Speak Up

What Price Art?

Sir / I thoroughly enjoyed the western art in May's "A View of the West". I would like to know how to get in contact with Mr. Marcy. Do you know if he sells his art work and if so how much it is? Could you please give me an address where he can be reached. I'm sure that others would also be interested.

John Baggins, Lincoln, Nebraska

For all of those interested, Doug Marcy's address is P.O. Box. 29, Hay Springs, NE 69347. Doug does sell his art, and if interested you should contact him directly. We are happy that you enjoyed the article and hope that we can continue to provide such quality. (Editor)

* * * Turnabout Visitors

Sir / What audacity and insult! I must take exception to the unkind remarks of the gentleman from North Platte in the January 1977 issue and defend the honor of the vast majority of decent people from Colorado who visit and use beautiful Lake McConaughy. I should perhaps, (but won't) use the same paranoiac reasoning to encourage our state legislature to establish a surtax on every Cornhusker who leaves the state of Nebraska to seek fame and fortune in God's country. After all, a great many of the so-called "aliens" referred to in Mr. Guenin's article migrated out of Nebraska to partake of the opportunities and scenic pleasures of the Rocky Mountains. I think he would find that many return to Big Mac and their native state simply for recreation and then return to the mile high country to make a living.

We, too, in Colorado are plagued by many of the same things mentioned by Mr. Guenin such as trespass, vandalism, environmental pollution, overcrowded campsites, litter, and noise, but we don't single out Nebraskans as the sole culprits.

As for the proposed $10 fee; maybe that isn't a bad idea. You might come of age and build some very badly needed first class facilities. I would hope these would include wider and longer boat ramps complete with docks, more modern toilet and bath facilities, larger parking areas, more picnic tables, more shade trees and last, but not least, more water safety patrols and police protection. The water safety practices and policies at Big Mac are lousy, and theft, vandalism and robberies are on the increase. Accidents and deaths at the lake could be reduced drastically if qualified people were trained and available to enforce the laws and protect the public.

I also feel the state of Nebraska created its own Frankenstein Monster 15 years ago. The state set out to put Nebraska on the map in order to capture a part of the elusive tourist and recreation dollar. What a promotion and selling job you did! Today you are reaping the harvest of your efforts and at the same time the Mr. Guenins are screaming like stuck pigs.

Oh, one more thing: $30.50 for a non-resident fishing license to catch a few walleye and carp is certainly a discouraging factor which I am sure will have a profound effect upon Coloradoans and your treasury.

Love your magazine, keep it coming.

G. Schweigert Northglenn, Colorado * * * More Visitors

Sir / Hurrah for Kendall Guenin!! At least I know that there is one other Nebraskan who feels as we do. . . . We drive almost 400 miles to fish and camp at Lake McConaughy, and what do we find when we get there? It is overrun by Coloradoans, and 75% of them don't come to fish, for which they would have to buy a license; they come to water ski; speed around the lake churning up the waters in their high-powered speed boats; or get in the way of the fishing boats with their sail boats; and run up and down the beaches in their dune buggies, jeeps, and motorcycles, leaving trash and litter from one end of the lake to the other.

For all of this (not counting the Colorado fishermen—who come to fish) they do not have to spend one red cent. Their boats are licensed in Colorado, they don't need a permit to water ski, race their boats or sail them; so what they are getting is a free ride at Nebraska's expense.

I agree that the Game Commission should set up some sort of "usage" fee, daily fee, or make them have a permit for all water and camping activities, which would go toward maintaining the lake.

We are Nebraskans, but we would even be willing to pay a camping fee if it would enable us to find a camping spot next to the lake once we get there. Once we put our boat in we never take it out until we get ready to come home; and who wants to have to camp (if you can find a camp spot) two blocks away from the lake? We have been going to the lake for years now, and always leave our camp site cleaner than it was when we got there.

Where else can you go and find such a beautiful place? But the trash and litter is getting to be something else. We spend a couple of hours a day just going along the beach picking up broken and unbroken bottles, cans, pop top tabs, and various debris from the nightly "parties".

Please Mr. Mahoney, won't you please impose some sort of fee for non-fishermen from out of state that use, and abuse, our beautiful lake?. "If you want to play, then you gotta pay." Other states do it. Why not Nebraska?

Mrs. Stanley W. Wezorek, Jr. Omaha, Nebraska * * * Unwelcome Visitors

Sir / After reading the January issue, "The visitors." It made my spirits rise to hear some have the same thinkings as I, but I was afraid to publish it.

Our little 700-acre lake (Diamond) is infested from early spring until weather conditions won't permit.

Such people are raising havoc with Wyoming fish. No consideration—cross over a shore fisherman's line and never look up. One case I recall of an elderly man fishing when he threw rocks at such a craft. Launch a boat and open it full throttle, every one make way, and sometimes the wake almost overturns a small boat. Also, bring a boat right to shore through bank fishermen, to have a can of beer or go to the outhouse.

Limit there is none; the few unsuccessful ones usually get tired and leave an unsightly campsite. The oversuccessful leave a clean campsite so as not to attract the wardens.

Some purchase a 5-day permit, and only able to use it 2 or 3 days loan it to a buddy who finishes it out. I say car licenses or driver's license should be put on fishing permits. Yes, we need more wardens and a few plain-clothes deputies along with higher licenses and the habitat stamp. Thanks to Mr. Guenin.

A. Watters Laramie, Wyoming * * * What's The Matter?

Sir /Kendall Guenin; in reply to your complaint about Colorado visitors to your lakes and wanting to charge $10 per family per day.

When you come to Colorado to ski you pay for that pleasure; when you come to fish our streams or big game hunt in our mountains, you pay for non-resident licenses for this pleasure. When people from Colorado go to Nebraska to fish they pay about the same in return. This money should be used for maintenance and stocking of game and fish.

Unfortunately, we both have a certain number of people who abuse these privileges, but being neighboring states we should enjoy each others resources.

I really don't understand your complaint.

Daryl N. Decker Louisville, Colorado 4 NEBRASKAIand The Commonwealth now pays even higher interest rates! 6.25 0 Passbook Savings 6.54 0 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 6.75 1 Yr. Cert. 7.08 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 7.00 2 Yr. Cert. 7.35 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 7.25 3 Yr. Cert. 7.62 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 8.00 4 Yr. Cert. 8.45 Annual Yield Comp. Daily A substantial interest penalty, as required by law, will be imposed for early withdrawal. THE 126 North 11th Street / Lincoln, NE 68508 / 402-432-2746 Chartered and Supervised by the Nebraska State Department of Banking BEN PEARSON "HUNTER II" $44.50 U SALE! Ben Pearson Bows "ROGUE" Model 7058-0 ( 5 lbs. ) $49.95 • ( #ON-077-PRB ) - - The BEN PEARSON "Rogue" recurve 58" hunting bow offers speed, silence and reliability for the bow hunter. Draw weight 45 lbs. Hand finished marblewood handle, fiberglass limbs, mohair carpet arrow rest. Compound Bow "MAVERICK" Model No. 7251-0 Reg. Sale $88.95 $79.95 • ( #ON-077-AHO ) - - For hunting and target shooting. Outfit consists of BEN PEARSON #7085-0 "Hunter II" 58" laminated bow in 45/50 draw weight, fiberglass full-working recurve limbs. Included are four 29" color banded cedar hunting arrows, bow quiver, arm guard, leather tab, 16" leopard target face and BEN PEARSON booklet "Secrets of Successful Bow Hunting". ( 5 lbs.) MAIL ORDER CUSTOMERS, PLEASE READ NEBRASKA CUSTOMERS MUST INCLUDE SALES TAX 30% DEPOSIT REQUIRED ON C.O.D.'s * INCLUDE ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER SHIPPING COSTS and INSURANCE ( We Refund All Excess ) VISA ( BankAmericard ) and MASTERCHARGE ORDERS ACCEPTED ( With your signature and all required information ) RETAIL STORE ADDRESS: 1000 West "0" St. OUR TELEPHONE: ( 402 ) 435-4366 • ( #ON-077-PMB ) - - The BEN PEARSON "Maverick" adjustable, two-wheel compound bow features a magnesium riser, fiber glass limbs, removeable contoured non-slip grip. Adjusting bolts let you adjust draw weight from 50 to 60 lbs. Draw lengths 27"-29" and 29"-31". 3-piece take-down. Always in balance. Self-compensating limbs are unaffected by any shooting style or method of release. ( 5 lbs. ) RV Portable Power Plant W Shpg. wt. 140 lbs. $499.50 • ( #ON-077-RVP ) - - Designed especially for recreational vehicle use. Has enough power to run air conditioners and refrigerators in RV's. Output 3700-watts, 115-volts, 60-cycles, 1-phase, 32-amps. Ball bearing equipped. Powered by 8-HP Briggs-Stratton gas engine. Has pushbutton electric start. Inherent voltage regulation. 22" x 18" x 17". Net wt. 125 lbs. WHITE STAG Sleeping Bag Reg. Sale $22.88 $19.88 • ( #ON-077-WSB ) - - WHITE STAG #4556 rectangular sleeping bag. 30" x 75" finished size. Full separating nylon coil zipper permits two bags to be zipped together. Insulation is Vh lbs. Dacron II fiberfill with comfort rating to 25° F. Ripstop nylon outer shell, 100% nylon inner lining. Equipped with nylon roll-up ties. ( 5 lbs. ) Reg. Sale $19.88 $19.88 ( 2Vj lbs. ) • ( ION-077-SLV ) - "Gran Sport" ski Ensolite" flotation, reinforced shoulders, - AMERICA'S CUP #505 vest features Uniroyal soft nylon lining, triple quick release stainless Wind Power Generator GET LOW COST POWER FROM THE WIND FOR LIGHTS, RADIO, CB RADIOS $369.50 buckles, extra wide 2" belts, oxford nylon outer shell. U.S.C.G. Approved. Designed for total freedom of movement. Sizes S, M, L, XL. • ( #ON-077-WPG ) - - Once doomed to extinc- tion, the wind generator is back and healthier than ever. In an era where costs of energy have soared, the wind generator can provide low-cost energy for lights, radios, CB radios and other DC devices. Especially useful in areas away from power lines, hunting-fishing-vacation camps or as a standby source of power in the event of a power failure. • 6 ft. propeller drives a heavy duty 4-pole, ball bearing generator that keeps a 12-volt battery ( not furnished ) fully charged. Will charge in a breeze as low as 7 MPH. When unit is not charging, battery is automatically disconnected from generator. • Capacity 200-watts, max. volts 15, max. amps. 14. Unit is complete with 10 ft. steel tower and instrument panel. Full mounting and operating instructions included. ( 150 lbs. ) NOTE: The wind generator can furnish AC power through use of a solid state inverter available at moderate cost through most electronic supply houses. SURPLUS CENTER Dept. ON-077 Lincoln, Ne. 68501  

un-endangered species

The plight of endangered species has become a familiar story to many Americans. And while this awareness has helped to foster a greater concern for the welfare of wildlife, it has also caused many to believe that most all our wild animals face a bleak and uncertain future. Even though some natural land areas continue to be degraded, the news about wildlife is not all bad. Far from it. Over the years, our state wildlife agencies have restored to healthy and abundant numbers many species that were thought to be on the brink of extinction only some 75 years ago. till The acquisition and restoration of millions of acres of natural habitat is one reason for this amazing comeback. Vigorous enforcement of protective laws for certain species is another reason. Most all the money for these efforts comes from American hunters. Through the license fees and special taxes they pay, hunters have contributed over $3 billion in the past half century for wildlife restoration, providing secure habitat not just for a few game species but for the many species that are never hunted at all. The result is an abundance of wildlife for all Americans to enjoy, each in his own special way.

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Relive Nebraska's colorful past! Indoors, climb the spiral staircase and step into the 1880s, where you'll see the tools, garments and gadgets of yesteryear. Outdoors, stroll the boardwalks of the fascinating RAILROAD TOWN OF THE PRAIRIE PIONEER. Lose yourself among authentically restored homes, business places and vintage rail stock. Browse through the Midwest's finest collection of antique cars, trucks and farm machinery. A MUST FOR SUMMER SIGHTSEEING! Pronghorn Antelope: 7925- Estimated 13,000 to 26,000 in U.S.A. Today: Minimum population in all western states is 500,000. Presented by the National Shooting Sports indation and approved by international Association pi fish and Wild I He Agencies. BRING YOUR FAMILY OR GROUP Summer hours 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays; 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. Admission: Adults $1, Students 50, children 35. Outdoor Exhibits open Memorial Day through Labor Day. Write for free brochure and tour information to Stuhr Museum, Route #2, Box 24, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801. STUHR MUSEUM OF THE PRAIRIE PIONEER U.S. Highway 34-281 Junction, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801 JULY 1977 7

SYMBOLIC AMERICANA

A dynamic and unique sight A senseitive, beautiful area, A rebirth of consciousness Art by Rainbow Touraine

THE RESOUNDING SINGING of Hold On and enthusiastic applause by 1,700 Millard High school students l- was a far cry from the high country and night clubs of Alaska. Sweat dripped from the strong and smiling face of Phil White Hawk. A pleased and humble writer, musician, singer and philosopher of the Cherokee brought the audience to its feet with three encores.

The performance was a prelude to similar responses by 50,000 Nebraska youth and many others in Omaha, Lincoln, Nebraska City, Columbus, Blair, Bellevue, Waterloo, Seward and other cities and towns, who echoed enjoyment this past year for SYMBOLIC AMERICANA, a multi-media enrichment program. A successful fall, 1977 tour is assured following appearances at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washing- ton, D.C, two Chautauquas, Omaha Ethnic Festival, Brownville Summer Music Festival, and Nebraska State Fair in the Came and Parks Commission outdoor exhibit area.

While very difficult to explain or define, Symbolic Americana is a painting, song, photography and dialogue multi-media concept born 10 years ago in the minds of Rainbow Touraine, one of America's most gifted painters, and Phillip White Hawk, who writes songs for Rainbow's paintings. Governor and Mrs. J. James Exon invited Rainbow to Nebraska after enjoying many of her large original oils at Expo 74 in Spokane, Washington. Phil returned with the painter in 1976 to participate in the Sioux nation's "Sacred Horse Dance" and the Nebraska State Fair.

Rainbow donated and dedicated her entire collection of 20 paintings to the youth of America as a gift during the Fair, and these are on exhibit on a rotating basis at the Governor's Man- sion until a permanent home for the collection is established in Nebraska.

The invaluable collection of art and songs creates a more vivid realization of the past, an introspection of the present, and acknowledges and inspires a profound awareness and appreciation of the beauty and harmony that should prevail among all people. The realistic, classical and historically important art form of Phil and Rainbow emerged from the rich ethnic heritage of native Americans. Dedicated to the reunification of all people and fulfillment of the human potential, the Phillip White Hawk collection of Symbolic Americana is an accurate and sensitive symbolism of the culture and consciousness of the grass roots people of America ... a dynamic and unique dimension of music, painting, poetry and sound

Phil believes that "all art (Continued on page 13)

  10 An outlook, out of sight and out of mind,
An insight, into what we left behind.
A prophet, holy man perhaps a fool,
A searcher, working out some golden rule.
A learner, learning what to dwell upon,
A watcher, watching while it all goes on.
A dreamer, dreaming up a dream to share,
A pilgrim, looking at a power of prayer.
Vision seeker, come on home,
Vision seeker, come on home.
More than clouds and more than storm, he's coming now.
More than light, and more than I knew anyhow.
With the power that makes us one, I found within,
Mind and strength, and now I think, a path to him.
To the wind I gave a prayer, and while it flew,
We are thee and you are me, and I am you.
The returning, the returning
Of the medicine horse.
The returning, the returning
Of the medicine horse, to me, to me. Copyright Phillip White Hawk 1976 JULY 1977 11   I saw my vision and then I saw a friend to write it down. I saw the wisdom of all the beliefs and races to be found. I saw the spirit that dwells within the heart of all that is. I saw the kindness surrounding every creature that is his. Sometimes I felt unworthy, Sometimes I felt so old, Sometimes grandfather beckoned me, And sometimes he comforted my soul. I saw his beauty in every single thing that he had done. I saw that people of every place and everywhere were one. I saw the future of all the earth and everything upon. I saw that no one and nothin' ever is completely gone. Copyright Phillip White Hawk 1976 12 NEBRASKAland

is a unified whole, indivisible, and all divisions therein are arbitrary and deny the common source of artistic inspiration. The highest aim of all art is to make man and womankind aware of the nature of their own spiritual evolution/' Rainbow Touraine has the philosophy that creative instinct is inborn in everyone, that it is part of man's higher nature. At an early age she became interested in horses, bison, other animals, and the native. American people. These became subjects of her greatest paintings.

The catalyst for producing the Symbolic Americana experience is Bob Handy, former executive director of the Omaha/Douglas County Bicentennial Commission. "I met Phil and Rainbow immediately after their appearance on "Conversations" with Joni Baillon. Their talent was outstanding; the finest I experienced in many years of the performing and visual arts." Bob sold a small farm near Nebraska City to finance the Symbolic Americana multimedia enrichment program, including the touring company, two albums, painting reproductions and other projects of the young and enthusiastic partnership. "It is our belief that a new American Renaissance is emerging . . . a golden age of artistic and humanitarian achievement shared by and for all people."

Handy-Hawk Productions was created at Civil Bend Farm in Percival, Iowa, where Bob was raised as a youth. He returned there in 1973 to author and publish a history of southwest Iowa following a 24-year professional career in higher education. The name Handy-Hawk, denoting the production company partnership, was conceived by Phil. The albums, painting reproductions, and other major products are handled by Handy-Hawk Productions. Bob wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the label name but relented after accepting a handsome pen and ink Handy Hawk drawing by artist friend Connie Bellet.

The Symbolic Americana Foundation is designed to provide services, facilities, grants, loans, donations and payments for the purpose of assisting and furthering the reunification of people and for the fulfillment of human potential. Specific projects and programs include:

(1) Produce, schedule and tour the Symbolic Americana Enrichment Program for Educational Institutions including dynamic multi-media presentation of the performing and visual arts . . . concert, convocation, conference, seminar, and discussion experience featuring Phil White Hawk in person;

(2) Assist with the planning, financing, development and programing of projects similar to Black Elk/Neihardt Park in Blair, Nebraska, including the Tower of the Four Winds and American Ethnic Center for the Performing & Visual Arts;

(3) Assist with the planning, financing, development and sponsorship of such productions as "Black Elk Speaks";

(4) Produce, schedule and tour the original musical productions of "Black (Continued on page 44)

12 NEBRASKAIand JULY 1977 13

PROGRAMS UP IN THE AIR

Commission airplanes are very important part of operations. They allow studies which are impossible on ground, and save on man hours by Jack Curran

LIGHTNING cut through the turbulent cloud cover, illuminating rain spatters on the windscreen of the airplane. Stark silence inside the craft was broken by the pilot's message to the control center: "One-niner-seven- kilo-charlie requesting vector to lightest area of precipitation." Instructions were immediately transmitted back to the Aero Commander, and soon the plane was again flying in relatively clear, calm skies. That flight was back in the days when the plane was not equipped with radar, and "Sometimes it can get a little tense if you don't know what's ahead of you. Now, most of my flights are pretty routine."

Maybe so, but after 13 years as a Game and Parks Commission pilot with almost 2 million air miles logged, Andrew Stasenka, known in flight circles as "Stacey", can tell more than a few stories about his unusual experiences both in the air and on the ground. Leonard Spoering, the Commission's only other pilot, can also come up with a few stories.

Each plane and pilot has specific duties. The single-engine Champion, which is stationed at Bassett, carries Spoering and either another conservation officer or a biologist, on law enforcement or game management assignments. Nighttime aerial surveillance, coordinated with personnel on the ground, has resulted in numerous convictions of poachers and spotlighters. And, many a landowner has breathed a sigh of relief after having a large herd of antelope hazed off a winter-wheat field by the low flying Champion.

The twin-engine Aero Commander gets the long distance assignments that require more speed and bigger payloads. Once, in a moment of jest, Stacey filed a flight plan that listed in the passenger column the number 1,000,002. The flight controller went along with the gag and registered the plan on the ledger. Later, after a lot of commotion and a news story by a newspaper in Oklahoma, the full details came out. The million "passengers" turned out to be tiny striped bass fry on their way to brood ponds at the North Platte Fish Hatchery.

Another time fish also created quite a stir. That was 10 years ago in the early days of striped bass experimentation. Stacey and Glen Foster, then chief of the Commission's Fisheries Division, flew back to the Massachusetts Fish Research Center to acquire some one-pound stripers for release in Nebraska. The ocean fish had not yet been acclimated to fresh water so a holding tank in the plane was filled with salt water. In the tank, an aeration system had been installed to keep the fish alive during their long journey. Somewhere over the mountains of Pennsylvania, Stacey felt a strange, creeping sensation up his back. Upon looking around, he was shocked to find billowing foam threatening to completely engulf the cockpit, creating a dangerous situation as far as visibility was concerned.

After an emergency landing, the suds were cleaned up and the aeration system removed from the tank. The rest of the journey was uneventful except for the fact that all the fish died, and that pioneer striper effort ended in failure.

Those who fish for the big stripers today in Nebraska's reservoirs call the stocking program a momentous success, never realizing the role that Stacey and the Commission airplane played in the effort. Over the years, weather conditions and scheduling difficulties sometimes made it necessary for fishery biologists to use commercial airlines to transport the three-day-old stripers from the Roanoke River in Virginia to the North Platte hatchery. On commercial lines, a shuttle first takes the fish to Lynchburg, Virginia. Then after the styrofoam containers carrying the young fish reach Chicago, they are again transferred to another flight with a destination of Omaha or Lincoln.

Anyone who has felt the frustration of lost luggage has an idea what a fisheries biologist goes through when a batch of priceless fish gets lost in a terminal or is placed on the wrong plane. More often than not an entire shipment of fish died due to depletion of oxygen. Those fish that do reach Omaha alive are treated to a fresh charge of oxygen, but they still must endure the final trip to North Platte.

For both fish and fish biologist, a ride in One-niner- seven-kilo-charlie is a lot quicker and far less hassle. With the seats removed, the plane can carry two to three million fish without crowding the crew. Virtually no fish mortality occurs during the one-stop, cross-country flight to the hatchery.

The Aero Commander is used less often than the Champion for waterfowl and big game density counts. These flights, especially the winter waterfowl surveys, play an important role in determining management practices. During one specified week, biologists from all states in the same waterfowl fly way take to the air and count the birds residing at that time in their respective states. The figures are then tabulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington D.C. Wintering numbers, along with brood count samples and other data, go a long way toward establishing guidelines for federal hunting seasons and bag limits.

Antelope is another wildlife species that can easily be counted by air. Highly visible on the open plains of western Nebraska, the scattered herds are surveyed during July each year. Covering the large management units takes Spoering and Harvey Suetsugu, wildlife biologist, over two weeks, depending on flight conditions. As with waterfowl, information on population trends and sex and age ratios is coupled with check station data to establish the number of antelope hunting permits available each year.

The extreme low altitude and choppy air common on the prairie has an unsettling effect on weak stomachs. Spoering carries a gold coffee can with plastic lid as standard equipment on the antelope flights. The veteran World War II flyer says he has to keep it on hand because it seems that most biologists and a few photographers who have flown with him have succumbed to air sickness.

Most of the management missions the aircraft is assigned could not be performed at all by ground transportation. River surveys are a prime example. Access most of the streams in Nebraska is limited to state and county roads or across private land. Time is also a prime factor as several watersheds can be surveyed by air during the time only one or two sites are visited on the ground. In a cooperative (Continued on page 50)

JULY 1977 15

THE WAY IT WAS

My grandson thought you might doubt my veracity in this matter, so I enclosed these photos from my album. Pictures don't lie, as they say

16 Dear Sir:

GREAT, GREAT grandson brought me a copy of your magazine NEBRASKAIand a few weeks back. I got quite a kick out of it, I'll have to admit—all those folks holding up minnows as if they were lunkers, acting like those fish were record breakers when most of them were just barely keepers. Well, I was really having fun with that magazine until the boy tells me you folks are serious. I could hardly believe it, but he finally convinced me.

Old Tom Tibbies (now there was a real news writer!) used to tell how he'd many a time seen Platte River catfish swallow careless fishermen. Standard bait in those days was a full-grown tomcat, you know. I remember one fellow caught a good-size fish—a crappie I think it was—up in the Sandhills. He got a neighbor to come down with a team and wagon to get it out of the water, and then they tried in vain to find a scale big enough to weigh it. Well, they finally gave up. They took the fish, hoisted it up on a windmill tower and took a picture of it. The picture weighed 12 pounds.

Those were some fish. I see pictures in your magazine of people not even half scared of their catches. You couldn't do that with fish in my day. No sir. Don't need to believe me; you can look it up. The August 8,1894, issue of the Fremont Daily Herald reported that some kids were getting water at a pump when "they were attacked by four immense catfish who were apparently desperate for a drink of water." That must have been a true report because the editor added, "Anybody who doubts the story can go out and see the pump."

Almost exactly a year later the same paper said: "Police Judge Holmes went fishing Saturday. He came home with a catfish weighing 25 pounds under his arm. The judge said the catfish had been found guilty of assault and battery and was to be sentenced to solitary confinement. The judge was walking along the banks of the Platte, and suddenly the catfish came out and chased him about half a mile. The judge had no weapon but suddenly seized a piece of board and smashed the fish over the head."

Fremont apparently wasn't the only town with such problems. The Lyons Mirror of May 12, 1892, reported: "The life of a farmer in the bottom lands in the eastern part of the county is full of trials these wet days. Commissioner Berry (and his neighbors are, no doubt, in the same fix) is worried half to death by the catfish jumping into his hog pen and snaping at the porkers' heels."

Yessir, in those days men were men, women were women, and fish were fish. They weren't just big fish either; they were smart. One fellow took a couple of fish and trained them bit by bit to go without water until finally they would spend all day scratching around the farmyard with the chickens. But alas! One day they got caught outside during a sudden rainstorm and drowned. I knew another fellow who had much the same experience—trained a fish to do without water. He kept that little fish in a big canary cage and fed it bird seed. Darned thing learned how to whistle and seemed pretty content with the whole situation. But, one day some blamed fool put "The Star Spangled Banner" on the Gramophone. The poor fish tried to stand up, fell into the water dish, and drowned before my friend could rescue it.

There may still be some of those big, smart fish around but a fisherman is only as good as his bait, as we used to say. You fellows set out with bait suited for 5 and 10-pound bass and that's all you're going to get.

I recall one time I was fishing on the Middle Loup River near Dannebrog, Nebraska, with Irv Osterman, and 17  

18 he showed me a real trick. He dipped a worm into a bit of whiskey that I had along for first-aid purposes. He cast his line out into a pool that was maybe 20 or 30 feet deep and there was the darndest commotion you ever saw. I thought the secret was that fish like the taste of whiskey, but no, that wasn't it. Irv pulled out the line and here the worm had tracked down a grandaddy bass, beat the tar out of him, and brought him back to us under his arm!

Another time I was in much the same situation with Howard Steffenhagen and we had caught only 100 or 150 pounds of fish—I think there were about five or six catfish on our gill line—and darned if we didn't run out of bait. My son Chris, though, smart feller that he is, spotted a hog-nose snake with a toad in its mouth. I couldn't get the snake to turn loose of the toad, however, so I poured about a jigger of that medicinal whiskey down its throat, and it turned loose of the toad all right. The snake staggered off into the bushes and Howard and I started fishing again, using the toad as bait.

In about four minutes I felt a tug on my pants leg. I looked down and there was that snake with another toad in its mouth!

Then there was that time I was feeling so darned frustrated because I wasn't having any luck at all while fishing through the ice. And not 30 feet from me there was this little boy pulling in fish just as fast as he could bait his hook. I finally swallowed my pride and yelled over to him, "Son, what's the secret?

He mumbled back something like "Kotakiperbetcherm."

I thought maybe he hadn't understood me, so I tried again. "Boy, what's your secret?"

Again he mumbled out about the same series of noises that didn't make any sense at all to me, so I yelled at him again, "Son, how are you catching all those fish?"

I could see he was frustrated by then, too, and he spit something into his hand and yelled, "You gotta keep your bait warm!"

Now that just might explain why you people today catch such little fish-no bait. If'we had trouble with bait then, you probably do now, too. A fellow in Norfolk told me how he ran out of bait one fall day up in the Sandhills. He tried to catch a frog but everytime he'd reach for one it would jump out into the water. He saw a storm coming up and he'd heard how sometimes those blizzards would move in so fast that the lakes would freeze and the ice would still be warm. So he waited until just the right moment and clapped his hands. The lake froze all right, but he'd been just a touch off, and instead of the frogs being caught on top of the ice, they were all frozen in the ice with their legs sticking up! Using some good old pioneer ingenuity, he just borrowed a lawnmower and ate froglegs for nearly a month.

Well, I hate to complain, but it sure gets under my skin to read your bragging about what great fishermen you are when you obviously can't hold a candle to the good old-time fishermen.

Yours truly, Ananias Stretcher

These tales and photographs are taken in part from Roger Welsch's Shingling the Fog and Other Plains Lies and Tale Postcards and used with permission of the Swallow Press, Chicago, and A.S. Barnes, Cranbury, New Jersey. 19

BACKWATER BULLFROGS

Heat, mosquiotes and an uncooperative quarry threaten to cancel our frog outing, but a curatin of darkness finally saves the day by Bill McClurg

THE OMINOUS RUMBLING of distant thunder amid occasional flashes of lightning gave a slight promise of relief from the hot, muggy July evening as Jim Morehead, sons Kent and Jay, cousin Mark and I, pushed off into a shallow Missouri River oxbow lake.

Hordes of blood-thirsty mosquitos droned overhead, waiting for the proper time to descend on our group of hapless froggers. Up and down the lake, multitudes of bellowing bullfrogs croaked their strange serenade to anything that would listen. The beam of my six-cell flashlight illuminated the opposite shore, revealing several pairs of yellow-eyed noisemakers, looking much like miniature headlights in the reflected light. If frogging could ever be easy, this better be the time, as our daytime hunt had been almost futile.

The outing had begun as a result of a phone conversation I had with Jim Newcome, conservation officer from Auburn, a few weeks earlier. I was looking for a place to hunt frogs and wasn't overly optimistic about finding any, since the season had been open for a few weeks and most of the catchable-size critters had already been harvested around Lincoln.

He suggested that I call Jim Morehead, who lives along the Missouri River east of Shubert in southeast Nebraska. "Sure, come on down," Jim had replied. "We've got three ponds on the place and nobody's hunted them yet this year. There should be quite a few nice bullfrogs."

The radio said 3 p.m., 90 degrees and 91 percent humidity as I drove into the Morehead farmyard the following Tuesday. Jay, Jim's 16-year-old son, met me at the door. "Mom and dad aren't home yet. They went to Falls City to get some canoes. Come on in and have a glass of iced tea," he offered. "Dad says we can try the ponds here first and if we don't do any good, we can go over by Barada and try some farm ponds."

Jim drove up shortly. "Sure is hot out," he said. "Weather report says 30 percent chance for rain tonight and we sure could use some. Let's head over to the "chute" and see if we can get some frogs before suppertime. We've got about two hours and we can at least see if it's worth hunting this evening."

I followed Jim's pickup out across the rich bottom ground, bouncing out across the dusty farm road through fields of alfalfa and waist-high soybeans. We crossed a dike separating  

two parts of an old oxbow lake, or "chute" as they are called locally. The lake was once an old river channel, but was left when the river changed course.

To the right, the lake extended at least a half-mile. No wider than 50 yards, the banks at the water's edge were bare, offering frogs little concealment from predators. A poor place for bullfrogs, I thought, but Jay assured me that there were a few around. On the left, the upper end of the chute was choked with marsh weeds. Obviously a frog haven, but the critters had plenty of places to hide.

After a little discussion, we decided to hunt the weedy side first. Jay and Mark climbed into one canoe and Jim and I into the other, while Kent took the pickup to scout another pond to the north. Jim offered to paddle, saying he could go frogging anytime.

"There's one under that overhanging branch," Jim said shortly after we got underway. With gig at ready, I sat in the bow of the canoe as we slipped up on a nice fat frog resting in the shade of a mulberry tree. The bow scraped bottom when we were still a couple of feet away, and the startled frog skipped dazzlingly across the water for about five short hops, dived, and was gone before I was within range, even before I could breathe.

Farther on, we spotted another frog, but it also spooked. That same scene was repeated over and over, as each time we approached the critters jumped before we were in range.

Now, bullfrogs really aren't that hard to bag, but we evidently had given them too much advantage somehow. The gigs I had brought, with four-foot- long handles, might have been one of the reasons, but the bright sun didn't help any either. If we were going to bag some frogs in daylight, we either needed longer handles or a lot of luck. I had the feeling I could have done better with a bow and arrow or even a long handled net, but we had neither.

As we neared the end of the lake, Jim spotted yet another frog and eased me up to it. Leaning out over the bow, I finally connected with the first of the day; a far cry from the limit of eight.

Jay and Mark were loading the canoe when we paddled up. They hadn't done any better, and it was the same story-they had missed several and spooked many more. Kent arrived with a good report on the north pond, however, so we headed out again across the fields.

This pond was smaller than the first. "Normally this is quite a bit bigger," Jim said, "but we built it for duck hunting and it's pretty shallow."

It was different from the chute. There weren't any tall weeds for the frogs to hide in, and we could see lots of them of all sizes sitting on the banks. While Jay and Mark were unloading their canoe, Kent spotted a nice frog not three feet from the boys. "Hand me a gig and don't move," he said, and proceeded to collect the frog—his first of the day.

This time I stayed on the bank as Kent and Jim paddled out onto the pond. A hen woodie and her newly hatched brood of ducklings scurried out of the way of the canoes. We left her alone; she had enough trouble keeping her brood away from preda- tors. Bullfrogs have been known to take a young duckling for lunch, and if we took any big frogs, it might help the ducks. But, once again, the hunters failed to score as their quarry scampered away before they coasted into range.

"Let's try the lower end of the chute and then go eat supper," Jim suggested. No one argued, and we soon slipped the canoes into the water of the third pond.

This one had steep banks and very 22 NEBRASKAIand

little shore cover. "Not too promising," I thought, but it didn't take long to find out otherwise.

Kent was in the bow of the canoe as we eased up on the next frog. He was determined not to let this one get away, and threw the gig while still a few feet away. Bullseye. "Bet you can't do that again," I challenged as we slipped up on the next one. Another throw, another frog.

It was my turn, so I pulled out my secret weapon. Rigging up a cane pole I had brought for just this occasion, I tied a red rubber worm to a short length of line and I was ready.

As a kid, this same combination had worked for me. Dangle the bait in front of them, let it sit, then move it ever so slightly and they'll climb all over it.

Now, you catch a fish on a cane pole, land it and the fight is over. Not so with a big frog. Hook it, land it, and then you have to catch it again as it hops all over the place. I dangled the worm, jerked it, teased, taunted and did everything but snag them, but they ignored it with the same disdain as an elephant regards a flea. Nothing!

Taking the pole apart, I got another bright idea. Using some fishing line and a length of pole, I fashioned a crude extension for the short gig handle and I was in business.

With the longer handle, I easily scored on the next two frogs and Kent picked up three more. "Let's go eat," Jim suggested, "We'll come back about dark and try it again."

The sun had just slipped below the horizon as we returned to the chute. Kent was the first to pick up a frog, and then I gigged a pair. Frozen by the light, the frogs held until we got within inches, and our percentage improved considerably.

"See that bird sitting on the tree limb ahead?" Jim asked as the beam of the powerful flashlight settled on a large, skinny, long-legged creature ahead. The great blue heron stayed on its perch as we glided by within a few yards, apparently undisturbed by us.

Finally getting the knack of it, we were getting close to our limits when Kent started catching the frogs by hand. A handful of wet, wriggling bullfrog isn't the easiest thing to hang onto and we missed a few, but we still caught enough to fill out.

"Let's go over and see how Jay and Mark are doing," Jim suggested. "That lightning is getting closer and we might have to make a run for it." The boys still hadn't fared well; they had a few frogs but were having trouble paddling and holding the light on the critters. After we offered to help, their luck quickly improved, but a sudden shift in the wind changed our plans.

"Here comes the rain," said Jim. "Let's head home." A full quarter-mile away from the pickups, our race against the elements was lost as the much-needed drops soaked us. Undaunted, we paddled on. The race against the rain lost, we still continued to race against each other. The two boys, carrying less weight and riding in a fiberglass canoe, had a slight advantage, but they were hampered by a steering problem. Our aluminum job held three riders and only two paddlers, but we had a slight edge in canoeing experience.

The race ended in a dead heat near the end of the chute, just as the rain stopped. It hadn't done more than wet the dust, but it was enough to dampen our spirits. As it was already 11 p.m., we elected to quit. We had enough of the heat, rain, mosquitos and uncooperative frogs, but we had managed to bag more than 25 of the big croakers, and we had learned a few techniques and tricks that should stand us all in good stead in any future frog hunts.

JULY 1977 23

More Than Just a Park

photos by Steve O'Hare by Carl Wolfe, Wildlife Research Supervisor Transition is under way on this municipal landfill, with a "skin" of beauty yet to come

A DISTANT, METALLIC grinding of bulldozers seemed to be shut out when I first saw the area. Mountains of garbage and debris that the dozers struggled to move and bury nearby, hardly seemed a part of this land someday destined to be a park.

As I moved down a long-abandoned country road, it was easy to see why people found it convenient to discard trash, garbage and other unwanted material here—the low wet areas, stream bank and gullies were natural hiding places to catch the overflow of civilized man's excesses. Long-rusted bits and 24 pieces, broken and worn-out things, pans and farm machinery, all showed here and there amidst the rich soil of the flood plain. Broken shards of glass, opal-tinted by the sun, lay scattered on the ground. Not all was a pretty picture, but only a matter of time separates this Lincoln city dumping ground and landfill from becoming an area for people.

  "Greater familiarity with marshes on the part of more people could give man a truer and a more wholesome view of himself in relation to Nature. Marshes comprise their own form of wilderness. They have their own life-rich genuineness and reflect forces that are much older, much more permanent, and much mightier than man" Paul L Errington, "Of Men and Marshes"

It was odd to contemplate that time could create a new dimension. This land, used and abused for many decades, would soon provide a new use for man—a use of infinitely more beauty than could be visualized if one concentrated only on the nearby mounds of garbage and the frantic activity of trucks. This was to be a park. The transformation would counter what often is seen in a growing urban area—the gradual disappearance of green and wooded areas. Rather, this area north of Lincoln would find its physiognomy changed, transforming present ugliness into an area of small lakes, prairie, wooded trails and recreation facilities.

It was warming to visualize how the area might look. Hints of how the transformation would be effected were given here and there. The low willow growth along a small, wet slough screened the feeding waterfowl from view, but the raucous gabble and feeding chuckle of the mallard gave away their presence. Deep-splayed hoof Drints in the moist salt-plain soil told us that a large deer nad made its way along this path before daylight. Pursuit flights of pintail dipped and waved over the two lakes that would someday be focal points for park activities. Along the banks of Salt Creek, foot paths would eventually follow trails already established by coyote and deer. Small pieces of remnant prairie, abused and disturbed but tenacious as only native prairie can be, will bring a bit of Nebraska to all who will use the park. The natural contours suggested lanes of open glades. On some, wild plum, just beginning bud swell, would har- monize the dark creek banks with billowing clouds of white bloom.

This would be more than a park—it would reflect planning and recycling of a landscape long suffering at the hands of a throwaway society. It would reflect beauty, belonging, and a feeling of land ethics too often discarded. It would be a place for people for all times.

 

We have barely begun to understand what Thoreau meant by ". . . in wilderness is the preservation of the world. . . ." Since a scientific age finds it difficult to accept the insight of a poet-philosopher, we must wait for a computerized study proving that toxins of civilization increase as the square of the distance from city-center to the nearest preserve. Then, mathematics in hand, we will set out to reckon and repair the damage.

Lawrence A. Enersen The Clark Enersen Partners Environmental Design for Lincoln's Crescent Green park system  

The serenity of a prairie landscape defies description. Even a small parcel of grassland, in bloom with a kaleidoscope of color, imparts a feeling of peace to the lingerer. Certainly the worth, aesthetic or simply that of inner content, becomes difficult to measure by modern standards. We often forget how to respond to natural materials-the earth, water, shrubs and flowers of a place like this. Yet the sunlight, the shadows and the seasons make a bit of prairie a special place. This particular prairie piece is a micro-habitat of unusual nature-a healthy cell in the organism of a city. For all, the sea of grass and flowers beckon; come ahead, enjoy these surroundings. Find peace. Rest your mind. Refresh with nature.

WHERE HAS ALL THE WATER GONE?

Nebraska's water problems go much deeper than lack of rain, says Lee Rupp, fisheries biologist. Changes in land use, irrigation development spell doom for many streams

EVERYONE SEEMS TO agree that Nebraska has had serious water problems the past few years, but when it comes to looking to the future, attitudes of those same people vary widely, depending upon each person's degree of optimism.

Lee Rupp, the Fisheries Division supervisor of the Game and Parks Commission for northeast Nebraska (District Three) has become somewhat of a spokesman on the water situation last summer. But, he has taken on much broader attitudes after his considerable contact with the public during the past few months.

Primarily concerned initially with the aquatic life in his district, prompted by the drying up of many of the streams and rivers there, Rupp made an effort to explain the situation to the many people who called him. He traveled around the district, taking photos of some of the more drastic situations, and soon he was giving programs in various communities. The matter was being talked about over an ever widening area, due in great part to Rupp's efforts, but also because the drought intensified.

Unfortunately, Rupp believes that even with above normal moisture this year and in years to follow, many streams, particularly in northeast Nebraska but also in other sections of the state, will never return to their "normal" condition due to the extensive land use changes, irrigation development and other factors.

His attitude is far from optimistic, but he has many facts and speculations to back up his beliefs. Following what he

can describe only as ''the biggest fish kill in the history of Nebraska", in the summer of 1976 because of drought, water removal and poor use, complaints came in. Few of these were from environmentalists or fishermen—they came from farmers. Neighbors became angry when someone upstream removed the last drop of water from a normally adequate stream. Those downstream blamed any or all of those above. And, Rupp stressed, all of these people were astounded when they learned that Nebraska has an antiquated set of surface water laws, and a seniority pumping system but no means of regulating over development and abuse in an "epidemic" situation such as occurred in 1976.

There is much to be done in the area of water law, apparently, as was pointed out by the summer of 76. Obviously, things cannot go on the way they have, or neighborhood violence is likely to break out. And, even worse than one man removing every last drop and not allowing his neighbor any, is that removal of that water also killed the stream. To grow a few more bushels of corn, Rupp says, more water than is needed is removed from the rivers, destroying all habitat that takes years to es- tablish. In many cases, the streams may never return to their former status. "Well soon be out of business as far as stream fishing is concerned", he forecasts.

Rupp says during his program that pollution has been a major problem, especially in eastern Nebraska, but that conditions were gradually improving. There is much wildlife involved 32 NEBRASKAIand

JULY 1977 33   volved in streams besides fish, including waterfowl on down to snails and minute life, which enhance the lives of higher creatures. There is also canoeing, plus other forms of recreation that rely on the existence of water. There is also the esthetic aspect, as many people feel there is much value merely in the existence of a flowing stream.

But, Rupp says, even though a person doesn't care in the least about the wild or free aspects of streams, there are other values. One of these is the carrying away of waste materials, as the dilution factor is relied upon in many instances to take waste material from treatment plants and lagoons. When the volume of water is reduced, the dilution rate also drops, and what may have been a harmless or tolerable situation becomes serious. There is no longer a purifying effect, but pollution. The same is true of a stream carrying feed lot runoff.

Recharging the water table in areas adjacent to the stream is a benefit which many peopie don't fully appreciate, Rupp stresses. Possibly no one knows how important flowing water is to this phenomenon.

Hydro-electric power production is an important nonconsumptive use, and obviously it requires a certain volume of water. Then there is recreation, and habitat for furbearers, and irrigation.

But, Rupp is a fisheries biologist, so that is the area he is most concerned with. In fact, he tries to avoid arguments over water law and such matters, except as they relate to fish. Pollution is one area that does enter the picture, yet that is something that was improving. Yet, Rupp charges, 'what good does it do to work hard clearing up pollution, then having the stream totally dry up?"

34 NEBRASKAIand

Dewatering and direct killing of fish and other aquatic life is big threat to streams. But, other misuse of land and water also hurts, as sand from careless gravel pit operations and silt released by tree removal and farming riverbanks are major pollutants. Today's problems could yet be trifling in face of future demands on land and water

So-called "improvements" have also had considerable impact, most of them bad from wildlife and fisheries viewpoints, Rupp says. He shows pictures of an "ideal" trout stream, then contrasts it with a channelized ditch which contains no habitat, and which can support a drastically reduced fish population at best.

Perhaps channelization is coming in for a new look now, as engineers realize that although it may alleviate local flooding, the more rapid movement of water from one area merely means it is being dumped upon someone downstream, and possibly being compounded by runoff from many areas, for more massive flooding.

Another major factor in the water and pollution problem is the trend toward all-out farm production, Rupp claims. Land clearing and farming right up to the stream bank removes all protection from the river and causes banks to slough off. This not only means severe loss of topsoil, but pollution of the stream. Silt causes many problems, with fish kills one of them. Land that is simply not suited or capable of being farmed is cleared, leveled and developed for irrigation then sold at impressive profits.

A great many of the old-time "Sandhill" residents are more disturbed than anyone about the rate of irrigation development and the breaking up of sandhill pastures. They are convinced that they know what the sandhills can or cannot do, technological improvements notwithstanding. They are suspicious of the massive "outside" investments, often by speculators, for they will have to live with the mistakes such as severe wind erosion and lowered water tables. Many feel it is purely exploitation, with no thought given to the future.

Most of the conflict over water has been and will probably continue to be between irrigators-surface water users versus ground water. Presently there are more deep wells than surface irrigators in the state, with about 60,000 wells registered. Whereas the groundwater withdrawal is a long-range and indirect cause of water problems, surface use is direct and short-term. And, I believe surface irrigation was what had us in a lot of trouble last year in the northeast, and caused some of our massive fish kills. Most of the surface water laws in the state were drawn up in the 1800's, and they are in severe need of overhaul. There are somewhere in the area of 8,000 permits outstanding to withdraw from streams, with an increasing number of permits issued each year. Ironically, as the number of streams drying up increases, the demand for permits also increases. It just doesn't make sense to give rubber-stamp approval for applications when there is no water in the streams for the people to use. I believe several more of our major streams will be completely dewatered soon because of the increasing number of withdrawal permits being issued.

And the Platte. For two months last summer, not a drop of water was in the river from Central City to Columbus. Adjacent ponds dropped as much as 6 feet. In years past, the Platte has always come back in the spring, but with continued development upstream, I wonder how long this will be possible.

Although the big rivers get the attention of the media, it is the loss of smaller streams, the nursery streams, that is more tragic. Surely it is unfair for one farmer to be in an irrigation district and pay for water, and use it wisely. While another man, because he lives on the banks of a stream, can stick in a pipe and pump out all he wants, for whatever he wants, totally free. And remember, state law says that surface water belongs to the public.

"In one way", Rupp theorizes, "the drought could be a blessing in disguise as it did focus a lot of attention on the overall water situation. If we had gone on losing one or two streams a year, nobody would have gotten very excited about it. By the year 2000, all the people and kids growing up would be conditioned to having dry streams at least part of the year and would think little about it. But, when we lose so many all at once, it tends to hit us between the eyes and people kind of get more excited."

Logan Creek in Cuming County was the center of a lot of controversy. That stream hadn't gone dry in the memory of the oldest residents along the creek, yet we had a massive fish kill last summer. And, it was an important local fishery. But the story is the same over and over, as creek after creek dried up totally or became so dewatered they were worthless to everyone and the fish. Some became overheated, others retained only a trickle of water. These I am sure will be lost in another few years no matter what the rainfall situation, if unregulated development continues.

Each year we stocked northern pike in streams in the district—20,000 to 30,000 and had fair results. In many streams they grew very rapidly, perhaps 16 inches the first year. Last summer, virtually every stream that had been stocked since 1970 was dewatered severely and we had heavy fish kills.

One of the big gaps in our state's water laws is that fish and wildlife have no legal recognition. What we are saying is that they therefore are considered to have no value to Nebraskans. This has always been a problem as agricultural crops and land have a definite value, so it is therefore difficult to compare the (Continued on page 44)

JULY 1977 35

the Legend of Pahuk

by Ken Bouc

MORE THAN a century ago, a red man and a white man standing on a bluff overlooking the Platte River near Fremont might each have had grand visions and dreams about that particular area of Nebraska.

For the Indian, the site would have brought to mind the mysterious religious rituals of the Pawnee, along with visions of the beaver, elk, buffalo and other animal-gods that he believed lived inside the sheer face of the bluff rising out of the river. To the Indian, the spot was "Pahuk" or "Nahurak Waruksti", the most sacred place in his domain.

The white man, however, would have turned his thoughts to the rolling southern slope of the bluffs. In his mind's eye, he would have seen a bustling city of the future, the projected capital city of the territory and state of Nebraska. The white man's proposed capital, with the blessing of the Territorial Legislature of 1858, was to be called "Neapolis'

Few Nebraskans are aware of the fascinating stories centered around this place. The only hint of its past importance are a broken knee-high marker in a county road ditch near the site, northeast of Cedar Bluffs in Saunders County, and a vague reference on an official state historical marker several miles away.

The full story of Pahuk and Neapolis is now told only in the intriguing Pawnee legends gathered by ethnologists, and on the yellowed historical records of Nebraska's turbulent territorial period.

These histories show that events nearly joining the eras of Nebraska's aboriginal past and her future as a state at this spot, occurred during the fourth Territorial Legislature held at Omaha in December of 1857 and January of 1858. What happened at that session reflects the wild, unsettled condition of frontier Nebraska.

The session was marked by a riot on the floor of the Legislature, fist fights between members, a flashing of drawn knives and, finally, a split of the lawmakers into two factions, each holding separate meetings. The main issue was one that was to plague Nebraska for several more years: the location of the capital of the territory.

One group of legislators, a vociferous minority from Douglas County, naturally favored leaving the capital at its present location in Omaha. Earlier in the session, they had threatened to block all legislation until a bill to relocate the capital was withdrawn. They were supported in their effort by an unruly mob of Omahans that frequented the legislative chambers and promoted the violence.

The majority of the legislators, consisting of out-state delegates, seceded from the legislature because of the violence and disturbance, to meet in the more peaceful surroundings of Florence. While meeting in Florence, this quorum passed several bills, including one to move the capital to a 36 NEBRASKAIand townsite called Neapolis. Later, all of the acts of the "Florence session" were declared void, however, because of the split.

But in the summer of 1858, people had no way of knowing that the capital relocation bill of the Florence session would be thrown out, so some settlers moved onto the site to give the new town an early start. A Fremont man involved in an election dispute testified that, at that time, there was a settlement of about 15 or 20 shacks called Neapolis near the Platte a few miles upstream from Fremont.

Apparently, at the time there was some optimism about the future of Neapolis. A correspondent for the Pacific City (Iowa) Enterprise wrote on June 10 of that year that there was much talk of building a railroad from Plattsmouth to a nearby spot called Cedar Bluffs. The article also said that a steam sawmill had been built and had already produced over 70,000 feet of oak and walnut lumber; sod was being broken for farms; and settlers were "flocking in rapidly."

The article described the site of Neapolis as "within half-a-mile of the river on a beautiful elevation that appears more like an artificial mound than a work of nature. This elevation rises gently from all sides to the height of about forty feet above the level of the valley, and on top is a flat surface, embracing some four to six acres, which really seems as if nature had fixed that mound for the capitol buildings of the territory."

But the optimism reported by the Enterprise was unfounded. The Nebraska News (Nebraska City) jealous that Nebraska City wasn't chosen as the capital, exposed the fact that in January and February, shortly after the site of Neapolis was chosen, numerous politicians and speculators had filed claims on land adjacent to the townsite.

This revelation caused many Nebraskans, who had formerly favored the location of the capital at Neapolis, to look upon the idea with disfavor. This, coupled with the voiding of the Florence session's capital relocation act, caused the settlement to be abandoned by the spring of 1859.

While all this controversy was raging, it seems that the white man had little or no idea that Neapolis was close to a site so important to the Indian. But every Pawnee of that time, man and boy, knew of Pahuk and the sacred role it held.

In the Pawnee religion, the main diety was Tirawa. Under Tirawa were the gods of the heavens and the gods of the earth, the Nahurak (animals), the greatest of which lived at Pahuk. The animal lodge at Pahuk ruled over four other Nahurak lodges in Pawnee country. These less important lodges were La-la-wa-koh-ti-to (dark island), a chamber under an island in the Platte near Central City; Ah-ka-wit- akol (white bank) on the Loup fork opposite the (Continued on page 47)

JULY 1977 37

Adventures with Whiskers the Prairie Vole: The Class of 77

In the summer, Nebraska gets a new crop of babies. Write their names in the blanks below and put numbered letters in bottom line to read my message

Rock-a-bye babies in the grass nest Mm When the wind blows, snuggle and rest. When the stem bends, the wee nest will fall And down will come babies, wee nest and all. Oh! Hi there. I didn't see you walk in. I'm just minding the little ones for my sister while she's shopping. The wild barley is about ripe and she wanted to pick some for the winter. It's a busy time for all wild mothers, especially if you happen to be a vole and have six stub-tailed little ones begging for supper. Sometimes you humans think we wild animals have more than we can handle and try to help out. I appreciate your concern, but generally it only makes matters worse. Every spring, people find baby fawns curled up in the woods and think that they have lost their mothers. If they only knew that the mother deer was anxiously watching from back in the woods! Well, fawns need special milk and none is quite as good as mother's. Most baby deer that are taken home become sick and die. The ones that live grow up and become problems, too. They're too wild to keep but too tame to survive in the woods again. The same thing happens to baby foxes, coyotes and raccoons. The best thing to do if you find a wild baby is say hello and walk on by. We wild animals have been raising young for thousands of years and we're pretty good at it by now. If you do find some young wildlife and know that their mother has been killed, call my good friends at the Game Commission. They're trained nursemaids for wild animals and can find homes for the little orphans.

38 NEBRASKAIand  

SIX-LINED RACERUNNER

by John D. Lynch Associate Professor of Zoology School of Life Sciences, UNL Art by Neal Anderson

ONLY 10 SPECIES of lizards occur natively in Nebraska. Most are rare, secretive, or restricted in distribution, and inconspicuous. The six-lined racerunner is the only lizard distributed throughout the state, and although widespread, it has habitat preferences which render it locally abundant or rare. These lizards are slender, moderate-sized animals, of 6 to 8 inches in total length (more than half of which is the long tail), inhabiting sandy regions. They are especially abundant in the semi-open, well-drained brushy habitats along our major rivers. On sunny days these brown or dark green lizards with their seven yellow to greenish-blue stripes may be seen foraging in open areas peripheral to patches of vegetation. When approached, the lizards warily move away from the intruder, and if pursuit continues, they dash for the protection of dense vegetation (at Louisville Lakes Recreation Area, the lizards seem to prefer the patches of poison ivy scattered through the low dunes).

Racerunners may be quite abundant locally, up to 70 per acre. Their jerky movements as they forage for food alerts one to their presence. Frequently, the first hint of a race-runner in the vicinity is the interrupted rustling of dead leaves and grass. If one watches carefully without disturbing the lizard, he is likely to be rewarded by sighting .the animal as it continues foraging. The lizards are most active during mid-morning and late afternoon. By midday in western Nebraska, it is normally too hot and the lizards retire to burrows or retreat to the shade of bushes, venturing out into the sun only in pursuit of occasional prey items.

The six-lined racerunner is larger than most Nebraska lizards. The four kinds of skinks have large scales on both the back and belly and have short legs and relatively thick tails. The horned toad and fence lizards have large, keeled scales on the back. The earless lizard and the legless lizard are readily distinguished from the six-lined racerunner in their lacking of externally visible ears and legs, respectively. The scales on the back and sides of the racerunner are very tiny granules. The scales on the belly are large rectangular plates and those on the tail are large scales arranged in whorls.

Our racerunner is technically known as Cnemidophorus sexlmeatus, and is a member of the New World lizard family Teiidae. Teiids are especially diverse in South America. The six-lined racerunner is the most northern representative of the family and ranges across much of the eastern United States west through the southern Great Plains. In the American southwest, its relatives are especially numerous. A curious fact about some of the species in the American southwest is that unlike most vertebrate animals, the species are composed only of females. The six-lined race-runner is like most lizards, however, having both males and females. Males are more brightly colored with bluish green to green on the anterior part of the body and throat and breast. The same coloration is evident in females but of lesser intensity.

As suggested by the common name, these lizards are agile. They run rapidly across sand or more firm footing, and stop abruptly inside cover. Such an escape behavior tends to cause the pursuer's visual track to overrun the lizard. The coloration and color pattern render the lizards cryptic in prairie grasses. If the tail is seized, it breaks off. This caudal autonomy is a common trait of lizards and facilitates escape; the tail writhes about, holding the attention of the predator or pursuer, while the lizard continues flight. Once broken off, a new tail is regenerated but is shorter, lacks skeletal support, and cannot regenerate if broken below the point of the original break.

Racerunners regularly use burrows, many of their own making. Burrows in sand are shallow and less than two feet in length ending in a chamber beneath a bush or rock. Overwintering probably occurs in rodent burrows. The lizards emerge in April and May, with courtship and mating occurring in May and June. Courtship is not so elaborate as in some lizards. Males display the bluish areas on the chest by raising themselves up on their forelimbs. Following display, the male chases the femaie, bites her on the nape or flank, and mounts her. The female deposits one to three clutches of two or three eggs each, during June and July, in shallow holes. The eggs require about two months to hatch. The hatchlings are proportioned and colored as are adults although the blue coloration about the head is not developed. At hatching, the lizards are 21/2 to 3'/2 inches in total length and if they survive, they will breed in their next summer. Six-lined racerunners incur a 50 percent annual mortality, falling prey to birds, small mammals and snakes. One of the more obvious predators of the racerunner in Nebraska is the blue racer. These snakes are frequently noticed pursuing racerunners or attempting to eat captured racerunners. Also, the egg clutches of the racerunner surely fall prey to the western hognose snake. The racerunner itself is a carnivore, feeding on insects and other arthropods. The most frequent food items include grasshoppers, ants and spiders.

Original art of the racerunner was done by Neal Anderson, and is for sale. He also will do other paintings on a commission basis. He can be contacted through NEBRASKAland, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. 42 NEBRASKAIand

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wildlife values against the calculable crops.

"If everyone could have traveled around the district, or around the state for that matter, and seen the pathetic situations that I encountered, it would surely change some minds. We've taken water for granted in the state for a long time, but surely the time has come to start appreciating it. It is much like when the buffalo were here in almost unlimited herds and it seemed there could never be any end to them. Then, suddenly, their status dropped to the point where they were almost irretrievable.

"Already it could be too late in some areas to reverse the trend and retrieve the streams. Unless something is done soon, we will keep losing rivers. This water development situation is irreversible under existing laws—we are on a one-way street with no turning back.

"And yet, the irrigator has the most to lose. He is the one investing sizable amounts of money in equipment that in some areas could be pumping only air in a few years. Surely we can reach some sort of common ground and take the necessary steps so that we can have streams and irrigation. Kansas recently passed a real tough water-use penalty law by a vote of 40 to 0, which seems pretty impressive.

"I want to point out that I am hardly in a position to criticize anyone. I merely think we have the ability to recognize and ap- proach our problems. We must convince people that we do have a problem and it will be a problem until we solve it. We just cannot ignore it, for it can't go away. Irrigation is important—we would have been in bad trouble last summer without it. But, other things are important too, and we must take a long look at our values and do what is best for all Nebraskans, including those of the future."

SYMBOLIC AMERICANA (Continued from page 13)

Elk Sings," "Cibola," "Fur," "Arrow Hawk," and others;

(5) Provide other human services that bring people together from around the world in a spirit and unity of awareness, appreciation, respect, harmony and mutual achievement for the universal good.

Symbolic Americana, album I, features 20 original songs by Phil White Hawk and 4 original painting reproductions by Rainbow Touraine. The songs include Returning of the Medicine Horse, Spoken For, Vision Seeker, Returning of Land & Life, Hold On, Big Medicine, River of the Moon, America, Carry On and Sanctuary.

Released in June, Phil's new single album and 8-track is named "Black Elk Sings" and features 10 agrarian American songs including Black Elk Sings, Walk in the Wind, Relic, Seasons of Plenty, Simple Man, Its So Easy, and To Be A Farmer. Simple Man was written in honor of President Jimmy Carter. Two new Touraine original paintings, "Black Elk Sings" and "Relic," are featured on the Symbolic Americana album II.

Two large, four-color, 34"x24" prints of "Encore" and "Returning of the Medicine Horse" were early releases. Others will be reproduced as soon as sufficient funds are generated.

It is believed that the songs and paintings will enrich the educational process for all age groups. Books of the paintings and songs are now being designed for the classroom and other education purposes. Bob expressed that, "It seems everyone is excited about our projects, and provide us with generous assistance."

The artist from Arizona began drawing almost before she could walk. Encouraged by her parents to continue in art, she did so without any formal training. Rainbow is living in Lincoln and has a second studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. Phil is also sel-taught. He served in the United States Navy, was a police officer in New Mexico, and graduated with a degree in public administration from the University of Arizona. He has written over 200 original songs, plus 3 complete 3-hour musicals for stage and screen and 2 contatas.

The song writer from Alaska, painter from Arizona, and educator/producer from Iowa, met in Nebraska thanks to Governor and Mrs. J. James Exon. All were ready for the call and are now doing what they like best . . . creating art, music and enrichment programs . . . serving people in the heartland and around the world.

They will be easy to identify as they travel about in "Lucy," a pickup truck which they named in honor of Lucy Looks Twice, daughter of Black Elk.

Among the many songs of Phil White Hawk are nostalgic, warm, exciting, and even humorous ones. Perhaps one of the most interesting is 'To Be A Farmer/' which he wrote after his arrival in Nebraska. It combines many feelings and observations, and is very popular with audiences during the program. It goes like this:

44 NEBRASKAland NEBRASKAland has For the first time in many years, NEBRASKAIand has produced color prints to decorate your office, den or recreation room. It is a thank-you for readers, and an invitation to those who don't now receive our magazine. So, be nice to yourself and give us a try. We'll make you happy you did. Simply fill out the order form below, enclose a check, and mail it to us right away! NEBRASKAIand has some mighty exciting features planned, so don't miss out on any of them. In addition to the monthly magazine, you will receive the free prints plus a free subscription to the monthly newspaper of the Game and Parks Commission, Afield & Afloat, which will keep you abreast of the latest outdoor happenings. Order right away, before it slips your mind. Don't miss out on this special offer! Get your choice of prints now! This offer is good for new subscriptions or renewals. Pine Ridge Whitetail Autumn at Arbor Lodge Trout Fishing the Snake River Pine Ridge Country Two for Aiip Select any two prints with a one-year subscription, or get a complete set Of two of four for only a $9 two-year order! YES! I want to take advantage of NEBRASKAIand's special offer. Please enter my subscriptions as specified below and send me my free, 26 by 32-inch, scenic Nebraska prints as indicated. One Year at $5 Two Years at $9 Order extra prints for $1.50 each; any two for $3.00; or all four for only $5.00 Name Add ress. Apt. # City. State Zip Signature (valid only with full signature) (Limited offer expires July 31, 1977) For gift subscriptions, attach additional sheet. Give type of subscription (one year or two years), name, address, prints you wish sent to them, and check below. □ Please send gift subscriptions as shown on attached sheet. When you order a two-year subscription, you will be sent the complete set of Nebraska prints listed below. With a one-year subscription, you may pick any two prints. Please indicate your choice. Pine Ridge Whitetail Autumn at Arbor Lodge Trout Fishing the Snake Pine Ridge Country Send order to: NEBRASKAIand P.O. Box 30370 Lincoln, NE 68503   ... an outdoor tip from your Big JJ agent Grey Fox This sly representative of the foxes adds a unique capability to his other arts and crafts. That is the ability to climb trees. This may aid in his indiscriminate eating habits, which include items from corn and berries to rodents. Overall body length is about 40 inches, weight is 7 to 10 pounds, and his coloring is a mixed grey and black. ...this message brought to you by the INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF NEBRASKA easy on energy nebraska energy conservation committee LAKE VIEW FISHING CAMP • Modern Mobile Home and Cabin Rentals • Modern Campground • Playground Right On Lake • Swimming Beach • Boat & Pontoon Rentals Center-South Side Lake McConaughy All Facilities for the Fisherman White bass—Aug. & Sept. best time Walleye—May 15-July 15; good in fall Stripers—June 15-July 15; good in fall Catfish—Spring; July 15-Sept. 15 best Trout—Spring & fall; May, Sept. & Oct. Home of Nebraska's No. 1 Walleye The Van Borkum's R.R. Brule, Nebraska 69127 For information: Call (308) 284-4965 Ogallala got tapes of country music playing on my stereo This rig cost $60,000 and Tm paying row by row. Tm in air-conditioned comfort so I give each day my all But the land needs me much closer than my factory without walls. I got herbicide and pesticide and fertilizer too, A clean machine with atrazine and tons of seed I grew. I was feeling self sufficient as I turned and braked and steered, Then all I owned began to fade and time had disappeared. (chorus) Then I thought of what it means to be a farmer, Lord there ain't too many left of us today; Then I thought of what it means to be a farmer, Cause it's still the cleanest, freest, brightest way. Well, my hands turned rough and calloused, And my face had many seams; My arms were pulling forward, I was driving daddy's team. I remember how he walked this land, How he worked and sweat and cried, I remember daddy's faith in God, And I remember daddy's pride. Now my son's away in college, And my daughter moved to town My quick release is broken And the water table's down. And my loans keep getting bigger, And good help is hard to find, Next year we get the pivot And she's whizzing through my mind. (chorus)

This is a relatively new song, copywrited in 1977, but as comprehensive as it is, it still is only a small part of the emotional response ellicited by the program. Phil White Hawk's songs, presented with photographs of Rainbow's art, and various scenics, and "people pictures," make it an intriguing, impressive program. It is, indeed, an exciting and memorable exposure to Americana in the best sense,

46 NEBRASKAIand THE LEGEND OF PAHUK (Continued from page 37)

Cedar River; Kitz-a-witz-uk (water on a bank), also called Pahowa by the Pawnee, a large round hill on the Solomon River in Kansas; and Pahur (hill that points the way) now called Guide Rock.

Dr. M R. Gilmore, an expert on Pawnee ethnology and one-time curator of the Nebraska State Historical Society Museum, described Pahuk as follows: "From its very nature it is unique, being distinctly different from any other hill in Pawnee country. Pahuk stands in a bend of the Platte River where the stream flows from the west in a sweep turning abruptly toward the southeast. The head of the hill juts out into the course of the river like a promonotory or headland, which is a literal meaning of the word 'Pahuk'. The north face of the bluff from the water's edge to the summit is heavily wooded. Among the timber are many cedar trees, so that in winter when the deciduous trees are bare, the bluff is dark with the mass of evergreen cedar. The cedar is a sacred tree, so its presence adds mystery to the place."

It was at this picturesque spot that the legends say the animals of the most powerful Nahurak lodge met to aid or harm the fortunes of men. The Nahurak took favored persons and taught them the things of the medicine man. They also learned to live like the cunning coyote, swim like the turtle and fly like the eagle. These men became the great leaders of the Pawnee.

The Nahurak council at Pahuk met in a large cave far under the bluff, according to Pawnee legends. Captain Luther North, a leader of the famous Pawnee Scouts during the Sioux wars, described the entrance of the cave as he had heard it related by his scouts.

"Their (the Nahurak) home is deep down in the hill and the entrance is below the water of the river. There is a long tunnel to go through before you come to the opening of the house and at the door as guards are a huge rattlesnake and a gigantic grizzly bear. Anyone entering must pass between them and if they show the least sign of fear they would never be heard from again," wrote North in a letter preserved at the State Historical Society.

After the Pawnee were moved from their Nebraska home to a reservation in Oklahoma, several ethnologists recorded their myths and legends. Although Pahuk is mentioned in many of these legends, one story is particularly dominant.

A summary of a version of this legend recorded by Gilmore is as follows: A man killed his son as a sacrifice to Tirawa and threw the body into the Platte. The boy's body floated down the river until it neared the hill called Pahuk. Two buzzards saw the body and decided to carry it on their backs to the Nahurak lodge nearby.

The messenger of the Nahurak, the

kingfisher, flew over the hill at that time and, seeing the boy, took pity on him. The kingfisher entered the lodge and asked the council of animals to help the boy.

The council deliberated for a long time, but could not decide what to do. So the Nahurak at Pahuk sent the kingfisher to the other lodges of Nahurak with the problem. But, at Ah-Kaz-wit-akol, Kit-a-witz-uk, La-la-wa-koh-ti-to and Pahur, the councils all gave the same answer: "It is for the council at Pahuk to decide."

Their answer was returned to the lodge at Pahuk and the matter was brought before the supreme council of four Nahurak chiefs. They decided to put the boy's fate in the hands of the kingfisher, and he immediately answered that he wished the boy to be brought back to life.

Then all the Nahurak gathered around the boy's body at the top of the hill and breathed on him, bringing him back to life.

The boy stayed at Pahuk from that time, which was summer, until the time of the fall buffalo hunt. While he was there, the Nahurak instructed him in the art of healing and imparted to him all their wonderful powers.

He then returned to his people to live a long and useful life, gaining much honor as one of their great leaders. He gathered about him wise young men and taught them what he knew and they, in turn, instructed others. In this way, the arts of the medicine man were given to the Pawnee people.

The story of Pahuk was kept alive only through legends such as this, as the Pawnee passed them on from father to son on their reservation in far-away Oklahoma. The public's awareness of the existence of Pahuk and Neapolis diminished, until in the 1920's and 30's not even the locations of the sites were known for certain.

In 1927, a committee of Dr. A. E. Sheldon, secretary of the State Historical Society, Captain North and several interested residents of Dodge and Saunders counties, attempted unsuccessfully to have Pahuk enshrined as an historic site. Several years earlier, they had brought a very old Skidi (Wolf tribe) Pawnee chief named White Eagle from Oklahoma to pinpoint the exact location of Pahuk.

Edgar Cullen, whose family had owned the land for three generations and who had lived on the property in his youth, was present when White Eagle made the identification. According to Cullen, White Eagle said that, as a boy, he watched wagon trains moving along what is now highway 30 and maintained a lookout for unfriendly Indians while standing on Pahuk and looking north and west across the broad Platte Valley.

The exact location of Neapolis was also in question at that time. Local residents knew that the site of the town was nearby, and that a mound answering the description of the site given in the Pacific City Enterprise existed near Pahuk with an old nickname of "Capitol Hill". It was also known that, when the original homesteader moved on the land in 1867, he found stakes marking out what looked like a townsite, and an 1858 newspaper article gave the location of Neapolis at about the N.W. corner of section 26 of that township, less than half a mile from where the stakes were found.

But no official records backing up this circumstantial evidence was found until 1931. Clarence Reckmeyer of Fremont, a Nebraska history buff, located copies of the articles of incorporation of the Neapolis Land Company and the pre-emptory declaratory statements on the land in the area, which also indicate that "Capitol Hill' was to have been the site of Neapolis. In 1932, a group of Fremont Boy Scouts erected the small marker along the roadside under Reckmeyer's sponsorship, but no other serious effort to enshrine the site has been made.

Today, this fascinating place lies all but forgotten near where a little-used county road ends at the sheer bluff high above the Platte. Pahuk has suffered considerable loss of stature from the river's erosion, while junk litters the face of the bluff at the end of the road. And, Capitol Hill boasts only a center-pivot irrigation system instead of the magnificent halls of government that the promoters of Neapolis had envisioned.

Both Pahuk and Capitol Hill are on private property, but the road ends very near both. And, standing there with the broad vista of the Platte Valley stretching below to the north and west, it's not hard to understand why this place once inspired men, both red and white.

48 NEBRASKAIand

Trading Post

Acceptance of advertising implies no endorsement of products or services.

Classified Ads: 20 cents a word, minimum order $4.00. September 1977 closing date, July 8. Send classified ads too Trading Post, NEBRASKAIand, 2200 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68503, P.O. Box 30370.

DOGS

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IRISH SETTERS, German Shorthairs, Labradors (biack or yellow) AKC $40.00, FOB Atkinson. We do not ship. Roland Everett, Atkinson, Nebr. 68713.

A.KG GERMAN Shorthair pup-Field Champion Bloodlines. Large selection-D. M. Kennels, Route 1, Gretna, Nebraska 68028-Phone 402-332-3237.

MISCELLANEOUS

FISHING EQUIPMENT-New expanded line for serious fishermen. Standard and custom flies, lures, rods, prepared bait, etc. Rod and reel repair. Catalog. Dawn, Box 30401, Lincoln, Nebr. 68503.

")UMBO Wisconsin, Northern Bobwhites and Chukars; Day-old and starter chicks available now; adults this fall. Taking orders for adult Gambel Quail and Golden Pheasants for fall delivery. Frank Roy, 517 E. 16th St., Grand Island, Nebr. 68801, Phone (308) 384-9845.

ATTENTION FISHERMEN AND DIVERS-Lake McConaughy topography from 1936 original surveys. Scale 1"-2,000', 2' to 10' contours. Send check or money order for $17.50 to: Bruce Petzoldt, 811 Maberly, Holdrege, Nebraska 68949.

GUNS—Browning, Winchester, Remington, others. Hi- powers, shotguns, new, used, antiques. Want Pre-1964 Winchesters. Buy-Sell-Trade. Ph. (402) 729-2888. Bedlan's Sporting Goods, Fairbury, NE 68352.

FAIRFIELD CAMPGROUND along Niobrara River-camping, hiking, scenery, trailrides. Near ideal canoe water. Canoe rental, canoe trips, car shuttle, river information. Contact Loring & Beryl Kuhre, )ohnstown, Nebraska 69214 Phone 402-497-3555.

FISH FOR SALE: Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout and minnows for pond and lake stocking. Contact the Pleasant Valley Fish Farm, Route 1, McCook, Nebraska 69001. Phone (308) 345-6599.

DUCK HUNTERS ATTENTION: We have a limited supply of paper-asphalt-laminated burlap, ideal for duck blinds or boat camouflaging; width 40 inches, lengths up to 250 yards; price $1.25 per yard. Please add 20c: per yard postage and handling for mail orders. May be bought direct at Roman Packing Company, south Hi way 81, Norfolk, Nebraska or order by mail, address Roman Packing Company, Box 702, Norfolk, Nebraska 68701.

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KARL SCHWARZ Master Taxidermists. Mounting of game heads-birds-fish-animals-fur rugs-robes-tanning buckskin. Since 1910. 424 South 13th Street, Dept. A, Omaha, Nebraska 68102.

TANNING-all kinds including beaver, coyote, raccoon, deer and elk. Many years experience in making fur skins into garments. Complete fur restyling, repair, cleaning and storage service. Haeker's Furriers, Alma Tanning Company, Alma, Nebr. 68920.

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PROGRAMS ... UP IN THE AIR

(Continued from page 15)

effort with the State Department of Environmental Control, Game and Parks Commission water quality specialists fly both a spring and fall monitoring of sand and gravel operations on every major stream in Nebraska. When deposits of "waste fines" (sand) are being made directly into stream channels, instead of into the required holding ponds, location of the violation and operation are marked on a map. Owners are then contacted and advised of the infraction and given time to rectify the situation. The aerial surveys easily pinpoint flagrant violators who must appear at an administrative hearing, which in some cases has led to a shutdown of the gravel operations.

People who see the brown and white, twin engined plane flying low over a river probably wonder what's going on, not realizing that someone in state government is simply protecting the public interest by insuring clean, undegraded streams, which mean better conditions for fish.

A typical entry on Stacey's flight log shows an early morning takeoff with a game biologist and another staff member aboard; a stop at Columbus to pick up a fisheries biologist, and a landing at North Platte. There, the wildlife man departs for a meeting with the Big Mac Sportsman's Club, and Commissioner "Tod" Kuntzelman climbs aboard. Then, it's off to Holdrege to a meeting with the South Platte United Chambers of Commerce to discuss the dewatering of Nebraska's rivers At night, the route is retraced and the Aero Commander touches down in Lincoln at 1 a.m.

Similar itineraries are common the year-round. Such use of the plane keeps Commission staff on the job rather than behind the wheel of a car. It allows key personnel to make the best use of their time, lets them attend important functions they might otherwise miss, and minimizes expenses for lodging and meals.

Director Gene Mahoney, who admits to a slight fear of flying, finds that traveling by air is the only way he can fit all committments into his jammed schedule. And, other passengers find things just a bit more cozy since Mahoney had Stacey install a desk aboard so that he can carry on business as usual in his airborne office.

Though it is certainly much more than a mobile office, the Aero Commander's desk illustrates the aircraft's contribution to the agency's efficiency.

50 NEBRASKAIand