There is quite a bit of non-fishing information on Erne in the archives of The Oregonian (housed on one of the slowest responding servers on the Internet). Erne was indicted for Seduction in 1950 but the charge was dropped when the 18 year-old woman (Erne was reported to be 35) admitted she was partly at fault. Erne wrote some letters to the editor in 1955 condemning Ike for socialist tendencies. In '56 Erne helped organize a third-party movement in Oregon.
On the fishing front, a 1953 article in a Corvallis paper reported that some of Erne's fishing records were being challenged by Field and Steam. Erne's fishing lessons and lectures were given to various youth groups and the Izaak Walton league. Erne hit the big time in 1951 with his catch of a record Tyee Salmon on the Nehalem River. He appeared in Life Magazine with the fish and was quoted saying, "After I appeared in LIFE, I was written up by almost 20 sport magazines - and nearly got in the movies." At a later date he did appear in a Technicolor short film of 8 or 9 minutes length, "Fish Tales" by Carl Dudley in which Erne jumps into the Rogue River to pursue his salmon downstream.
It is unclear to me if this is the same St. Claire who was a dancer appearing under the billing of "Yvonne and St. Claire" in an act called the "Masque of Death" in several performances advertised on both East and West coasts. I'd be delighted to learn more from anyone who has put some of the pieces together.
T J Sawyer
Portland native but longtime Minnesota resident
Elderly Amateur Historian
