George F. Grant
George F. Grant | |
|---|---|
 circa 1980 | |
| Born | September 18, 1906 |
| Died | November 2, 2008 (aged 102) |
| Occupation | Fly tying |
| Known for | Big Hole River conservation, Woven flies |
George F. Grant (September 18, 1906 – November 2, 2008)[1] was an American angler, author and conservationist from Butte, Montana. He was active for many years on the Big Hole River.[2]
Biography
George F. Grant began an innovative style of
In 1947, Grant married Annabell Thomson, and opened his own tackle shop that same year. Grant's Fly Shop was in operation until 1951. Shortly after closing his shop, he began working for Treasure State Sporting Goods. Throughout those years, Grant and his wife Annabell enjoyed spending time wading the Big Hole River, Grant proud that his "dyed in the wool tomboy" wife could fly cast like a pro.[5]
In 1967 Grant retired, lived summers on the Big Hole River, fished nearly every day, and began writing. Grant also edited the newsletter River Rat for Montana Trout Unlimited, writing many of the articles himself. He also wrote many essays published in local newspapers.
In addition to Grant's conservation work on the Big Hole, he campaigned in the mid-1970s for the cleanup of the Clark Fork River which was heavily polluted by the Anaconda Copper Mining Corporation's mining and smelting activities in the Butte-Anaconda region.
This was long before the creation of the
Grant fished primarily the
While George is most noted for his fly tying and conservation efforts - one of his greatest contributions was supporting his sister, Marcella Pitts, and raising his nephew, Francis C. Johnson. Fran opened Fran Johnson's Sport Shop in Butte Montana in 1965, and operated it until his death in 1985. George, Marcella, Fran, and his younger brother Howie, lived on the Big Hole River near Dewey during the Depression. George and Fran also operated a small Fly and Tackle shop named Trout Shop, located in West Yellowstone, in the years following WWII.
Grant established the River Rat Chapter of Trout Unlimited in 1972. His political leadership through this group and Montana Trout Unlimited led to passage of the Montana Streambed Protection Act in 1975. Grant also helped promote early efforts to insure anglers public access to streams and rivers, which in 1985 culminated in the Montana Stream Access Law. This local ([2]) Montana Trout Unlimited group is now called the George Grant Chapter.
In 1988 Grant established the Big Hole Foundation to focus conservation efforts on the river he had saved through his earlier conservation activities. Grant funded the organization's start-up through the sale of his split cane rod collection, his angling book collection, and through donations solicited from a nationwide cohort of supporters.
Grant's contributions were recognized in a
Works
Grant authored two books:
- Master Fly Weaver (1971); special edition reprinted in 1981.
- Montana Trout Flies (1972); special edition reprinted in 1981.
A collection of Grant's newspaper essays was published as Grant's Riffle (1997).
Grant's personal papers from 1973 to 1985 are held by the
References
- ^ Free Flows, Big Hole River Foundation, Fall 2006 [1] Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine re 100th birthday
- ^ "George Francis Grant (1906-2008): fly tyer, environmentalist, founder". 18 December 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
- ISBN 978-0-9721522-7-3.
- ^ "Federation of Flyfishers Awards-Past Recipients". Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
- ^ George F. Grant obituary from Montana Obituary and Death Notice Archive
- ^ "Collection 2507 - George F. Grant Papers, 1973-1985". Montana State University Library. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
Sources
- Pat Munday, George Grant and the Conservation of the Big Hole River Watershed Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Summer 2002): 20–37.
- George F. Grant, ed., The Upper Clark Fork River, a special edition of the River Rat (July/August 1976).
- Bill Rooney review of Three Men, Three Rivers in American Forests (September/October 1994).
- Wilkinson, Todd (2001). "Keeping Their Rivers: George Grant, ISBN 0-9653336-5-5.
- Valla, Mike (2013). "George F. Grant (1906-2008)". The Founding Flies-43 American Masters Their Patterns and Influences. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. pp. 210–216. ISBN 9780811708333.
- Grant, George (Spring 1981). "Montana Odyessy" (PDF). The American Fly Fisher. 8 (2). Manchester, VT: American Museum of Fly Fishing: 24–27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
- Grant, George (Summer 1981). "Bunyan Bugs" (PDF). The American Fly Fisher. 8 (3). Manchester, VT: American Museum of Fly Fishing: 12–14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
External links
- Montana The Magazine of Western History (Summer 2002; pp. 20-37).
- Scott Sanchez, Living a legacy of conservation and hair-hackle flies
- Lefty's World
- George F. Grant, An Old Angler Talks About The Clark Fork in Tracy Stone-Manning and Emily Miller (eds.), () The River We Carry With Us (Livingston, Montana: Clark City Press, 2002).
- George F. Grant's obituary at Montana's News Station
- George F. Grant's eulogy at EcoRover
- George F. Grant bio & pics at EcoRover
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