when woodruf was angling for cutthroat on Black Fork in 1847 was he using wet or dry flies?

He was using a wet fly / artificial fly , not a dry fly. A contemporaneous account of Wilford Woodruff’s 1847 fishing on the Blacks Fork says he “rigged up” with his rod, line, and an “artificial fly,” then “flung my fly onto the water,” which points to a wet presentation rather than a modern dry-fly style.

Why that reads as wet fly

The journal wording describes the fly being on or in the water, not floated delicately on the surface as a dry fly would be. The same source also contrasts his method with other anglers in camp who were using bait like fresh meat and grasshoppers, reinforcing that Woodruff was using an artificial fly system.

Historical nuance

In 1847, the dry fly as we think of it today was not yet the standard western- American approach. So while the exact pattern isn’t named, the best-supported answer is that he was fishing an early wet/artificial fly, not a dry fly.