A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)Jordan, David Starr
History
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
Jordan, David Starr
Fishes; Fishes -- Bibliography; Zoology -- History
"Besides the channels already mentioned, there are several more or
less distinct ones that were dry at the time of our visit. As already
stated, the pass is a nearly level meadow covered with a heavy growth
of grass and many small willows one to three feet high. While it is
somewhat marshy in places it has nothing of the nature of a lake about
it. Of course, during wet weather the small springs at the borders of
the meadow would be stronger, but the important facts are that there
is no lake or even marsh there and that neither Atlantic nor Pacific
Creek has its rise in the meadow. Atlantic Creek, in fact, comes into
the pass as two good-sized streams from opposite directions and leaves
it by at least four channels, thus making an island of a considerable
portion of the meadow. And it is certain that there is, under ordinary
circumstances, a continuous waterway through Two-Ocean Pass of such a
character as to permit fishes to pass easily and readily from Snake
River over to the Yellowstone, or in the opposite direction. Indeed,
it is quite possible, barring certain falls in the Snake River, for a
fish so inclined, to start at the mouth of the Columbia, travel up that
great river to its principal tributary, the Snake, thence on through
the long, tortuous course of that stream, and, under the shadows of the
Grand Teton, enter the cold waters of Pacific Creek, by which it could
journey on up to the very crest of the great continental divide,--to
Two-Ocean Pass; through this pass it may have a choice of two routes
to Atlantic Creek, in which the down-stream journey is begun. Soon it
reaches the Yellowstone, down which it continues to Yellowstone Lake,
then through the lower Yellowstone out into the turbid waters of the
Missouri; for many hundred miles it may continue down this mighty river
before reaching the Father of Waters, which will finally carry it to
the Gulf of Mexico--a wonderful journey of nearly 6,000 miles, by far
the longest possible fresh-water journey in the world.
"We found trout in Pacific Creek at every point where we examined it.
In Two-Ocean Pass we found trout in each of the streams and in such
positions as would have permitted them to pass easily from one side of
the divide to the other. We also found trout in Atlantic Creek below
the pass, and in the upper Yellowstone they were abundant. Thus it is
certain that there is no obstruction, even in dry weather, to prevent
the passage of trout from the Snake River to Yellowstone Lake; it is
quite evident that trout do pass over in this way; and it is almost
certain that Yellowstone Lake was stocked with trout from the west via
Two-Ocean Pass."--EVERMANN.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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