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<br />drainage was fishless above barrier falls (Jordan (1891). Recent information collected within the <br />Greybull River drainage indicates that there are approximately 99 miles of stream felt to support fish <br />(personal communication, Carter Kruse, University of Wyoming). In addition to the riverine environ- <br />ments, 113 lakes (most notable being Yellowstone Lake) were identified as being historically occu- <br />pied. <br /> <br />The Wyoming portion of the historic range, and specifically that portion of the range within and <br />adjacent to Yellowstone National Park, has the most historical information relating to presence and <br />relative abundance. Two of the earliest accounts are associated with explorations directed by John <br />Jacob Astor as part of his involvement in the fur trade in the west. In 1810, Astor supported an <br />expedition lead by Wilson Price Hunt which traveled through the upper portion of the Wind River <br />drainage into the upper Snake River and then on to the lower Columbia River (Franchere 1973). <br />Hunt's diary contained a reference to an abundance of "herring" in the Wind River and it is likely that <br />these fish were either young cutthroat trout or mountain whitefish. Price also mentions the party's <br />limited success to net trout from the upper Snake River drainage. A second expedition, lead by Robert <br />Stuart in 1812, essentially back tracked on a portion of Hunt's travels (Rollins 1935). Stuart's daily <br />account included reports of trout taken from the Portneuf drainage (Marsh Creek), Bear River <br />Drainage (these trout would have been Bonneville cutthroat), the upper Snake River near Big Spring <br />Creek and the Hoback River (although not specifically mentioned these were likely the "fine spotted" <br />form). In 1864, an expedition under the leadership of Major John Owen and Jim Bridger entered the <br />Bighorn drainage from the south in an effort to establish a travel route between the Oregon trail and <br />Montana region (Seymour 1927). Owen's journal recounted the groups travels down the Bighorn <br />River and the first mention of trout occurred when they encountered the Greybull River. A second <br />record of trout was associated with the Shoshone River. Another example is the historical account <br />of U. John Bourke, who was with General Crook's company in 1876 as they entered into the upper <br />Tongue River drainage. Bourke's diary contains comments about a single harvest of 500 fish and an <br />estimation that the 1550 troops had consumed between 10,000 to 15,000 trout during a three week <br />period (Willert 1986). This same area was visited by Evermann and Cox in 1893 and the following <br />observations were made. <br /> <br />"Many persons were seen along the river fishing for trout. Taking everything into consideration, <br />it would certainly be hard to find a more ideal trout stream. Small parties have reported as many <br />as 800 fish taken with hook and line in a few days" (Evermann and Cox 1894). <br /> <br />Without exception, the early records of cutthroat trout, in and around Yellowstone National Park, refer <br />to the populations as abundant to extremely abundant (Evermann 1891; Jordan 1891; Gilbert and <br />Evermann 1894; Kendall 1914; Trotter and Bisson 1988). <br /> <br />There was considerable uncertainty regarding how much of the mainstem Bighorn and Tongue <br />Rivers, within Wyoming, supported cutthroat trout. Early settlers (1870 to 1900) to the Bighorn basin <br />near, Manderson, Wyoming report the presence of turtles, catfish and a fish they referred as "shad" <br />(Personal communication, Mrs. Wanda Bond, Greybull, Wyoming). These fish referred to as "shad" <br />may have been goldeye or even possibly freshwater drum. Mrs. Bond also said that her father <br />indicated that trout were occasionally taken in the Bighorn River but she indicated that "if trout were <br />what the families were interested in they would go to Shell Creek or some other smaller stream". Given <br />that the mainstem Bighorn River as far up as Manderson, Wyoming supported fish and other aquatic <br />species associated with warmer water, it is unlikely that cutthroat trout were anything but occasional <br />visitors resulting from drift out of the tributaries. In discussing the matter with Mr. Ron McKnight, <br />Wyoming Game and Fish Department, he felt that actual historic trout habitat probably extended <br />downstream to somewhere between Worland and Thermopolis. Based on these reports, the main- <br /> <br />18 <br />