On my last two trips, I made a special effort to heed my advice. It was quite easy, considering the stunning surroundings of the Green River in northeastern Utah and the Missouri River in west-central Montana.
During my floats down these large Western rivers, I had plenty of time between landing trout and whitefish to ponder the past. And what a history it is.
I've floated the Green from Flaming Gorge Dam to the Colorado border and the stretch from the dam to Little Hole more times than I can count. Each time I've taken a moment or two to reflect that a one-armed explorer by the name of John Wesley Powell also traveled through the same canyon, twice. I often point out to my fishing companions that Powell camped in the group of cottonwoods just across from the Little Hole ramps back in 1869.
The river has changed a lot since Powell's trips - a huge slab of concrete will do that - but the scenery remains much the same.
During slow stretches on the Missouri, I found myself staring at the banks and visualizing a group of men with long ropes pulling a boat up the river.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition used the wide Missouri in 1805 as part of its historic journey to the West Coast. The river played a huge role in the success of the team.
Catching rainbow and brown trout more than 200 years later on the Missouri made fishing seem petty compared to what they were doing.
Sticking with the history theme a little longer, I thought about other waters I've fished that had an interesting past. What I discovered was that the history I ended up reflecting on was quite a bit more recent than those big rivers provided.
Memories of trips with family and friends flooded me, and I soon realized that maybe fishing wasn't so petty after all. It may not have the national impact that Lewis and Clark and Powell had as explorers charting the unknown, but those cherished experiences create bonds just as important.
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* BRETT PRETTYMAN can be contacted at brettp@sltrib. com or 801-257-8902.
