Bud Lilly

{{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Bud Lilly | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Walen Francis Lilly II | birth_date = {{birth-date|August 13, 1925}} | birth_place = Manhattan, Montana | death_date = {{death-date|January 4, 2017}} | death_place = Bozeman, Montana | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | monuments = | nationality = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Montana State University, bachelor's degree in Applied Science; University of Montana, master's degree in education (1951) | occupation = Fly fisherman | years_active = | employer = | organization = | known_for = Fly fishing guide and owner of "The Trout Shop" in West Yellowstone | notable_works = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = }}

'''Bud Lilly''' (1925-2017) was the owner of the Trout Shop in West Yellowstone, Montana as well as an accomplished baseball player, fly fishing guide, and conservationist.

==Early life and career in education== Walen Francis “Bud” Lilly II was born on August 13, 1925, in Manhattan, Montana,<ref name=Scott>Scott, Kim Allen. “Biographical Note.” Bud Lilly Papers, 1926-2008. Montana State University, Special Collections and Archival Informatics, 2013.</ref> to Violet Collins, a homemaker, and Walen Lilly, a barber.<ref name="Sandomir">Sandomir, Richard. "Conservationist Bud Lilly, 'a Trout's Best Friend,' Dies at 91." The New York Times. January 15, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/sports/conservationist-bud-lilly-dies-at-91.html</ref> Bud graduated from Manhattan High School in 1942.<ref name="baseball">Admin. "Stealing Third: Bud Lilly's True Story of War, Baseball, and Coming Home to Montana." Explore Big Sky. March 17, 2015. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.explorebigsky.com/stealing-third-bud-lillys-true-story-of-war-baseball-and-coming-home-to-montana/1823</ref> After serving in the United States Armed Forces, he enrolled in Montana State University in Bozeman in 1946 and earned a bachelor's degree in Applied Science.<ref name=England>England, Mike. "Bud Lilly, Father of Fly Fishing." Outside Bozeman. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.outsidebozeman.com/activities/fishing/fly/bud-lilly-father-fly-fishing.</ref> In 1951, Lilly earned his master's degree in education from the University of Montana in Missoula.<ref name=baseball /> He then became a public school math and science<ref name=Billings>McCumber, David. "At Almost 90, Bud Lilly Is Still a Trout's Best Friend." The Billings Gazette. July 30, 2015. Accessed July 29, 2020.</ref> teacher in Bozeman and Deer Lodge<ref name=baseball /> until his retirement in 1970.<ref name=Sandomir /> He briefly also worked as a teacher in Scottsdale, Arizona.<ref name=Scott /> Lilly has continued to promote trout education by donating and being a large supporter of the Trout & Salmonid Special Archives collection in Montana State University's Library.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thull |first=James |date=2014-10-16 |title=Bud Lilly 2014-10-16 |url=https://arc.lib.montana.edu/angling-oral-history/item.php?id=2}}</ref>

==Involvement in baseball== Bud's father, Bud Sr., was a fan of baseball and taught Bud to play. At age five, Bud received his first bat and glove, and he began playing in sandlot games. At age twelve, Lilly began playing organized baseball,<ref name=baseball /> playing in both American Legion and town-team baseball.<ref name=Billings /> He rapidly gained more experience. At fourteen, he became the youngest player on the Gallatin Valley Men's Team, an independent baseball team whose players ranged in age from fourteen to fifty. Bud played second base.<ref name=baseball />

While on the Gallatin Valley Men's Team, Lilly played in an exhibition game against “a Negro League traveling team,"<ref name=Billings /> including Satchel Paige, a pitcher who was later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and became the oldest rookie in Major League baseball.<ref name=Satchel>"Satchel Paige." Biography.com. January 30, 2020. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://www.biography.com/athlete/satchel-paige.</ref> Lilly managed to get a hit on a pitch from the famed player and make it to first base, but got out when he attempted to steal second.<ref name=Billings />

In 1940, two men from the Cincinnati Reds scouted the team. He was not given an offer at the time. In 1942, the men returned to watch Bud play again. They offered him a minor-league contract<ref name=KEO>K&E Outfitters. "Legendary Montana Angler Bud Lilly Passes at 91." K&E Outfitters. January 31, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020.</ref> to play with the Cincinnati Reds farm team, the Salt Lake City Bees.<ref name=Wright>Wright, Michael. "Bud Lilly, Prominent Fly Fisherman and Conservation Advocate, Dies at 91." Bozeman Daily Chronicle. January 05, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/bud-lilly-prominent-fly-fisherman-and-conservation-advocate-dies-at-91/article_ee170491-c9a2-5ed2-91df-e17b4754ce43.html.</ref> Instead, with World War II ravaging the country, Lilly joined the military.<ref name=baseball />

==Military career== In 1942, Lilly joined the U.S. Armed Forces and travelled to Butte, Montana to train in the V-12 program for U.S. Navy Officers.<ref name=baseball /> After two years in the program, Lilly received his commission and “reported to St. John’s Cathedral in New York."<ref name=baseball /> He then journeyed to Bainbridge, MD to go through Navy boot camp.

Lilly trained in Miami from May–July 1945 on destroyers, sub-chasers, and PT boats. Following this training, he shipped out to Italy on the way to invade Japan with the U.S. Forces.<ref name=baseball /> During his service, Bud Lilly was assigned to the USS General R.M. Blatchford.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Bud Lilly 2016-02-26 |url=https://arc.lib.montana.edu/angling-oral-history/item.php?id=18 |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=arc.lib.montana.edu}}</ref> At the age of twenty, he was third in command, after the captain the officer, meaning that if both the captain and officer had been killed, he would gain command of the ship.<ref name=":1" /> Because of this, Lilly knew how to handle the ship and knew navigation by celestial stars & objects.<ref name=":1" /> He visited Hiroshima, Japan after its bombing by U.S. forces.<ref name=Scott /> In 1946, Lilly left the military and returned to Montana to continue his education.<ref name=AP />

==Fly fishing and The Trout Shop== Bud Lilly's father was an avid flyfisher, however growing up he claims to not be a "sophisticated" fly fisherman.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bud Lilly 2014-10-16 |url=https://arc.lib.montana.edu/angling-oral-history/item.php?id=2 |access-date=2024-10-31 |website=arc.lib.montana.edu}}</ref> In West Yellowstone, he saw the many fisherman who would visit with "rods made by famous rodbuilders, [...] and they taught [him] about fly tying, catch & release, and dry fly fishing."<ref name=":0" />

During his time as a public school teacher, Lilly began working another job in West Yellowstone and washed cars for extra cash.<ref name="England" /> While in West Yellowstone, he had heard of a tackle shop for sale. In 1952, Lilly purchased the shop and "Bud Lilly's Fly Shop" was born.<ref name="England" /> The shop gathered information about local fishing conditions, provided a space for fishermen to congregate, and offered fly fishing services and items like tackle and flies.<ref name="England" /> Purchased for $4,500, Lilly estimates that he made millions of dollars off of the shop; a lot of this money was used to give back into conservation efforts.<ref name=":1" /> Lilly says, "If you're going to save it, we have to contribute."<ref name=":1" />

Lilly also sent out promotional literature and catalogues for fly-fishing and taught fly-fishing lessons.<ref name=England /> He became a fishing guide on the Madison, Gallatin, and Yellowstone rivers, guiding for over 35 years.<ref name=Sandomir /> Some of his clients included Tom Brokaw, Jimmy Carter,<ref name=AP>The Associated Press. "Fly Fisherman, Conservationist Bud Lilly Dies at 91." Great Falls Tribune. January 07, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2017/01/06/fly-fisherman-conservationist-bud-lilly-dies/96271000/.</ref> and British Ambassador Sir Peter Ramsbotham.<ref name=Scott /> He also advocated for catch-and-release fishing and created a club at his shop to encourage the practice in Montana<ref name=Sandomir /> that gave fishermen silver buttons for releasing trout of various lengths.<ref name=Smith>David Smith. "Historic Outdoor People: Bud Lilly, Fly Fishing Icon and a "Trout's Best Friend"." Wide Open Spaces. April 27, 2019. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.wideopenspaces.com/historic-outdoor-people-bud-lilly-fly-fishing-icon-and-a-trouts-best-friend/.</ref> In addition, he supported women's involvement in fly fishing by offering “women-only fishing trips” and assisting in creating “women’s fly-fishing clubs”.<ref name=Smith />

“I was always engaged by the instant of the strike,” he wrote in his autobiography, published in 1988. “It doesn’t matter how many thousands of trout I’ve taken since. I still have the same excitement when I put a fly over a trout and a miracle happens.”<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sandomir |first=Richard |date=2017-01-15 |title=Conservationist Bud Lilly, ‘a Trout’s Best Friend,’ Dies at 91 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/sports/conservationist-bud-lilly-dies-at-91.html |access-date=2023-10-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The shop also published several editions of a merchandising catalogue and a fishing map of the area in tandem with California businessman David Bascomb.<ref name=Scott /> When Lilly's first wife, Patricia, grew ill in 1981, Lilly decided to sell the shop in 1982, although the shop still bore his name during the tenure of the next few owners.<ref name=Sandomir />

==Personal life== Bud Lilly married Patricia Bennett on March 15, 1947. The couple had three children: Gregory, Michael, and Annette. After Patricia died in 1984<ref name=Belgrade>The Associated Press. "Fly Fisherman, Guardian Bud Lilly Dies at 91." The Belgrade News. January 10, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. http://www.belgrade-news.com/news/feature/fly-fisherman-guardian-bud-lilly-dies-at-91/article_d71ff3e6-d6b5-11e6-a7ba-d7c97986dd84.html.</ref> of lung cancer,<ref name=Wright /> Lilly then married Esther Simon. The couple had two children: Christopher and Alisa.

==Work in conservation== Bud Lilly also had an active career in conservation work. He was a director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a director of the Whirling Disease Foundation, a director-at-large for the American Wildlands, a board member of the Montana Land Resilience, a member of the National Federation of Fly Fishers,<ref name=Jonathan>Wright, Jonathan. "Bud Lilly." Fly Fisherman. January 10, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2020. https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/bud-lilly/152114.</ref> and a member of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.<ref name=Scott /> He has also worked with Trout Unlimited, which he helped found, since its inception<ref name=Jonathan /> in 1962.<ref name=baseball /> Lilly also served as the organization's first president.<ref name=Vallejo>Vallejo Times-Herald. "Fly Fisherman, Conservationist Bud Lilly Dies at 91." Times. September 06, 2018. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2017/01/06/fly-fisherman-conservationist-bud-lilly-dies-at-91/.</ref>

Following his work with the Trout Shop, Lilly continued his conservation activism. Lilly's main causes were protecting trout and restoring waterways through preventing overgrazing and extensive logging near headwaters and major bodies of water.<ref name=England /> He also worked to modify standard practices concerning stocking of hatchery fish and campaigned for increasing wild trout populations in Montana.<ref name=Jonathan /> He was “credited as one of the pioneers of the catch-and-release movement,”<ref name=Wright /> which he began in the 1950s, “long before it became the norm."<ref name=KEO /> He initially heard about catch and release from Michigan fishermen, and made it his cause, reasoning that the popularity of fly-fishing in Montana might deplete the stocks of trout. He also created a catch-and-release club in his shop, selling fishermen silver buttons that boasted of their releases of trout of various lengths.<ref name="Sandomir" />

Lilly was affiliated with Trout Unlimited in the late 1950s, and helped to found Montana Trout Unlimited in 1964.<ref name=":0" />

==Awards and recognition== Lilly received an honorary doctorate from Montana State University. He was also inducted into the Federation of Fly Fishers Hall of Fame and awarded the Heritage Award for lifetime achievement from the American Museum of Fly Fishing.<ref name=MT>Montana Outdoor Hall of Fame. "Bud Lilly." Bud Lilly. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://mtoutdoorhalloffame.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Bud-Lilly.pdf.</ref> Bud also helped assemble the almost 10,000-volume collection of books, manuscripts and personal papers at Montana State University known as the Bud Lilly Trout and Salmonid Initiative.<ref name=Billings /> Bud Lilly's papers as well as oral interviews can be found in the Archives & Special Collections section of Montana State University's Library.

==Later years== After his mother's death in 1994, Lilly remodeled “The Angler’s Retreat,” a lodge in Three Forks, Montana, to create an eighteen-room retreat for fly fishers in Montana.<ref name=England /> He also founded the Western Rivers Club, an organization he created to “keep his former customers in touch”.<ref name=Scott /> Lilly volunteered as a Montana Ambassador,<ref name=AP /> a state-sponsored program to encourage tourism and recreation in the state, and worked as a river keeper for Baker Springs, a land development company near his hometown of Manhattan, Montana.<ref name=Scott />

In his later years, Lilly's vision deteriorated due to macular degeneration, but he continued to fish frequently with friends. He also founded the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation, which “brings disabled vets to Montana to introduce them to fly fishing and the therapeutic power of ever-flowing waters”.<ref name=MT /> Bud Lilly died in Bozeman, Montana on January 4, 2017<ref name=Jonathan /> from heart failure<ref name=Sandomir /> at the age of 91.

==Publications== * Lilly, Bud., and Paul. Schullery. ''A Trout's Best Friend: The Angling Autobiography of Bud Lilly''. 1st ed. Boulder, Colo.: Pruett, 1988. * Lilly, Bud., and Paul. Schullery. ''Bud Lilly's Guide to Fly Fishing the New West''. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications, 2000. * Lilly, Bud., and Paul. Schullery. ''Bud Lilly's Guide to Western Fly Fishing.'' Deluxe ed. New York, NY: Nick Lyons Books, 1987. * Bud Lilly's Trout Shop. ''Bud Lilly's Trout Shop: Fly Fishing Catalogue.'', 1980. * Bud Lilly's Trout Shop. ''Bud Lilly's Tackle Catalogue and Handbook for Western Trout Fishing''.

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://arc.lib.montana.edu/finding-aids/item/351 Montana State University Library: Bud Lilly papers, 1926-2008] * [https://arc.lib.montana.edu/angling-oral-history/item.php?id=18 Montana State University Angling Oral History Project: Bud Lilly 2016-02-26] * [https://arc.lib.montana.edu/angling-oral-history/item.php?id=2 Montana State University Angling Oral History Project: Bud Lilly 2014-10-16]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilly, Bud}} Category:1925 births Category:2017 deaths Category:American fishermen Category:Montana State University alumni Category:Businesspeople from Montana Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Fishing guides