Gevock
“Numbers of Cat fish cought “
MONTANA OUTDOORS | MAY–JUNE 2005 |
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