At the turn of the 20th Century, Kansas didn't have a lot of fish. So, the state decided to raise its own. It still does. One challenge faced by state officials in the early 1900s was how to get those fish to people across a state that's 400 miles wide. Guest Commentator Adam Hodge has this look back at a fishy tale.
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The Fishy Tale of Angler No. 1
By Adam Hodge
The State of Kansas once owned a train car used for distributing fish. For more than 20 years, it visited all parts of the state to stock streams and lakes. The car was named Angler No. 1. A special exhibit on display through the end of June tells its story.
In addition to providing information about the fish car’s life and times, the display includes photographs, a floor plan, a map, and other documents.
The state archives hold many records that illuminate the history of the fish car and fisheries management in the state, including reports from the fish commissioner. Yes, Kansas had a fish commissioner, later called a warden.
From 1906 until 1929, that rail car was the primary way that the Kansas Fish and Game Department delivered fish raised at the state hatchery in Pratt to waterways across the Sunflower State.
The fish car was retired long ago, but the hatchery at Pratt is still up and running.
A hundred years ago, state officials struggled to satisfy a growing demand for sportfish – primarily bass, panfish and catfish. And by the early 1920s, the hatchery in Pratt was producing about 360,000 fish per year.
During that time, all anyone had to do was submit an application to the state fish warden. As long as the applicant intended to stock a public body of water, Angler No. 1 would deliver their fish - free of charge! Anglers and sportsmen’s clubs overwhelmed the warden with applications for free fish.
The position of state fish commissioner was established in 1877. Back then, various railroads transported personnel - with fish in cans - to train stations, where the fish were distributed. This generally got the job done, but it was fraught with challenges.
Different rail lines serving different parts of the state required frequent train changes. Deviations from schedules caused the staff transporting fish to miss a train, and the arrangement limited the volume of fish that could be delivered at any one time.
As the hatchery at Pratt grew following its birth in 1903, the fish warden successfully appealed for funding to purchase a dedicated fish train car with which to make deliveries. A fully-outfitted fish car, made by the Hicks Car Company of Chicago, was delivered in late 1906 at a cost of $7,277.
Angler No. 1 was a remodeled 1880s-style car of wooden construction. It featured a dozen 200-gallon tanks for carrying fish. It also included accommodations for staff members transporting the fish -- a kitchen, toilet, dining room and sleeping quarters for several people.
Angler No. 1 was big news back then. Local newspapers often reported its anticipated and recent visits, providing readers with information about where fish were being stocked.
The train car could carry about 8,000 smaller fish in its early days but its capacity increased to about 14,000 before it was finally retired.
During the fall 1913 and spring 1914 stocking seasons combined, the fish car visited 102 out of the state's 105 counties. It carried an average of 9,600 fish in its 29 trips out of Pratt during that time.
A changing transportation landscape brought about the retirement of Angler No. 1 in 1929. A few years earlier, the department had begun experimenting with truck deliveries. Automobile technology developed as did the state’s network of roads and highways.
As for Angler No. 1., after two decades of service, it was sold for salvage and junked in Topeka.
Today, all the fish delivered to public waters are transported by truck.
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Guest Commentator Adam Hodge is Head of Reference at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka. The special exhibit, Fish on the Rails, is on display inside the research room at the archives through the end of June. If no one is there to greet you, it just means they've "Gone Fishin'."
Learn more at KansasHistory.gov.