EAU eda tite i » ath BUNGE teat Sioa ee Es SF Saari ane Ran ANCA SRN UR nee Ueto yee tee oat Nite st a Ua ese nt y\ at ANIA van aa ies oF re pa BORE Ur > a | " os Sate 1s i aN pf), Bt Miley “ y taurine FORA fol ate 4 ai naan Pt ct Bon oh PRU AIS) ue REE perky) ues RTA ae i chy y} Re x MY 3 ay Oye Hate pede eee ve = Dhaene! SE: tN aes = a TES ie ds & th ve Nes eR Pe a IORI Uy ace 3) es = Ses Seen apes Ree BES eS 3 eS a eco’ Somes = ae ee va ipa th 7 hy m re AM hs Utd STV aay at SD a3 aoe BEE Lice i ree arr Ns it eH PS if am tos Sanath Wit aN pont ay exe a nA 2" a : 5} Hi ny i) is * is Ri S| EDWIN K.MEYERS, BINDER, Da Harrispw? -4@ Pa PYY~ @ | enn a a gn AS WERE GENERALLY USED BEFORE THE BUILDING OF THE DAMS ee COMPILED FROM SURVEYS AND DATA IN SeaNE THE OFFICE OF W.H.STURDEVANT AND aa INFORMATION GIVEN AS TO LOCATION ) OF FISHERIES BY HARRISON WRIGHT Seavey, Bae ESQ. IN HIS REPORT OF AAY 27-1881 TO PROF. SPENCER F.BAIRD U.S5.COMMIS- SIONER OF FISHERIES. SCALE IV= Z2AILES. wl 2 a wi Nn a. a ArQ) oxy? a ( s Ne Aaa a Ze NORTH L IN WF \ yy ES = INS ) sx : | y } wong STATE OF NEW YorK ? ee ee =p ~ Ip tame NX SUGAR = ee N NN . ) sed “CRY \\ NSS | TOWANDA a| =A ->- oh } WTO MING) AND QRADF ORO COUNTIES / wrt MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE SHAD FISHERIES ON THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER FROM SITIRIIRY TO THE TINE OF THE Us eh RO RG OL Ne UR a hom 5 ie a Ri arr aes, ti hay fine Wea Ga fet i) he ee a | a ie , Sen Wee pee Ont inne 7 ahi i (xy ul aa Mik Ros i a: ir : ie A 1 i i i a it Ae nee ' 4 \ : yi Wiis Ge ae | i iD aay ih a an wie ; Vit bee iia MLE BAe eae e/a Rien, i PSAP Sauipe ROSH) aL veatticid aN a ye "Hf ? ) ‘1 eB) ita aN : , (he et Me ; ae | | SAW i) rf i f sie Paws va sine are A anf } y j ip i ar i ay - i ee i ~—s an) , rhs vie hal yt y ' i — Tay q i 7 i} r ta f ‘a Vi 1 y j ’ ; ae en ! ie yt) ey Agu Ae : i N ges) i ! #! ‘ Patent eT hae in ¥ vale iy we ‘, Pae f is win a pry ‘ i, va : ya i a i ae nan ] 7 jaggy oy : f a) i aa ee Wb ayy iw Tey) on oh a" x MS easy? Fi 7 zl TOWANDA J } é) pe. ee \ SeanpinG £o- oe Soroses $ e a \ ema 25 RADF ORO { OUNTIES VLTO MING) AND QF LULERNBLNOW | SKINNERS EDDY MAE HOOPANY MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THE SHAD FISHERIES ON THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER FROM SUNBURY TO THE LINE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK AS WERE GENERALLY .USED BEFORE THE BUILDING OF THE DAMS COMPILED FROM SURVEYS AND DATA IN THE OFFICE OF W.H.STURDEVANT AND INFORMATION GIVEN AS TO LOCATION OF FISHERIES BY HARRISON WRIGHT ESQ.IN HIS REPORT OF MAY 27-1881 TO PROF. SPENCER F.BAIRD U.S.COMAIS- SIONER OF FISHERIES. SCALE I" = Z2AILES. CTR EME pq oDeny C84 Ler est pur rong 1 ues prTrgT on Uy fo THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. Big OPEN GEA: Although the area of Pennsylvania is large and her streams numer- ous, there are only two outlets for the water which falls upon her east- ern surface. ‘The water shed really commences out of the state, and, after following a long and tortuous line through her territory, ends be- yond the limits of the commonwealth. Of the two great water courses of the eastern slope the Susquehanna river, with its large and important branches, famous in song and story, is well worthy of taking front rank among the finest natural shad streams in the country. The extent of this river, including its tributaries, can be best understood by the fol- lowing distances: From the New York state line on the North Branch to the mouth of the river the distance is about two hundred and sixty miles. From the mouth of Bennett’s branch of the Sinnemahoning to Northumberland is something over one hundred miles. From Clear- field to the mouth of the Sinnemahoning is about thirty-five miles. From Hollidaysburg to the mouth of the Juniata is about one hundred miles, and from Bedford to the Raystown branch of the Juniata the dis- tance is over sixty miles. Estimating the tributaries (the Swatara, the Codorous and the Conodoguinet) at eighty miles, and we have a dis- tauce by the thread of the streams of six hundred and thirty-five miles. Ever since the appearance of the white man on its banks the Susque- hanna has been noted for the quality of the shad (the most important of the food fishes indigenous to Pennsylvania) taken from it, and within the memory of many persons now living the river is celebrated for the quantity of this delicious fish, taken fifty or sixty years ago when the catches at the different fisheries for several hundred miles along this stream were sufficiently large not only to supply the immediate wants of the inhabitants of the counties bordering on the river, but enough also for salting down a year’s supply, not to speak of the number taken a distance to exchange for salt and other necessaries of life. It is interesting to learn from collections made by the Wyoming His- torical and Geological Society that beyond a doubt the Indians, for years before the white people thought of settling on the upper stretches of the Susquehanna, caught shad there in large quantities. An occasional stone net-sinker can yet be found on the flats along the river, and it is said that the fragments of Indian pottery unearthed show unmistakable markings with the vertebrze of the shad. Some of the early settlers are (151) 152 THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. also said to have seen the Indians catching shad in seines made of bushes. The energetic and thrifty Connecticut people who settled in the beautiful Wyoming valley were thoughtful enough to bring twine seines with them, and no doubt were the first white people to seine the North Branch for shad. They were a hardy class of pioneers, ready to battle for their rights, and during the thirty years’ war with the the Pennsyl- vania government for the possession of the Valley of Wyoming, de- pended largely on the shad supply as a means of subsistence, and one of the most bitter complaints made against the “ Pennamites” in 1784 was that they had destroyed the seines. After the troubles between the Pennsylvania claimants had been settled or quieted the shad fisheries increased in numbers and value yearly until about the year 1830, when the internal improvements com- menced by the state in 1826 were finished. The people simply con- cluded that the fisheries were destroyed and thenceforth took little or no interest in the matter, leaving the streams subject to depredations of all sorts. Unfair fishing of every kind was resorted to and the streams became almost entirely depleted. The gradual disappearance of fish was overlooked in the general enthusiasm of the people on the subject of cheap and rapid transportation facilities. ‘The commonwealth could not afford to neglect the vast mineral resources of the interior and to prohibit manufacturing in order that the fish might have unrestricted admission to their spawning beds at all seasons, and the result was that in order to feed the canals of the state a series of dams were erected in the Susquehanna river, each of which at once became an insurmountable obstruction to the fish ascending from the sea to their best and natural spawning beds far up the headwaters of that stream. In 1881 the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, in response to inquiries made by the late Prof. Spencer F. Baird, United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, touching the old shad fisheries on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, referred the matter for investiga- tion to a committee, of which Harrison Wright, Esq., was chairman. The report submitted by Mr. Wright shows that much labor and care were involved in procuring reliable data, and the information furnished is of much interest even to the general reader. Accompanying the re- port was a map of the Susquehanna river, from the junction of the West Branch at Northumberland to Towanda, near the New York state line. Upon this map was noted the localities of the fisheries with as much ac- curacy as was attainable from the accounts received. It was thought probable some of the fisheries were omitted, especially in the stretch of river from Danville to a point four miles above Bloomsburg. A tracing of the map referred to forms a portion of this report. The information contained in the few pages following is in the main obtamed from Mr. Wright’s valuable report. THE SH. AD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 153 At Northumberland, or just below, was Hummel’s fishery; between Northumberland and Danville there were eight fisheries in order from Northumberland up, as follows: (1) Line’s Island lower fishery ; (2) Line’s Island middle fishery; (3) Smith’s fishery; (4) Line’s Island upper fish- ery; (5) Scott’s fishery; (6) Grant’s fishery; (7) Carr’s Island fishery; (8) Rockafeller’s. The next fishery of which we have record was the fishery of Samuel Webb, located about four miles above Bloomsburg. Above this point about four miles, and six miles below Berwick, was the fishery of Ben- jamin Boon; the next was located just above the town of Berwick, and about a mile and a half above Berwick was the Tuckahoe fishery (this last is the same as the Nescopeck fishery mentioned in Pearce’s history); the next was at Beach Haven. Between the latter place and Nanticoke dam there were three, viz: One at Shickshinny ; one just below the mouth of Hummel’s creek, and one called the “Dutch” fishery on Croup’s farm. Above Nanticoke there was one belonging to James Stewart, about opposite Jamison Harvey’s place; one at Fish Island; and one at Steele’s Ferry, called the Mud fishery. The next was on Fish’s Island, three-quarters of a mile below the Wilkes-Barre bridge; the next was Bowman’s fishery, a little above the bridge; the next was the Monacacy Island fishery; the next Casey’s; the next was on Wintermoot Island, this last landing on the left bank above the ferry at Beauchard’s; the next was at Scovel’s Island, opposite Lackawanna creek; this and the Falling Spring fishery next above belonged to parties living in Provi- dence, away up the Lackawanna. The next above was Harding’s in Exeter township; the next above was at Keeler’s in Wyoming county; the next was at Taylor’s (or Three Brothers) Island, this latter fishery -was no doubt the one referred to by P. M. Osterhout as being opposite McKune’s station on the Lehigh Valley railroad; the next was at Hunt’s Ferry five miles above Tunkhannock; the next was at Grist’s Bar, about a mile above Meshoppen; the next was at Whitcomb’s Island, a mile below Black Walnut Bottom; a half mile above this fishery was the Sterling Island fishery, and the next above was Black Walnut, and half a mile further up was the Chapin Island fishery; the next was at the bend at Skinner’s Eddy; the next was at Browntown, in Bradford county; the next was at Ingham’s Island; the next was at the mouth of Wyalusing creek; two miles further up was one at Terrytown; the next and last that there is any record of was at Standing Stone, about six miles below Towanda. Thus it will be seen that between Northumber- land and Towanda there were about forty permanent fisheries. Speaking of the money value of the fisheries, Mr. Wright says: “Our county records only go back to 1787. We spent a whole day in searching the first volumes, in hopes that we might find some entries of transfers of fishing rights, but our search was fruitless; we have, how- ever, found among the papers of Caleb Wright a bill of sale of a half interest in a fishery between Shickshinny and Nanticoke, called the 154 THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. ‘Dutch fishery ;’ the price paid was £20, ‘lawful money of Pennsylvania,’ equivalent to $53.33.” It is a matter of record that Caleb Wright’s son received as his share of one night’s fishing at this fishery 1,900 shad. Jonathan Hunlock’s interest in the Hunlock fishery was worth from $500 to $600 per annum; it was a half interest. A Mr. Fassett was one of eleven owners in the Sterling Island fishery and his interest was valued at $100. Mr. Hollenback’s information on the money value of fisheries is con- sidered by far the most valuable; he says the Standing Stone fishery was worth about $300 to $400 .per annum; the Terrytown fishery was worth about the same; the Wyalusing Creek fishery was worth about $250 per annum; the Ingham Island fishery $50 less; the Browntown and Skinner’s Eddy fisheries about $150 per annum each. “The Widow Stewart, at the Stewart fishery, used often to take from $30 to $40 of a night for her share of the haul.” The data bearing upon the commercial value only gives to the forty fisheries an annual value of about $12,000, a very considerable amount for those days, yet evidently it can be looked upon as too small, and the “catch” should be considered in forming a basis of calculation. At the eight fisheries near Northumberland large numbers of shad were taken; three hundred was a common haul; some hauls ran from three to five thousand. The Rockafeller fishery just below Danville (about the year 1820) gave an annual yield of from three to four thou- sand, worth from twelve and a half cents to twenty-five cents a piece. The fishery above Berwick was one of the most productive, and in speaking of it, Mr. Fowler says that he assisted there in catching “thousands upon thousands,” but does not give the average annual yield; he also says that at the Tuckahoe fishery “many thousands were caught night and day in early spring,” and at the Webb and Boon fish- - eries the hauls were immense; at the latter they got so many at a haul that they couldn’t dispose of them, and they were actually hauled on Boon’s farm for manure. At Hunlock’s fishery the annual catch must have been above ten thou- sand. At the Dutch fishery in one night thirty-eight hundred were taken. At the Fish Island fishery, at a single haul, nearly ten thousand shad were taken. Just before the dam was put in, Mr. Jenkins recollects of seeing a haul at Monocacy Island of twenty-eight hundred. At Scovil’s Island the catch was from twenty to sixty per night; at Falling Spring fifty to three hundred per night; at Taylor’s Island from two hundred to four hundred per night. At Wyalusing the annual catch was between two and three thousand, and at Standing Stone between three and four thousand. The daily catch at Terrytown fishery was about one hundred and fifty. Major Fassett says that at the Sterling Island fishery “over two thousand were caught in one day in five hauls.” THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 155 It is a plain deduction from the above facts that the fisheries down the river were much more valuable than those above. Above Monocacy we hear of no catch over two thousand, while below that point they were much larger, and while from $300 to $400 seems to be the general annual value above, we find the fishery at Hunlock’s, twelve miles below, was worth from $1,000 to $1,200 per annum. The shad further up the river appear to have decreased in numbers yet to have increased in size. The opinion seems to be general that the great size attained by the Susquehanna shad was attributed to the long run up the fresh water stream (carrying the idea of the survival of the fittest); that they were of great size is beyond doubt; nearly every one who recollects them insists on putting their weight at almost double that of the average Dela- ware shad of to-day. Mr. Van Kirk gives as the weight of the shad caught at the fisheriesin Northumberland and Montour counties as from three to nine pounds. , Mr. Fowler says he has assisted in catching thousands weighing eight and nine pounds at the fisheries in Columbia county. Mr. Harvey, speaking of the Luzerne county shad, says: ‘“‘Some used to weigh eight or nine pounds, and I saw one weighed on a wager which turned the scales at thirteen pounds.” Major Fassett, speaking of those caught in Wyoming county, says: “The average weight was eight pounds, the largest twelve pounds.” Dr. Horton says of the shad caught in Bradford county, that he has seen them weighing nine pounds; ordinarily the weight was from four to seven pounds. The price of the shad varied, according to their size, from four pence to twenty-five cents, depending, of course, on their scarcity or abundance. Atatown meeting held at Wilkes-Barre April 21, 1778, prices were set on articles of sale inter alia as follows: Winter-fed beef, per pound, 7d.; tobacco, per pound, 9d.; eggs, per dozen, 8d.; shad, apiece, 6d. At one time they brought but ad. epieee, and a bushel of salt would at any time bring a hundred shad. At the time the dam was built they brought from ten to twelve cents. On the day of the big haul Mr. Harvey says they sold for a cent apiece (Mr. Dana says three coppers). Mr. Isaac 8. Osterhout remembers a Mr. Walter Green who gave twenty barrels of shad for a good Durham cow. \ Mr. Roberts says that in exchanging for maple sugar one good shad was worth a pound of sugar; when sold for cash shad were worth twelve and one-half cents apiece. Dr. Horton says the shad, according to size, were worth from ten to twenty-five cents. In calculating the value of the fisheries near Wyalusing Mr. Hollen- back has put the value of the shad at ten cents apiece. In 1820 they were held in Wilkes-Barre at $18.75 per hundred. 156 THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. Every family along the river having some means had its half barrel, barrel or more of shad salted away each season, and some smoked shad hanging in their kitchen chimneys; but not only those living immedi- ately along the river were the beneficiaries, as the testimony shows that the country folk came from fifty miles away to get their winter supply, camping along the river’s bank and bringing in payment whatever they had of a marketable nature. They came from the New York state line, and from as far east as Easton, bringing maple sugar and salt, and from as far west as Milton, bringing cider, whisky, and the two mixed to- gether as cider royal, and from down the river and away to the south towards Philadelphia, bringing leather, iron, etc. A dweller on the banks of the river would go to Salina, N. Y., taking shad, and his neigh- bor would accompany him with whetstones, which they traded for sult. The teams hauling grain to Easton brought back salt; in good seasons the supply of this latter important item always seems to have been short of the demand. Miller & McCord, a firm doing business at Tunkhannock, dealt largely in shad, sending the cured ones up the river into New York State and far down the river. The shad appear never to have gone up the West Branch in such quantities as they did up the North Branch, and the same may be said of the Delaware, or else the fish were of inferior quality, for the dwellers from the banks of both of these streams came to Wyoming for their supply of shad. . My. Wright and his committee entered upon the duties assigned them very evidently as a labor of love, and their investigation seems to have been as thorough as it was practical to make it. They interviewed, in person or by letter, a large number of the old settlers, those who still live or formerly lived near the banks of the river and were able to give the desired information. These persons in nearly every instance cheer- fully and at no little trouble furnished the information asked. It was no little labor to them to write out their reminiscences of the early shad fisheries; necessarily they were far advanced in age, all with but one or two exceptions having reached their “three score years and ten.” Besides these interviews the records of the county, files of old newspa- pers, and numerous printed local histories were consulted, and from these various sources much information was gleaned. Joseph Van Kirk of Northumberland says: “T take pleasure in saying that my recollection of the shad fisheries dates back to the year 1820. In that year and the succeeding two or three seasons I fished at Rockafeller’s fishery near Danville. In our party there were six of us. We fished with a seine one hundred and fifty yards long, and caught something from three thousand to four thousand marketable shad, weighing from three to nine pounds. At that time there were eight fisheries between Danville and Line’s island. _— ep STREAMS = ee LVA — 157 At all inka aaharies large nied of shad were banat ei they were sold from twelve and one-half cents to twenty-five cents apiece. I have heard of hauls containing from three thousand to five thousand, and three hundred was a very common haul. People came from twelve to fifteen miles for shad and paid cash exclusively for them. “The cutting off of the shad supply was a great and serious loss to this community from both a monetary and economic view, since this fish in its season was a staple article of food, and employed in the taking and hauling quite a large proportion of the inhabitants. This industry was wholly abolished by the erection of dams, and thousands of dollars of capital invested in the business were instantly swept out of exist- ence. All of the fisheries were profitable investments and the loss of them to this section of the country was incalculable.” Mr. Henry Roberts writes from Falls, Pa., as follows: “The first fishery at the head of Scovel’s island, opposite Lackawanna creek; not many shad were caught here—say from twenty to sixty per night. The next was at Falling Spring; same seine as that used at Scovel’s island. The number of shad caught here ran from fifty to three hundred per night. The next above Falling Spring was at Keeler’s ferry (now Smith’s); this was a small fishery and was only used when the water was too high to fish at other points. The seine was hauled around a deep hole to bring jn the shad. The next and only fishery be- tween this and Tunkhannock creek was at the head of Taylor’s island, or the ‘Three Brothers.’ This was an important fishery; more shad were caught here than could be taken care of on account of the scarcity of salt. I can speak of this fishery from experience since 1812. The catch per night ran from two to four hundred. The shareholders at- tended to it as closely as to their farming or other business, as it was our dependence in part for food. Shad was oftener exchanged for maple sugar than sold for cash—one good shad for a pound of sugar. Large shad were worth twelve and one-half cents apiece; a right in a fishery was worth from ten to twenty-five dollars; shareholders made a practice of salting down more or less shad during the season. An incident in connection with shad fishing presents itself to my mind, related often by my grandmother. A party of Indians returning from a treaty at Philadelphia landed their canoes, came to her house to borrow her big kettle to cook their dinner in; after building the fire and hanging over the kettle they put in the shad just as they were taken from the river, with beans, cabbage, potatoes and onions. My grandfather, David Nia dchanee, one of the early Connecticut settlers. then owned the same farm I occupy. Iam now in my eighty-seventh year.” Mr. H. C. Wilson, residing at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, sent the following: “T noticed in the Union Leader an article in reference to the old shad fisheries of the Susquehanna river, and it brought back to my memory many things that happened in my boyhood days, among which 158 THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. were the old fishermen and the knitting of the old shad seines. The seines were knit in sections by the shareholders, each owning so many yards of the net, and each one receiving his share of fish according to the number of yards owned. I lived one year with Mr. Pierce Butler, where I learned to knit seines, and have never forgotten it. We used to knit on rainy and cold days and evenings, and when the sections were all done, Dick Covert, with the help of John Scott, would knit them together and hang the same, put on the corks and leads; this was considered quite a trick, and but few would undertake the job. I re- member I used to go over on the beach on the line of the Butler and Dorrance farms and help the fishermen pick up the shad, and when the luck was good, always given one to take home. I remember seeing the shad put in piles on the beach, and after they were all equally divided some one would turn his back and the brailman would say, ‘who shall have this?’ until they all received their share, one pile left out for the poor women. The boats with the seine shipped would row up to the falls and then hauled out down by the riffles opposite where Dick Covert used to live. I think it was a bad day for the people along the Susquehanna when the shad were prevented coming up the river; the fish would be worth more to the people than the old canal. You had better buy the canal, put a railroad on the tow-path, burst up the dams and increase the value of all the flats above the dams, then you would have plenty of shad and all other kinds of fish, and then I think you could afford to send some to your friends out west. I got an old fish- dealer here to send to Baltimore for some shad, but they had been too long out of water and too far from home to be good. It used always to be said that there were no shad like the Susquehanna shad.” Writing from Kansas City, under date of March 22, 1881, Mr. Alvan Dana says: . “T have no remembrance of any shad being taken at or near Sheshen- quin, but at Wilkes-Barre I have seen shad caught in seines before any bridge was built there. The nets were drawn atthe north side of the river; I don’t remember to what extent was the catch, but I have often heard my grandmother say that immense quantities were taken in the vicinity of her father’s, who lived about a mile below the old ‘Red Tav- ern’in Hanover; that at one haul 9,999 werecaught; that when they had got all they could procure salt to cure or sell for three coppers, they gave to the widows and the poor, and hung up their nets, though the shad were as plenty as ever. In 1816, I went to Owego to live, and there be- came acquainted with a Mr. Duane, who was one of the men who drew the net; he said the actual number was 9,997, but two more were added to make the figures all nines. “ When the Nanticoke dam was built, the shad could not come above it, and men were in the habit of fishing there with a three-pronged hook, sinker and stout line and pole; this was sunk, and after a few minutes THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 159 quickly jerked up; I caught two in that way; others had better luck, and it was reported that one man caught seventy in one day; but I think a large reduction would come nearer the truth.” Mr. C. Dorrance sends from Hot Springs, Arkansas, the following re- port: “T must from necessity confine myself to the shad fisheries within Wyoming Valley. My memory carries me back to the fishery at Mo- nocacy island, the one below the falls near the mouth of Mill creek, ouc at Plymouth (in part a night fishery), one at or immediately below Nan- ticoke falls. “The fishery near Mill creek was regarded as the main or most reliable fishery, as it could be fished at stages of water when some of the others could not, and much the largest number of shad were taken there, sweeping as it did from the foot of the falls, nearly the entire river to the bar—drawing out upon the lands of my father, where it was my busi- ness, as & lad, every evening after school, to be with horse and wagon to receive our share of shad. No unpleasant duty, for well do I remember as they came sweeping into the beak, the net in rainbow form; the corks indicating the position where Captain Bennett would discharge his men from the sea, or large boat with the outer brail, and passing out and along the net, on the discovery would shout, ‘ Here’s shad boys, hold down the lead line!’ “As to the money values or rentals, I have no data from which to form an opinion, as the fisheries were established by the first settlers joining their limited means with the land owners, forming a company there by common consent to their children; none were rented as far as my know- ledge extends. Owners of rights would allow men who had none to fish for them on shares, thus extending the benefits as far as possible; good feeling pervaded the community in those days. “With the exception of an occasional striped bass, or, as they were then called “Oswego bass” of large size (supposed to have been intro- duced to the head waters of the Susquehanna from that lake), none of value were taken, as the nets were woven for large shad only.” “T cannot better illustrate the value and importance of the shad fish- eries at that early day, to the people on the Susquehanna river, than to repeat an anecdote told me long years after by a genial gentleman of New England, who, in youth, visited my father at his home in Wyoming. Leaning on the front gate after breakfast, as the little children were passing to school, each with a little basket, the universal answer from their cheery upturned faces was, ‘Bread and shad, Bread and shad (corn bread at that). “What think you, my dear sir? Had that fish diet anything to do with the known enterprise of that generation? If so, would it not be well to make a strong and united effort to again introduce so valuable an element of brain material? 160 THE OEE’ ose oe eee et “Tam uals nee that our society is agitating the ony ae re- storing the shad to the people of the North Branch, not as a luxury for the few, but for all, cheap and faithful and coming at a season of the year when most desirable for food, for nowhere on this continent were finer shad found than those taken from the North Branch of the Susque- hanna river. “The long run of the pure, cold, spring-made waters of the Susque- hanna made them large, hard and fat, nowhere equaled “Why must we be denied this luxury when other streams are being filled with fish?” The following extracts are taken from a history of early shad fishing in the Susquehanna, written by Hon. P. M. Osterhout: “The first shad caught in the Susquehanna river was by the early settlers of the Wyoming valley, who emigrated thither from Connecticut. The food of the early emigrants was, in the main, the fish in the streams and the game on the mountains. The first seine in the valley was brought from Connecticut, and upon the first trial, in the spring of the year, the river was found to be full of shad. These emigrants had set- tlements along the Susquehanna from Wyoming to Tioga Point, now called Athens; and each neighborhood would establish a fishery for their own accommodation. It was generally done in this way: Say about ten men (and it took about that number to man a seine) would form them- selves into a company for the purpose of a shad fishery. They raised the flax, their wives would spin and make the twine and the men would knit the seine. The river being on an average forty rods wide the seine would be from sixty to eighty rods long. The shad congregated mostly on shoals or the point of some island for spawning and there the fish- eries were generally established. Shad fishing was mostly done in the night, commencing soon after dark and continuing until daylight in the - morning, when the shad caught would be made into as many piles as there were rights in the seine. One of their number would then turn his back and another would touch them off, saying, pointing to a pile, who shall have this and who shall have that, and so on until all were disposed of, when the happy fishermen would go to their homes well laden with the spoils of the night. Between the times of drawing the net, which would be generally about an hour, the time was spent in the recitation of fish stories, hair-breadth escapes from the beasts of the forests, the wily Indian, or the Yankee production, the ghosts and witches of New England. “As early as 1800 George Miller and John McCord moved from Coxes- town—a small town on the Susquehanna, about five miles above Harris- burg—up the river in a Durham boat, and bringing with them a stock of goods located at Tunkhannock, where they opened a store. They were both young men aud unmarried. In the spring of the year they dealt quite largely in shad, the different fisheries in the neighborhood THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 161 furnishing them with large quantities for curing and barreling. Shad were plenty but salt scarce. There was no salt except what was wagoned from the cities or from the saltworks at Onandaga, New York, and it was not unusual that a bushel of salt would purchase one hundred shad, in fact it was difficult to procure salt to cure them. At this time the German population in the lower counties of the state had not learned the art of taking shad by means of the seine. “There were no dams or other obstructions to the ascent of the fish up the river, and large quantities of the finest shad in the world annu- ally ascended the Susquehanna, many of them when taken weighing from six to eight pounds each. The distance being so long (about two hundred miles) from tide water to the Wyoming valley the flavor of the shad was very much improved by contact with fresh water. “The Susquehanna shad were superior to the Delaware, the Potomac, the Connecticut or the North river shad. The reason generally given was their being so long in fresh water, which imparted to the fish a freshness and richness not found in the shad of other rivers. Then none but the strong healthy shad could stem the current and reach the upper water of our beautiful river. Miller and McCord cured and put up annu- ally shad for the market. They boated down the river a large quantity for the times, and sold to the people on the lower Susquehanna. They also boated shad up the river as far as Newtown, now Elmira, from thence they were carted to the head of Seneca lake, a distance of twenty miles, and from there were taken to Geneva and other towns, in what was then called the Lake country, and sold. “There was a fishery on the upper point of the island opposite Mc- Kee’s station on the Lehigh Valley railroad. This island was known - by the early settlers as one of the Three Brothers. There was also an important fishery at Hunt’s Ferry, about five miles above Tunkhannock. Here large quantities of shad were caught every spring. This fishery was owned by twenty rights, ten fishing at alternate nights. There was also another fishery at Black Walnut, below Skinner’s Eddy. At all these fisheries more or less Oswego bass were caught, called down the river Susquehanna salmon, a most excellent fish, but they are now nearly extinct.. The river ought to be restocked with that same species; they are a fine-flavored fish, solid in meat, and grow to twelve or fifteen pounds in weight. The late George M. Hollanback, Esq., of Wilkes- Barre, told me that this bass was brought from the Oswego lake and put into the Susquehanna at Newtown, now Elmira. They were called by the old settlers swager bass. Since the building of dams across the Susquehanna there have been no shad caught above the Nanticoke dam. These dams also largely obstruct the passage of bass and other food fish up the river. “The Susquehanna is really one of the finest streams for fish in the United States—the water pure, the bottom rocky and pebbly, affording 11 FiIsu. 162 THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. abundant means for spawning and rearing the young fish. The obstruc- tion to the free passage of fish up the river ought to be removed.” On February 23, 1881, Mr. Gilbert Fowler, of Berwick, Pa., writes what he knows about shad fishing in the Susquehanna: “T write or dictate this letter on my eignty-ninth birthday. I have lived near the Susquehanna river ever since Lwas born. My knowledge and recollections about the shad fisheries extend from Wilkes-Barre to old Northumberland. The first shad fishery near my home was Jacob’s Plains. This was located just above the town of Berwick, and one of the most productive fisheries on the river. Here I have assisted in catching thousands upon thousands of the very finest shad, weighing eight and nine pounds. “The next nearest was Tuckahoe fishery, situated about one and a half miles above Berwick, on the same side of the river. At this place many thousands were caught night and day in early spring. Thenext wasdown the river about six miles from Berwick. This was the fishery of Benjamin Boon. At this fishery I have known so many caught that they were actually hauled out by the wagon load on Benny Boon’s farm for manure, so plenty were they. “The next fishery was that of Samuel Webb, located about four miles this side of Bloomsburg. This was animmense shad fishery. From the banks of the river at this fishery could be seen great schools of shad coming up the river when they were a quarter of a mile distant. They came in such immense numbers and so compact as to cause or produce a wave or rising of the water in the middle of the river extending from shore to shore. These schools, containing millions, commenced coming up the river about the first of April and continued during the months of April and May. There was something very peculiar and singular in their coming. “The first run or the first great schools that made their appearance in the early spring were the male shad—no female ever accompanied them. In about eight or nine days after the male had ascended the river, then followed the female in schools, heavily ladened with eggs or roe. Those were much the largest and finest fish, and commanded the highest price. Those shad that were successful in eluding the seine and reached the hatching ground at the head waters of the Susquehanna, after depositing their eggs, returned again in June and July, almost in a dying condition, so very poor were they, many died and were found along the river shore. The young shad would remain at their hatching place till late inthe fall, when they would follow the old shad to the salt water; during the summer they would grow from three to four inches long. “The Susquehanna shad constituted the principal food for all the in- habitants. No farmer, a man with a family, was without his barrel of shad the whole year round. Besides furnishing food for the immediate THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 163 inhabitants, people from Mahantongo, Blue mountains, and in fact, for fifty miles around, wouid bring salt in tight barrels and trade it for shad. They would clean and sort the shad on the river shore, put them in bar- rels and return home. The common price of shad was three and four cents each. “Besides shad, there were many other kinds of food-fish. The most noted among them was the old Susquehanna salmon, weighing as high as fifteen pounds. These salmon were considered even superior to the shad and commanded a higher price. They were caught in seines, on hooks and lines, and were the sport to the gigger at night. Nescopeck falls, directly opposite Berwick, near where the Nescopeck creek empties: into the river, was a noted place for salmon fishing with hook and line. Men standing onthe shore with long poles and lines often, in drawing out the fish, would lodge them in the branches of the trees, giving them the appearance of salmon-producing trees. The shad fisheries, which I have alluded to, were not common property. The owner of the soil was the owner of the fishery, and no one was allowed to fish without a per- mit. The owners of the fishery also had the seines, and when not using them they would hire them out to others and take their pay in shad; the seiner’s share was always one-half the catch. At the Webb fishery I have known eleven and twelve thousand shad taken at one haul. Those fisheries were always considered and used as a source of great pleasure, value and profit, and everybody depended on them for their aniual fish and table supply. It was considered the best and cheapest food for all. “Immediately after the erection of the river dams the stad became scarce, the seines rotted, the people murmured, their avocation was gone and many old fishermen cursed old Nathan Beach for holding the plow, and the driver of the six yokes of oxen that broke the ground at Berwick for the Pennsylvania canal. The people suffered more damage in their common food supply than the state profited by her ‘internal improve- ment,’ as it was called. Although eighty-nine years old to-day, I still hope to live long enough to see all the obstructions removed from one end of the noble Susquehanna to the other, and that the old stream may vet furnish cheap food to two millions of people along its banks, and that I may stand again on the shore of the old Webb fishery and witness. another haul of ten thousand shad.” George F. Horton contributes the following statement : “T spent many a pleasant day inmy boyhood with the men who raw the shad fishery in the Susquehanna near where I now live. I could easily fill a small volume with a description of the varied amusements and merriments of those by-gone days; but that would hardly be what you are after. This fishery was about two miles above the mouth of the Wyalusing creek at the place we now call Tarrytown ; formerly all was Wyalusing along here. There were other fisheries above and below us, but this the only one I have any personal knowledge of. 'The proprie- 164 oaee eee ete eats — eae Be tors were J ee Teny, Esq., Major note Horton, Sr. Meee a Gaylord, Gilbert Merritt, William Crawford and William Wacom Year after year, for a long time, these men operated this fishery, generally taking the month of May and a part of June of each year, always regal- ing themselves with a little goo'l old rye, and having a fine sociable every night when counting off and distributing the shad caught during the day. Occasionally they sent substitutes, but the fishery never changed proprietors. Some seasons they caught largely ; others not so many. I well recollect one draught or haul, when they caught five hundred; but ordinarily twenty to fifty at one drawing of the seine was considered good. The average per day, according to the best of my recollection, would be about one hundred and fifty.” “ People came from the eastern part of the country, then just settling, up to Wyalusing, as far or nearly as far as from Montrose, to buy shad. The trade was quite large; some of the time maple sugar was quite a commodity brought down to exchange for shad. “Very few of any other kind of fish except shad were ever caught. Occasionally a striped bass, large pickerel, carp, sunfish, mullet, sucker or a bullhead was taken; no small fish, as the meshes of the seine were large enough to let them through. “The shad were worth from ten to twenty-five cents each, according to size. I have seen them caught here weighing nine pounds; ordi- narily their weight was from four to seven pounds. If we could have that old shad trade here again it would make us all, if not rich, merry again. But very few are now left among us who saw those glorious old fishing days. The fishing for black bass of these days does not begin with those old fishing days. “T can recollect of but one tishery between Wyalusing and Towanda, and only two between Wyalusing and Tunkhannock.” The following interesting statement comes from Mr. 8. Jenkins. “The present inhabitants of Wyoming have but a faint idea of the value of fish to the early settlers. They performed as important a part at Wyoming as they have in the history of all new settlements. A care- ful study of the advance of immigration and the settlement of new re- gions shows that those settlements have been guided and controlled by the streams and waters in which fish abounded, and hence were made along their shores. Fish furnished the people a plentiful and healthful supply of food, easily attainable, until the forests could be hewn down, clearings made, crops raised, cattle could increase and multiply. “Tt is unquestionable that the early progress made in settling up of our country was due in a large measure to the presence of fish, which tur- nished food 1n absolute abundance in the midst of desert lands; and 1t would be idle to attempt to disparage the value in the economy of those times as it would be to prove the value now beyond the mere mention of the fact. THE SHAD STREAMS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 165 “The fish that attracted the most attention and were the most highly considered in the early times were shad. The knowledge of these ex- cellent fish in the Susquehanna at Wyoming has become almost entirely historical, if not entirely so. But few persons now resident at Wyom- ing have a personal knowledge of the shad fisheries there and their value to the people in the early days, and hence some of the stories told of the immense hauls made in ‘ye olden time’ seem to the present generation more fabulous than real. “That we may better understand the subject I will give extracts from the writings of strangers and then conclude with an account of two of our own people and what I myself have seen. In 1779, when General Sullivan passed through Wyoming on his western expedition against the Indians, a portion of his advance were located at Wyoming from May to the last of July. Many of his officers kept diaries, in which they noted their movements from day to day and touched slightly upon such objects of interest as attracted their attention. I will give a few extracts from these diaries relating to fish at Wyoming: “Dr. Crawford, in his diary, under date of June 14, 1779, says: « «The river at Wyoming abounds with various kinds of fish. In the spring it is full of the finest shad. Trout and pickerel are also plenty here.’ “George Grant, under date of June 23, says: “