Bismarck daily tribune., 1901-11-18
A FISHING FICTION.
THE "MAGld EYE" OF THE sAuLT
STE. MARIE. INDIANS.

An Old Guides Explanation of the
Indian Whitefish Hunters Method
of Getting His Glistening Catch
From Under the Rapids.
'"The first time fished in the Sault
Ste. Marie rapids" said a well known
Lake Keuka sportsman, II landed in
an hour twenty-one brook trout that
weighed forty-fve pounds; so l was
ready and willing to believe anything
heard or read about the possibilities
Of those waters or the astounding
things that men who fished in them
were able to do.
consequently I believed what they
told me about the marvellous feats the
Indian fishermen Of the Sault Ste.
Marie could perform in the way Of
netting whitefsh. Few who have tour
ed the great lakes have not heard Of
those same feats, witnessed them and,
Of course, could do nothing but go
away believing that they were all they
seemed to be.
Particularly will they marvel, as I
did, at the Indian whitefish fisherman's
magic eye with which he seems to
look down through ten feet or more of
foaming, rushing water and see white
fish that to the white mans eye would
be invisible five inches beneath the
surface. 1t would have been strange
if 1 had not marveled at it, having
witnessed: more than once manifesto
tons of it's alleged power. That was
before talked with old Guide Garron.
The astounding feats of the Indian
whitefsh netters Of the Sault Ste.
Marie that the guidebooks and the
hotel keepers and steamboatmen insist
on telling tourists about are performed
by two Indians in a canoe. One occu-
pies the stern and manipulates the
paddle to keep the canoes head point
ed up stream. The Indian in the bow,
standing upright, uses pole, to aid in
propelling the canoe or in keeping it
steady.
Lying ready to his hand is a dip net
four feet in diameter, fastened to the
end of pole perhaps fifteen feet long.
The fishing is done at the foot of the
rapids, where the water boils' and tum-
bles furiously. With his pole the In
dian in the bow keeps the boat moving
about in the rapids and gazes constant
~ into the water, which is often ten
feet or more deep.
Suddenly the Indian in the bow will
seize the net handle with one hand,
never ceasing to manipulate the canoe
with his pole in the other nor for an
instant removing his staring gaze from
the water. The net is not more than
in his hand before he has plunged it
perhaps ten feet distant from theSboat,
thrusting it at the same instant to the
bottom. Then he gives it peculiar
twist, draws it up and, surrendering
the care of the canoe for the moment
to the Indian with the paddle, he
draws the net up. never without from
three to half dozen glistening white
fish in it, frequently weighing five
pounds each. .-,s -
'eThe wondering spectator, seeing
nothing but the boiling water, the sud-
den start of the Indian and his quick
and dexterous plunging and drawing
up of the net with its invariable load
Of white6sh, can do nothing but ac-
knowledge to himself the necromancy
Of the Indians piscatorial art. I4know
that did, and for two seasons gave
myself away to the fascination Of that
mysterious fishing. Then one day I
maryeled at 1t greatly to Guide Garron,
the shrewds and cunning old French
man who knows every rock and eddy
and whirlpool Of the rapids and all the
wiles and tricks that any other guide
Nnows and whole lot that no other
one does know, and Garron's little
black eyes twinkled. = ~
"'Ah! he chuckled. 'Zat mageeck
hye.v He Won gr-r-rand homboagv
''Then he explained in his voluble
and picturesque patois the apparent
mystery Of the Indian whitefsh fisher
mans magic eye. Whitefsh are natu-
raj denizens of the still, silent waters
of the great lakes. : To get from Lake
Huron to Lake Superior. these fish
must fight their way up the fierce and
stubborn Sault Ste. Marie rapids. In
doing this they travel y,easy stages.
They can brave the rapids but short
distance at a time, when, almost ex-
hausted, they drop into the shelter of
the friendly rocks that pile the bottom
Of the rapids. - -, Ito ~. A..
"Huddled sometimes by the Score be-
hind these rocks, getting wind, as IT
were, to overcome another stage Of
their journey, the whitefsh, if the wa
ter is not too deep, can be lifted out
by the hand Of the fisherman, they are
50 nearly exhausted. The. Indians as
well as the white fishermen know this
and, knowing well the location OF these.
sheltering rocks have only to thrust
their nets down behind them and draw
them up flied with fish. :5 a ~ s7 2@E z
s5@ The cunning OF the Indian led him
long ago to give visitors the impression
that he could penetrate the froubIed
depths OF the rapids with his gaze and
discover the Whitefish on the bottom.
The wonder of IT spread, and It has
been one of the fondest and best pay
ing fictions of Susan Mary as the ma,
tiyes give You the pronunciat tion of the
sauIt Ste. Marie. NeW York Times