She
Was Maine's First Licensed Guide
On March 19, 1897, The Maine legislature
passed a bill requiring hunting guides to register with
the state. Maine registered 1316 guides in that Ist year.
The honor of receiving the first Maine guiding license
went to Cornilia Thurza Crosby, or "Fly Rod",
as she was affectionately known to friends across the
country.
Crosby first discovered her love
for the wilderness when, on the advice of her doctor,
she left her job in a bank to seek "a large dose
of the outdoors". This prescription brought her to
Rangeley, Maine, where she found work housekeeping in
some of the large hotels in the area. She became friends
with the local guides, and from them she learned the lore
of the woods and the pleasures of camping, hunting, and
fishing.
In 1886 a friend presented Cornilia
with a five-ounce bamboo rod. She became so adept at fly-fishing
that she once landed 200 trout in one day. She began to
write up accounts of her fishing adventures and submitted
them, under the name "Fly Rod", to O.M. Moore,
editor of the Phillips Phonograph. "That's mighty
good stuff!" responded Moore. "Send some more
right away'' "Fly Rod's Notebook" became a widely
syndicated column appearing in newspapers in New York,
Boston, and Chicago, and the new name stuck.
Although she shot the last legal
caribou buck in the state of Maine, "Fly Rod"
Crosby's most remarkable and enduring contribution to
her native state happened far from the North Woods. In
addition to being its first licensed guide, she was Maine's
first public-relations genius. She arranged an elaborate
hunting display at the First Annual Sportsmen's Show in
New York's Madison Square Garden, starring herself, rifle
in hand and wearing a daring, knee-length doeskin skirt.
Her sensational appearance at the
Sportsmen's Show, together with the popularity of her column,
helped to attract thousands of eager would-be outdoorsmen--and
women--to the woods and streams of Maine. 100
years later, the MPGA is carrying on "Fly Rod's"
love of the wilderness by promoting conservation, education,
and the traditions. The MPGA sponsors conservation camps
for children, landowner relations and legislation to protect
our heritage.
Information
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