Nebraskaland

64 Nebraskaland • November 2021 1960s, dry pellets revolutionized the way hatcheries feed fi sh. Upstream BaƩ le Although hatchery staff was grateful to the fort for allowing ponds on the property, the distance from the main grounds could be problematic. Each of the ponds was upwards of 10 miles away. One year, after a period of heavy snowfall, hatchery staff reported fi lling backpacks with fi sh food and plodding on snowshoes to certain ponds to keep fi sh alive. Clarence Storbeck of Chadron, a longtime assistant supervisor in Crawford, said hatchery employees stocked the abandoned cellar of the Wood Reserve's offi cers' cabin with overnight necessities in case weather left them stranded. In late summer of dry years, water at some of the ponds would get too low and fi sh would require salvaging. One especially challenging period was during World War II when the fort's 1,000-man prisoner of war camp was constructed near the Cherry Creek ponds. Not only did the "blitzkrieg" of construction result in eroded sediment piling up in the Cherry Creek ponds, but also the water was diverted away from the Grabel Ponds to meet the demands of the new facilities. The period brought another set of challenges. With hundreds and thousands of stock dams being constructed on farms and ranches at the encouragement of the Soil Conservation Service, the Crawford hatchery had a hard time keeping up with requests for fi sh. The hatchery's original service region included all of Nebraska, all of Wyoming, areas of South Dakota west of the Missouri River, and parts of Colorado. Of course, Crawford was not the only hatchery in Nebraska. The state's Game, Forestation and Parks Commission produced millions of fi sh at hatcheries near Gretna, Parks, Valentine and North Platte. Records show the Crawford facility had a positive working relationship with Nebraska's state fi sheries. It was often noted with gratitude that state employees provided pick-up and delivery of fi sh from Crawford. A Popular Place The hatchery was popular with visitors ranging from schoolchildren to distinguished dignitaries, reporting more than 12,000 visitors per year by the early 1950s. A publicity fl yer produced between 1957 and 1974 boasts that the Crawford Hatchery, then one of more than 90 such facilities across the nation, was producing in excess of 2 million fi sh per year for stockings in Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. By that time, the facility had narrowed its scope to largemouth bass, bluegills, rainbow trout and brown trout. "Several 1- to 3-acre earthen ponds on the Fort Robinson Reservation are used by the Crawford Hatchery to produce largemouth bass and bluegill sunfi sh for distribution to approved ponds and lakes," the author wrote. A Game and Parks employee feeds fi sh with a few of the facility's many visitors in August of 1985. DON CUNNINGHAM, NEBRASKALAND

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