A March 14, 1925, article in the Alton Evening Telegraph announced that a meeting of Alton sportsmen had been called for the following Tuesday night (March 17) at the Mineral Springs Hotel in order to organize a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America. “The Isaac [sic] Walton League is an association of sportsmen fostering good sportsmanship and looking after legislative matters pertaining to game and fish. It has over 100,000 members in various parts of the United States.”
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A group of sportsmen in Chicago who wanted to protect fishing opportunities for future generations founded the Izaak Walton League in 1922 (Chicago Chapter No. 1). They named the League for Izaak Walton (August 9, 1593 - December 15, 1683), an English biographer and author of “The Compleat Angler.” The book contains poetry, prose, quotes and a fishing manual. Walton published the first edition in 1653, and five revised editions before he died. It has remained continuously in print ever since. You can read a copy of the 1653 original here:https://archive.org/details/the-compleat-angler-1653 or an 1897 copy here:https://archive.org/details/compleatangler00walt.
Fifty men attended the March 17 interest meeting at Mineral Springs Hotel, where John M. McDonald, assistant Chicago & Alton Railroad trainmaster (and a member of the Bloomington Izaak Walton League chapter), explained the workings and objectives of the League.
“[The Izaak Walton League] is undoubtedly the most comprehensive conservation program ever undertaken in America. Though less than three years old, it has local chapters from one end of the country to the other, and it has awakened thousands and thousands of principled sportsmen and outdoor lovers to the realization of the perils that are threatening our precious woods and streams and wildlife. The movement represents a patriotic and unselfish endeavor to save for our children their great American outdoor heritage that they may have the priceless memories of days spent on windswept, clear and gleaming waters and nights in fragrant, healing forests and that they may gain the health and happiness that only the outdoors can give them.”
The charter membership list for the Alton Chapter closed on May 12, 1925, at 7:30 p.m., when the group met at the Illini Hotel for their first official meeting. Ninety-six charter members attended, officers were elected, and the Alton Telegraph article stated that “Already the club shows indications of becoming one of the largest in Alton, and it is expected to grow fast by the present members.”
The Izaak Walton League of America helped create the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge in 1924, exposed in their magazine Outdoor America the long-term harms of DDT on fish and wildlife in the 1950s, and worked to pass the Clean Water Act of 1972. The League still exists today (though the closest chapter is in Decatur) and continues its original goals of preserving our soil, air, woods, waters and wildlife for future generations.
Sources
“Izaak Walton.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2025.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Izaak-Walton
“Izaak Walton Chapter Will Meet Tonight.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 12, 1925.
“Izaak Walton Charter.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 11, 1925.
“Izaak Walton League Formed by Sportsmen.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), March 15, 1925.
“Izaak Walton League Meeting to be a Good One.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), May 9, 1925.
“Izaak Walton League Opens Conference.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), April 3, 1925.
“Our History.” Izaak Walton League of America, 2025.https://www.iwla.org/about/history
“Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.” U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 2025.https://www.fws.gov/refuge/upper-mississippi-river/about-us
“Will Organize Isaac Walton League Chapter.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), March 14, 1925.
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