1913 Hunting & Fishing Licenses in Historical Context – Part Two

By David Torre | June 30, 2019 |

In today’s post we will continue to look at hunting and fishing licenses from the year 1913 and their historical context. In the preface to Part One, I explained that one of my reasons for picking 1913 was that five different states issued their first resident hunting license in this year. We will be seeing examples of three of those today – Arkansas, Arizona and Delaware.

Preface

Before we start, I feel it necessary to briefly go back “Inside the box” and discuss the Arizona situation. I have always believed that Arizona issued their first resident hunting license in 1913 (having seen it stated in various reports over the years), and that is likely still the case.

When researching this blog, I discovered something that initially caused me to question this date. After digging a little deeper, I unearthed some additional information that, while making me feel better about it – leaves me less than 100% convinced. Therefore, I have decided to put my findings on record before we move on.

Arizona became a state on February 14, 1912. The Legislature met for the first time in Phoenix on March 18, 1912 and adjourned on May 18. A special session was called by the governor and met May 23 – June 22. The Arizona First Legislature Special Session, Chapter 82 established the State Game Warden, authorizing him to regulate and license the hunting of game birds and animals.

This law established age and residency requirements, hunting seasons and bag limits, provided enforcement authority, established penalties for the unlawful taking of wildlife, established a Game Protection Fund and, in addition, prohibited the hunting of antelope, female deer, fawn, road runners, goat, mountain sheep, bob white, grouse and pheasant at any time.

As the this happened in the middle of the year, it suggested to me that the first resident hunting licenses could have been issued at some point during the second half of 1912 – and not in 1913. This came as somewhat of a surprise so I did some additional research. It revealed many of the people in Arizona were not pleased with this new law requiring them to purchase a hunting license.

Subsequent to the First Legislature Special Session in May, a petition was circulated challenging the law. It garnered enough support to make it onto the ballot during the fall. The residents of Arizona were then asked to vote YES or NO on “An Act to regulate and license the hunting of Game Birds and Animals.” On November 5, 1912, a veto referendum known as the Arizona Hunting of Birds and Animals Referendum, also known as Questions 317 (YES) and 317 (NO), was approved by a vote of 13,121 to 6,334.

While it still remains a slight possibility in my mind that Arizona issued resident hunting licenses in the fall of 1912, in all likelihood they would have awaited the results of the veto referendum. Then, after finally gaining approval – it also would have made sense to wait less than two months and issue their first license for the calendar year of 1913. If anyone has any further information on this situation, please contact us.

June

2 President Woodrow Wilson warns the public that lobbyists may be attempting to influence law by buying off U.S. senators. The Senate Judiciary Committee prepared a special report naming all lobbyists attempting to influence pending legislation and all 96 senators were required to appear before a special subcommittee and state, under oath, whether they had “any financial interest in the outcome of any pending bills.”

4 British suffragette Emily Davison dies after throwing herself in front of a racehorse owned by King George V. During the running of the Epsom Derby, Davison came out of the stands, ducked under a railing and ran past police to bring attention to the suffragette movement. Both the Horse’s rider and Davison were knocked unconscious. While the rider eventually recovered, Davison never woke up and died in a hospital four days later.

9 John Maynard Keyes, widely considered the founder of modern economics, publishes his first book – Indian Currency and Finance. Keyes argued that total spending in the economy determined the overall level of economic activity – including employment. Keyes advocated the use of fiscal and monetary policies to mitigate the adverse effects of recessions and depressions. By the mid 1960s, nearly all capitalist countries were following Keyes policy recommendations (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. John Maynard Keyes, the founder of modern economics.

11 Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn, New York. Lombardi is best remembered for being the head coach of the Green Bay Packers and winning five NFL Championships in seven years during the 1960s – including the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi died of cancer in 1970 and the NFL named the Super Bowl trophy in his honor.

13 The U.S. Senate Committee on Women’s Suffrage delivered a favorable report on a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution providing that gender shall not be the basis for denying the right to vote.

13 The U.S. government broke up the monopoly on gunpowder held by E.I du Pont de Nemours and Company. It was split into three competing companies, Dupont, Hercules Powder Company and Atlas Powder Company.

16 The Parliament of South Africa passes the Natives Land Act which restricts the purchase or lease of land by Native Africans. This had the effect of confining Native Africans to overcrowded reserves and was analogous to confining Native Americans to Indian Reservations.

16 Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and the King of Prussia, celebrated his 25th year in power by touting his rein as “25 years of peace” and stated his desire for 25 more. In July of 1914 (just over a year later), Wilhelm pledged military support to Austria-Hungary – which led to the outbreak of WWI.

Interestingly, Wilhelm was the son of Queen Victoria’s oldest child, Princess Victoria and one of Willhem’s first cousins was King George V of Great Britain. Wilhelm abdicated the throne shortly before the end of the war and fled to the Netherlands, where he remained until his death in 1941 (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Kaiser Wilhelm II.

21 Georgia Thompson “Tiny” Broadwick became the first woman to parachute from an airplane. Broadwick weighed only three pound at birth and 85 pounds as an adult. She was widely known as the “doll girl” and performed skydives and stunts while a member of Charles Broadwick’s World Famous Aeronauts. Georgia would later become famous for inventing the ripcord (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Georgia Ann “Tiny Broadwick” getting ready to parachute from a plane flown by Glenn Martin.

25 American Civil War veterans began arriving in Pennsylvania for the the largest ever Civil War reunion – the Battle of Gettysburg’s 50th anniversary. All honorably discharged veterans from both the Grand Army of the Republic (Union Army) and the United States Confederate Veterans were invited, over 40,000 men.

President Woodrow Wilson gave an address on July 4 and stated “We have found one another again as brothers and comrades in arms, enemies no longer, generous friends rather, our battles long past, the quarrel forgotten – except that we shall not forget the splendid valor.”

28 Bulgaria made a coordinated surprise attack on Serbia at Slatovo and Greece at Saloika, thereby launching the Second Balkan War.

Licenses Issued in June

Ontario Special Angling Permit – issued June 2, 1913.

Colorado Resident General Hunting License – issued June 9, 1913.

Montana Resident Hunting and Fishing License – issued June 16, 1913.

Indiana Non Resident Fisherman’s License – issued June 21, 1913.

Utah Resident Permit to Hunt and Fish – issued June 21, 1913.

Arkansas County Hunting License – issued June 25, 1913.

Arizona Alien Bird or Non Resident Big Game ($25.00) Hunting License – issued June 28, 1913.

July

3 The 50th Anniversary of Picket’s Charge was re-enacted by the survivors of the original battle at The Gettysburg Reunion. The famous charge is considered to be the turning point of the battle. By this point, over 50,000 surviving veterans have shown up – eight would pass away at the event from age-related natural causes before Wilson’s address on the 4th.

8 Alfred Carleton Gilbert, among other things a toy inventor, was issued a patent for a toy called the Erector Set. It would go on to become one of the most popular toys of all time. In 2002 a TV movie was made about Gilbert. It told the story of how he successfully appealed to the Council of National Defense during WWI to reject a ban on toy production in favor of defense materials. The tile of the movie was The Man Who Saved Christmas.

10 The U.S. Weather Bureau recorded a high of 134 degrees fahrenheit at what is now called Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California. It remains the highest recorded ambient air temperature on the face of the earth in recorded history.

21 Turkish forces recaptured Adrianople (Edirne) from Bulgaria. The city was ceded to Bulgaria less than two months earlier in the Treaty of London and would eventually be officially returned to the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of Istanbul, on September 29.

25 In baseball, the Washington Senators and the St. Louis Browns played to a 8-8 tie in 15 innings. Walter Johnson set a record for striking out 15 batters in relief. The record stood for 88 years, until it was broken by Randy Johnson (16) on July 19, 2001.

Johnson set many other records in his career, some of which are still standing. He is the all-time leader with 110 shutouts, second in wins with 417 and fourth in complete games with 531. In 1936, Johnson was one of the five inaugural members in the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson.

30 Suffragists finish preparations for one of the largest demonstrations in the U.S. up until that time. The following day, a long motorcade of 60 automobiles carried the women from Hyattsville, Maryland to the Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Once there, they presented a petition signed by 200,000 women to the Senate, favoring a new amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Automobile procession to deliver suffrage petitions to the Senate on July 31, 1913.

License issued in July

Type I Oregon Resident Hunter’s License – issued July 30, 1913.

August

8 Venustiano Carranzo, one of the main leaders of the Mexican Revolution (see Figure 5), replied to President Wilson’s proposal for a ceasefire until elections could be held in October. Carranza said he did not recognize Mexican President Huerta’s authority as legal and that his men would fight on.

Carranzo’s Constitutionalist army would go on to defeat Huerta’s forces and he would serve as head of state from 1915-1917. With the new Mexican Constitution of 1917, he was then elected president and served his country in that capacity from 1917 to 1920. The Mexican Constitution focussed on social rights and served as the model for both the Russian Constitution of 1918 and the Weimar (German) Constitution of 1919.

Figure 5. Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, leader of the Mexican Revolution.

10 The Second Balkan War concluded with the Treaty of Bucharest, which amended the Treaty of London signed at the end of the First Balkan War. To discuss all of the exchanges in territories would be lengthy and complex, however, it should be noted that as a result of the new treaty, Serbia increased in size by 80% and Greece increased in size by nearly 70%.

14 (Some sources say the 27th, others September 9th) Pyotr Nestrov, a Russian aircraft designer, pilot and aerobatics pioneer, became the first pilot to fly an aircraft in a loop. The feat was performed before many witnesses over Syretzk Aerodrome, near Kiev. He was rewarded by being arrested for “risking Government property.”

During WWI, Nestrov became the first pilot to destroy an enemy aircraft in flight (see Figure 6). As aircraft were still unarmed at the time, he used his plane to ram an Austrian plane. Nestov was not strapped in, fell to the ground and died from his injuries the following day. In his honor, the Nestrov Cup is awarded annually to the Mens Team Champions of World Aerobatic Championships.

Figure 6. Poster depicting Nestrov ramming the Austrian plane. Image courtesy of Helios Auctions.

17 Massachusetts angler Charles Church caught a striped bass that was five feet long and weighed 73 pounds. It represented a new world record for a bass – one which would stand for nearly 58 years, until Rob Roschetta caught one weighing 76 pounds.

18 At the Grande Casino in Monte Carlo, the color black came up 26 times in a row. The odds of this happening was one in 136,823,184. After the 10th time, many of the casino patrons began betting larger and larger sums of money on red. By the end of the evening, many fortunes had been lost and the casino had made millions.

20 British metallurgist Harry Brearley (see Figure 7), on test number 1008, finally came up with the combination of metals that was originally called “rustless steel” before becoming known as stainless steel. The alloy consisted of 12.8% chromium, 0.44% manganese, 0.2% silicon, 0.24% carbon and 85.32% iron.

Figure 7. Harry Brearley, the inventor of stainless steel.

23 Sculpted by Edvard Eriksen, a bronze statue of The Little Mermaid was unveiled in Copenhagen, at Langeline Pier. One of the city’s top attractions, it is based on the famous fairly tale by native son Hans Christian Andersen.