36 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



drains Lake Tulare. From here its general course is northAvesterly 

 until it joins the Sacramento River, n(>ar the latter 's mouth. The 

 Choucliilla and Fresno Rivers are the principal tributaries of the 

 San Joaquin. 



The principal fishing grounds for salmon are Suisun Bay, the 

 lower part of San Joaquin River, and the Sacramento River as, 

 high as the vicinity of Sacramento. Drift gill nets are used almost 

 exclusively in this section. From Sacramento to Anderson there is 

 considerable commercial fishing, more particularly with haul seines. 



Owing to the early and excellent railroad facilities which the fish- 

 eries of the Sacramento River have enjoyed, they have not been 

 handicapped so seriously as most of the other Pacific coast rivers in 

 finding profitable outlets for the catch. Soon after the first trans- 

 continental line was opened the shipping of fresh salmon to eastern 

 points began, and it has been an important feature of the industry 

 ever since. 



The chief event in the history of the salmon fisheries of this river 

 is the fact that the canning of salmon on the Pacific coast had its 

 inception here in 1864. The circumstances leading up to this event 

 and its consummation are interestingly told by R. D. Hume in the 

 following words: 



The first salmon cannery of the United States was located at Washington, Yolo 

 County, Calif. A part of the building was originally a cabin situated on the river 

 bank outside of the levee just opposite the foot of K Street, Sacramento City. It was 

 built in 1852 and occupied by James Booker, Percy Woodsom, and William Hume. 

 \Mlliam Hume came to California in the spring of 1852, bringing with him a salmon 

 gill net which he had made before lea\ing his home at Augusta, Me. In comi^any 

 ■with James Booker and Percy Woodsom, Mr. Hume began fishing for salmon in the 

 Sacramento River just in front of the city of Sacramento. William Hume had been 

 salmon fishing in the Kennebec River in the State of Maine with his father, where his 

 father and grandfather had been engaged in the same business since 1780, and their 

 ancestors in Scotland had for pleasure pursued the sportive salmon on the Tweed and 

 Tay for centuries before. In 185(5 William Hume went back to Maine, and on his 

 return to California the same year was accompanied by his brothers, John and 

 G. W. Hume, who also engaged in salmon fishing in the Sacramento River. Among the 

 schoolmates of G. W. Hume was one Andrew S. Haj^good, who had learned the tin- 

 smith's trade, and who a short time after G. W. Hume left for California went to Bos- 

 ton and entered the employ of J. B. Hamblen, a ]noneer in the canning business, 

 and was sent by him to Fox Island on the coast of Maine to engage in canning lobsters. 

 The canning of lobster was a new and growing industry, and Mr. Hamblen, to increase 

 his business, a short time after sent Mr. Ha])good to the Bay of Chaleur, an aim of the 

 sea which divides the Province of Quebec from that of New Brunswick, where, in 

 addition to the canning of lobster, they also canned a few salmon. I believe t his was 

 the first salmon canned on the American Continent, and 1 am informed that the busi- 

 ness in a small way is still carried on in that section of the country. In 1863 G. W. 

 Hume went back to Maine, and while there visited Mr. Hapgood at Fox Island, to 

 which place he had been again sent by J. B. Hamblen to take charge of the works at 

 that place. During the visit of G. W. Hume to his friend Hapgood a talk about salmon 

 was had, and it was agreed that if salmon on the Pacific coast were as plentiful as 

 represented by Mr. Hume much money could l)e made in a salmon-cannery business. 

 The i)lan decided on was that G. W. Hume, on his return to California, should try and 

 induce his brother William to engage in the business with them, and, if he succeeded 

 in so doing, Mr. Hapgood should purchase the necessary machinery and come cnit to 

 California in time for the spring season of 1864. William Hume being a,greeable to 

 take part in the enterprise, Mr. Hapgood set out on the journey and arrived at San 

 Francisco on March 23, 1864, and a few dajs later at the location where the oiJerations 

 were afterwards conducted .o 



a The description of the machinery used and the methods of canning have been quoted in full under 

 •'Canning" elsewhere in this report. 



