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<br /> <br />DINING BY THE GREEN RIVER <br />Max Stewart <br /> <br />Early in the day, after the morning chores were done, all my <br />uncles and aunts and their families and neighbors living in the <br />Jensen and Brush Creek area that could attend, assembled by <br />the big, old cottonwood tree near the spot where Cockleburr <br />Wash empties into the Green River. <br />We were going to have a fish fry. Fresh fish was a great treat, <br />a feast that was worth waiting for. There wasn't any good way to <br />keep fish from spoiling as there was no refrigeration in those <br />days, and only a few folks had ice storage cellars. All the fish <br />harvested were either cooked and eaten that day or taken home <br />to be pressure canned in bottles for later consumption. <br />Fishing from the bank with a pole was too slow for my uncle, <br />Jerry Hatch. He had a large family to provide for and had found <br />that using a seine produced an ample amount of fish in a hurry. <br />This method was just what was required to feed this large, hun- <br />gry gathering of friends and family. <br />Jerry and the men took the seine to the south bank of <br />Cockleburr Wash, where it empties into the river. The channel <br />was deep. My brother, Dale Stewart, and cousin, Bill Hatch, took <br />one end of the seine rope and swam across to the north bank. <br />Then the men on both sides of the channel started to slowly pull <br />the seine up the channel and away from the Green River while <br />two men on horseback rode down the stream, driving fish into <br />the net. Two or three men were required to raise the huge load <br />of fish out of the water and place them in wash tubs. <br />The catch included "whitefish" (squawfish), "round-tails" <br />(bonytail chub), carp, "humpies" (humpback chub), suckers <br />(razorback suckers) and channel catfish. All were cleaned, cut <br />into pieces suitable for cooking and the carp were skinned. <br />A large-diameter fire had been started, and after the blaze <br /> <br />7 <br />