August 2024 - 35

The construction of the Pathfinder Dam was completed in 1909. (Photo courtesy of the American Heritage Center)
such as pickerel or pike. Catfish also was a common
species caught in and around Fort Laramie
at that time.
A soldier at Fort Laramie wrote: " Fish are plenty
and easily caught in both the Laramie and Platte
rivers, they are mostly catfish and pike. " Evidence
that sauger were often referred to as pike include
this quote from Fort Laramie post trader John S.
Collins: " A few miles above the post on the Platte
River [there was] a cataract in the river which was a
great fishing place. In season I made frequent trips
to this point, usually meeting with great success,
taking from 25 to 100 pounds of wall-eyed pike
weighing from one to five pounds each. "
The dissertation said officers primarily fished
for sauger, while enlisted men fished for catfish.
Officers had more leisure time than enlisted men
so when it came to fishing they pursued sauger
more often because they had more time to catch
bait such as grasshoppers, and also to get to the
areas of the river that held sauger. Catfish were
easier to catch, and enlisted men often set up seines
or trot lines in the river, which could be checked
throughout the day while they worked.
NO MORE SAUGER
Fort Laramie was not the only area of the North
Platte where sauger were historically found. Nick
Hogberg, fisheries biologist for the Wyoming Game
and Fish Department, said participants on scientific
expeditions throughout the Missouri River basin in
the late 1800s in Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota
and Iowa caught sauger from the North Platte River
in Casper and Glenrock.
Sauger were once common in the North Platte in
Wyoming and Nebraska. However, the sauger's demise
started with the completion of Pathfinder Dam in
1909, which changed water flows and temperatures,
Hogberg said. Another factor that hurt sauger and
portions of the North Platte watershed was the growth
of the oil industry, which polluted portions of the river
for years through the early to mid-1900s.
Hogberg said Game and Fish's last documented
findings of Sauger in the North Platte River in the
1900s was in 1937 when personnel caught 14 at
Bessemer Bend, which is near the current location of
the Dan Speas Fish Hatchery. Hogberg said Game
and Fish tried to relocate sauger to the river in the
1950s, but none were found.
Wyoming Wildlife | 35

August 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2024

August 2024 - 1
August 2024 - 2
August 2024 - 3
August 2024 - 4
August 2024 - 5
August 2024 - 6
August 2024 - 7
August 2024 - 8
August 2024 - 9
August 2024 - 10
August 2024 - 11
August 2024 - 12
August 2024 - 13
August 2024 - 14
August 2024 - 15
August 2024 - 16
August 2024 - 17
August 2024 - 18
August 2024 - 19
August 2024 - 20
August 2024 - 21
August 2024 - 22
August 2024 - 23
August 2024 - 24
August 2024 - 25
August 2024 - 26
August 2024 - 27
August 2024 - 28
August 2024 - 29
August 2024 - 30
August 2024 - 31
August 2024 - 32
August 2024 - 33
August 2024 - 34
August 2024 - 35
August 2024 - 36
August 2024 - 37
August 2024 - 38
August 2024 - 39
August 2024 - 40
August 2024 - 41
August 2024 - 42
August 2024 - 43
August 2024 - 44
August 2024 - 45
August 2024 - 46
August 2024 - 47
August 2024 - 48
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/wyoming-wildlife-may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2024-e-edition
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-iak-special-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/dec-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/January2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/December2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/wyominggame/WyomingWildlife/September2020
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com