Sulanharas Creek flows into the eastern end of Shasta Lake. Before the dam, it joined the Pit River and fed into the McCloud River. For thousands of years, the McCloud was home to the Wintu people and two distinct strains of rainbow trout: the resident McCloud River redband trout and the sea-going steelhead, or coastal rainbow trout. Although these fish are closely related and can interbreed, they usually don’t. Their size, habitat, and life cycles are different enough to keep them apart.

In 1879, Livingston Stone built a rainbow trout hatchery on the McCloud River. He did it against the wishes of the Wintu. Stone was working for the U.S. Fish Commission, which was giving out free trout eggs to state agencies and private individuals. Stone’s job was to meet the demand. The story is well covered in the book An Entirely Synthetic Fish by Anders Halverson

The eggs from the McCloud River trout were shipped across the country. Streams like Missouri’s Crane Creek still hold wild populations descended from those original fish. These trout carry the genetic legacy of the McCloud.

Rainbow trout have become one of the most successful fish raised in hatcheries. Over 150 years of breeding have turned them into a domesticated species. Hatcheries now produce fish optimized for fast growth and survival in hatchery conditions. Wild rainbows and domesticated ones are no longer the same.

Today, most of the McCloud River and Sulanharas Creek lie underwater, flooded by Shasta Lake. The McCloud River redband trout survives, but only in a few headwater streams upstream of the lake. These populations are isolated. They face threats from habitat loss, warming water, and hybridization with hatchery trout. Outside of these small pockets, pure McCloud redbands may already be gone.