BOZEMAN AND THE GATEWAY TO YELLOWSTONE - Montana and Wyoming - page 409

RECREATION
Fishing and Floating
If art defines Livingston, fishing feeds it. The Yellowstone River curves around the town
and always makes its presence known. Paradise Valley lives up to its name in countless
ways, fishing among them. Nelson's, Armstrong's, and De Puy's Spring Creeks are just
minutes from town and offer some of the best and most consistent fishing in the state.
Winter is an especially good time to fish the spring creeks because the springs flow con-
stantly at a consistent temperature, the crowds are gone, and the rod fees go down sig-
nificantly. Matson Rogers's Angler's West Flyfishing (206 Railroad Ln., off U.S. 89 S.,
Emigrant, 406/333-4401, www.montanaflyfishers.com ) is a great resource, with both a fly
shop and complete guiding service for the Yellowstone River and waters around the state. In
Livingston, Dan Bailey's Fly Shop (209 W. Park St., 406/222-1673, www.dan-bailey.com ,
8am-6pm Mon.-Sat., 8am-noon Sun. summer, 8am-6pm Mon.-Sat. winter) is as venerable a
fly shop as ever there was, anywhere. In addition to a living-history lesson, the staff at Dan
Bailey's can offer superbly qualified advice along with their renowned gear and world-fam-
ous flies.
CRANKY YANKEE JIM'S ROAD
James George, who earned the moniker Yankee Jim as well as a reputation for being
more than a little cantankerous, came to Montana Territory as a young prospect-
or in 1863. When gold eluded him, Jim began to hunt professionally, for meat, for
the Crow Indian Agency. In 1873, Jim took possession of the road from Bottler's
Ranch in Paradise Valley, near present-day Emigrant, to Mammoth by squatting in
the canyon along the Yellowstone when the road builders stopped construction. Jim
set up a toll booth in the narrowest section of the canyon, today called Yankee Jim
Canyon, and charged exorbitant fees to all travelers passing through. At the time, it
was the only way for travelers to get from Livingston to Gardiner, Montana, and the
brand-new Yellowstone National Park. By all accounts, Yankee Jim made a lot of
money but few friends in those days.
In 1883, the Northern Pacific Railway appropriated his roadbed, much to Yankee
Jim's chagrin. He negotiated the construction of another road through the canyon
(parts of which are still visible along the west side of U.S. Highway 89 South) and
used his location above the train tracks reportedly to spit on, curse at, and occasion-