Challenges managing “population of roving paddlefish”

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Mar 192017
 

Josh Rouse writes a detailed examination of the status of #paddlefish reproduction and management in #Kansas, #Oklahoma, and #Missouri. The #Marais_des_Cygnes River in Kansas is the upper reaches of the #Osage_River of Missouri (see Damming the Osage for the story of why the name changes at the state line).

Neely offered Grand Lake in Oklahoma as an example of a highly productive system. He said paddlefish grow faster in that body of water than almost anywhere else in the world because of the high availability of food.

“It boggles my mind how a fish can get up to 100 pounds and never eat anything that you can see with a naked eye,” Neely said. “It’s just really neat how they can do it.”

Foster, Missouri Railroad Station and Handcar

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Jan 232013
 

Foster Railroad Station

Cabinet card of Foster, Missouri, circa 1910

The watershed of the upper Osage/Marais des Cygnes, Little Osage and Marmaton rivers is more crisscrossed by railroads than that of the main Osage and contains a number of much-diminished towns like Foster.  Today, there is still a bandstand (but the band didn’t play on) and a post office (and with pending budget cuts this may soon vanish).

We spent a brief Sunday morning in Foster (Bates County) not long ago – capturing the photogenic, gradual decay and making friends with a black dog. (dog chasing shadow video) Even smart dogs never quite figure out shadows and reflections.

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BRIDGING THE OSAGE

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Nov 072012
 

 Hand colored postcard, circa 1910

Marais des Cygnes, variously creatively spelled, is the principal extension of the Osage River. Through Kansas it’s a more bridge-able stream, and was crossed in many places by iron truss bridges beginning in the 1870s.

In the background of the low Ott Dam, which once powered a grist mill, is another iron “wagon bridge” as they were called. These bridges were a huge improvement to rural life as the mud bottomed and banked Marais des Cygnes was difficult to ford even in dry weather. Pictures of the construction of these bridges are almost unknown. Once built, there were popular subjects for commercial photographers.  As they disappear, replaced by sturdier but singularly unattractive beam bridges, there is usually a round of nostalgia-fueled protest in the local newspaper.

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PAPINVILLE PICNIC AND HARMONY MISSION TOUR

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Oct 042012
 

Phyllis Stewart of the Papinville Historical and Cemetery Association explains the history and significance of Harmony Mission to the crowd.

The Papinville, Missouri, Historical Association held its annual picnic this year on the first day of autumn. This afforded the rare opportunity to tour the site of  Harmony Mission on the banks of the Marais des Cygnes in Bates County.  The first Indian mission in Missouri was established in response to a request  by the Osage Indians to the President that a school be built  and the missionaries and families arrived in 1821. The mission was located next to the “Great Village” of the Osage Indians on the Marais Des Cygnes River. The site is now on private land, but for this day the owner allowed visitors.  A small ‘train’ of horse drawn and motorized wagons drove through the pastures and pecan groves to the site.

Chief Jack Arthur Whitehorn of the Missouriah-Osage tribes spoke at the museum about Osage history in Missouri. Other activities on the grounds of the museum included, live music, cake walks, a pie auction and picnic. The Association reported they are “singing a happy song due to the great success of the 21st Annual Papinville Picnic.”

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