Day 5: DC Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery by: Lauren

 Mr. Doyle Carlton III

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For our first stop on day 5, we visited the DC Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery! The historic site has a hatchery building dating all the way back to 1899 , with the historic house being constructed in 1905. The fish hatchery was public access, and many of us started by purchasing a bag of fish food to feed one of the varieties of trout in the ponds around. Brown, Rainbow, and Snake River Cutthroat trout were the common varieties, with different colors and sizes being around. The site is maintained by US Fish and Wildlife services, the National Fish and Aquatic Conservation Archives, and the Booth Society Inc.  

   Fingerlings are transferred to the ponds where we fed at the start of every spring, until they reach a watchable size of 8-10 inches and are sent elsewhere, such as the Black Hills. There also was a very interesting underground viewing room with windows backing into the pond where we could view the fishes’ natural underwater behaviors. The historic fish raceways, (long narrow manmade underground tanks) still had some fingerling size fish be grown in them! Unfortunately, the historic hatchery and museum was closed for renovations. The Yellowstone boat, constructed in the 20s, and retired in 1996, was part of a fleet of fish rescue boats for operations on the great lakes. The purpose was to save fish stranded by receding flood waters, based out of the Homer National Fish Hatchery in Minnesota. 3-4 crewmembers stayed on the ship for maintenance at all times. Beginning in 1901 Mr. Booth traveled personally on the boats on the lake of Yellowstone to collect trout eggs to be spawned and hatched at the Bozeman, Leadville, and Homer hatcheries.  

   In 1871, The first national conservation agency started, in large parts due to Spencer Fullerton Biaird, a scientist and assistant secretary at the Smithsonian. The establishment of the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries was widely thought of as a fix to all fish problems, and was very positively received by the public. They also played a part in fish distribution even beyond the United States. The Fish Hatcheries became even more important during world war two, with equipment being reutilized and fish feeding soldiers away at war. Today however, fish hatcheries preserve genes, help protect endangered species, help Native tribes that rely on fish, stock fish in depleted habitats, and help with educational outreach. Most Hatcheries nowadays, help support other species, even indirectly through fish placement, or controlling invasive breeds. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program consists of approximately 70 National Fish Hatcheries, 7 Fish Technology Centers, 9 Flash Health Centers, 64 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Offices, and 1 Historic National Fish Hatchery & Archives. We then visited a historic train car replica. It’s a replica of fish car #3 after the railcars were  destroyed or repurposed during ww2. Federal fish cars began usage in the late 1890s. All originals were destroyed by the 1990s. A fish car was used to transport fish cross-country. The railroad car was designed to transport 20000 lbs. fish, water, and equipment every trip. The U.S. fish commission operated 10 cars, however some states operated private cars of their own design. A train car typically was designed with the most modern technology available, and only suffered around a 1% loss with 10 day trips, incredible at the time. The crew consisted of 5 members, including a captain, a chef, and 3 crew members, who often delivered fish to people along the trains path that requested. Fish were hauled in milk then fearnow pails, whilst surrounded by ice. Modern practices were used, such as oxygen lines, and lack of feeding before shipping to prevent frequent water changes. Crew slept in pullout on the train, or camped near-by if the whole train stopped. Our final stop was the DC Booth house. The DC Booth house was actually government built and maintained, and was lived in by every superintendent of the fishery through 1983. Mr. Booth and his family however, were the first family to occupy the house. Built in 1905, it was in fact ahead of its time. It was built at the cost of $5000 at the time. The House was unique in having central heat, electricity, plumbing, and running water. The Tennant or current superintendent, was charged for electricity, and rent. Mr. Booth was appointed in superintendent in 1899. The front door on the building was still original, even if many things on the house have been recreated, with even the wallpaper being replaced. The House has a fireplace, replacing a pantry. The House had much larger than normal windows for the time, and the technology not being advanced enough resulted in a slight warp. Several Booth family heirlooms were on display, giving an idea of the time period. The two-story House had a basement, or root cellar, and an attic, that had been converted to a private office or library. The cellar would typically have had an earthen floor at the time, however Mr. Booth hand poured a cement floor. Both their children had their own room, and the original wiring was on display. The House also had a outside sleeping deck for hot weather, and used the nearby ice House to retrieve ice for the refrigerator. Another unique feature was the  closets, which were super unheard of at the time. We finished up our time by looking at the Mrs. Booth gardens behind the house.