The Figural F&G Licenses Issued by White Pine County, Nevada – Part One
Today we shall begin exploring one of the more eye-catching areas of the Fish and Game hobby – one which is still ripe for original research. It is hoped that this introduction might motivate other collectors to help me elucidate some parts of the story for which I remain uncertain. In the meantime, I will get the ball rolling!
Although avidly pursued by a relatively small group (a couple of dozen?) of hardcore collectors located primarily on the west coast for well over a half century, information has always been hard to come by – even harder than the items themselves. I am talking about the metal hunting and fishing licenses issued by both the state and the counties of Nevada from 1909 through 1917.
The small number of collectors specializing in this area (trying to get every license from every year) can be attributed to the fact that these metal licenses were issued in low quantities and have always been difficult to locate and to acquire. Because of their scarcity and, as one long-time collector and picker put it – a sentimental feeling among Nevada collectors – people have a hard time parting with them. Therefore, patience and perseverance are requisite to playing the long game.
With the exception of one for which about 100 unused remainders were found in a storage shed belonging to an ex county clerk and subsequently entered the collector market (1917-18 Storey), Nevada metal licenses seldom show up on eBay or in internet auctions.
We are talking old school collecting here – lots of phone calls, driving long distances to meet with other collectors in person, attending bottle shows (as many surviving examples have been dug) and coin shows (a cross-over interest), all in the hopes of adding a new piece or two of treasure…
Their pursuit exemplifies one of our hobbies greatest attributes – being an exciting thrill of the hunt adventure. While attempting to put together a comprehensive collection of these artifacts is not for everyone (those who have stuck with it for 30-50 years have collections numbering 30 -100 pieces), I have found that most F&G collectors – especially the ones focussed on stamps – are thrilled to acquire just one or two pieces for their collection or exhibit.
For collectors desiring only representative examples of Nevada metal hunting and fishing licenses, three special pieces stand out as consensus favorites, so they will be the focal point of this series – the figural licenses issued by White Pine County from 1914 – 1917.
Nevada Requires Licenses to Hunt or Fish
In the big picture, Nevada was a relative latecomer in requiring sportsmen to obtain a license. In 1909, after 28 states or territories had already done so, Nevada became one of nine states to begin issuing hunting and fishing licenses. Altogether – Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia became the largest “entering class” in U.S. wildlife conservation history (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Sections 1-7 of the new Nevada Game and Fish law; reproduced in an article which appeared in The Daily Independent (Elko, Nevada) on March 27, 1909.
Surrounding States Already Issued Licenses
By 1909 all of the states surrounding Nevada (except Arizona which started in 1913) were already issuing hunting and fishing licenses. These included California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Utah (see Figures 2-6):
Figure 2. 1909-10 California Resident Hunting License.
Figure 3. 1909 Union County, Oregon Hunter’s License.
Figure 4. 1909 Idaho Fish and Game License.
Figure 5. 1909 Montana Resident and Citizen’s Hunting and Fishing License.
Figure 6. 1909 Utah License to Hunt and Fish.
While all of the above were printed on paper, there existed a precedent for issuing metal hunting licenses. The first two issued by California, in 1907-08 and 1908-09, were made out of aluminum (see Figures 7-9). For more on this, see California Hunting & Fishing Licenses – Part One.
Figure 7. Type I 1907-08 California Hunting License.
Figure 8. Type II 1907-08 California Hunting License.
9. 1908-09 California Hunting License.
When the Nevada Fish Commission put in their Bill to license hunting and fishing, they modeled it after California and Oregon game laws (see Figure 10).
Figure 10. Article in The Daily Appeal (Carson City, Nevada) on January 20, 1909.
As the 1908-09 California Hunting License was current at the time, it was natural for Nevada to copy them – and they did. The California discs were produced by Patrick & Company of San Fransisco. Nevada purchased their state hunting licenses for 1909-1910 from Patrick and they are virtually identical to the California licenses from the previous year (see Figures 11 and 12).
Figure 11. Original Envelope for a 1908-09 California Hunting License.
Figure 12. A page from Will Csaplar’s Waterfowl exhibit showing 1908-09 California Resident and Non Resident Hunting Licenses and a 1909-10 Nevada Resident Hunting License (click to enlarge).
If you read Section 3 in Figure 1 above, you find that the Nevada Game and Fish Law allowed for licenses to be manufactured for issue to three classifications of sportsmen:
“First. To any citizen of the United States who is a bonafide resident of the Sate of Nevada, upon payment of one dollar [Resident].’
“Second. To any citizen of the United States, not a bona fide resident of the State of Nevada, upon the payment of ten dollars [Non Resident].’
“Third. To any person not a citizen of the United States upon the payment of twenty-five dollars [Alien].”
Licenses were not required of women, of children under the age of 14, or of persons hunting on their own land.
It should be noted that prior to enacting the new game law, there was a great deal of animosity toward sportsmen from the surrounding states (non residents) entering Nevada and depleting the state’s natural resources. The following is an except from an editorial piece which appeared in the January 21, 1909 The Daily Appeal, “A high license [fee] for non-residents and strict enforcement of [game] laws would do much toward preserving game in this state.”
A 1909 Nevada Resident license is shown in Figure 12, a non resident license in Figure 13 and no alien license has been recorded from 1909.
Figure 13. 1909-10 Nevada $10 Non Resident Hunting License.
I have in my collection another very rare and unusual 1909 Nevada Hunting License that has long been a puzzle to both myself and my Nevada license collector friends. In lieu of a fee there is a star (see Figure 14). While doing research for this blog I realized that Section 7 of the 1909 Game and Fish Law actually allowed licenses to be issued to a fourth classification:
“Not more than one license shall be issued to any one person for the same fiscal year, except upon an affidavit by the applicant that the one issued had been lost or destroyed [Duplicate]…”
If my hunch is correct, Nevada would have had only one type of duplicate license manufactured for issue to all three classifications of sportsmen – thus a star was placed where the fee was normally embossed in the aluminum to maximize its utility.
Figure 14. 1909-10 Nevada Duplicate Hunting License.
It is interesting to note that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began to issue “star notes” around this same time (1910) to replace notes that had been misprinted or damaged. The replacement notes were indicated by a star before or after the serial number (see Figure 15).
Figure 15. Replacement of a Series 1907 $5 Note with a Star Note, courtesy of Kearney Coin Centre.
State Licenses Were Used Temporarily
Although I cannot find this in print to reference, I am now fairly certain the state-issued licenses were always intended to serve a stop-gap purpose. Section 2 of the 1909 Game and Fish Law stated:
“Licenses granting the privilege to hunt, pursue or kill wild birds or animals, or to take or catch fish during the open season as fixed by law, shall be issued and delivered, upon application, by the County Clerk of any of the counties of the counties of this State, or by the Fish and Game Warden of any of the counties of this state…”
Further, Section 6 stated:
“All moneys collected for licenses as provided herein, shall be paid into the county treasury to credit of the [County] Fish and Game Preservation Fund, which is hereby created, and the moneys in said fund shall be applied to the payment of expenses incurred in the prosecution of offenders, and for the revenue to pay fish and game Wardens and deputies…”
In other words, by law all licensing of hunters and fishermen in the State of Nevada was to be conducted at the county level. It seems that for a period of time, the state obtained the aluminum discs embossed “State of Nevada” from Patrick & Co, and and distributed them to the various county commissioners, as needed.