38 "Cr. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



ing to its irregularities and separated from it and from each other 

 by deep straits and channels. These islands, about 1,100 in number, 

 extend from the coast an average distance of about 75 miles and along 

 the general contour for about 250 miles. Some of these islands are 

 very large, indented ^vith deep bays and sounds, and they in turn 

 fringed with smaller islands. 



The largest streams in this region are the Unuk, Stikine, Taku, and 

 Chilkat, all of which take their source in the interior and drain con- 

 siderable areas. The other rivers are usually streams, and the greater 

 number arc simply outlets to a lake or system of lakes. 



All species of salmon are to be found in this region, but the hump- 

 back is by far the most abundant. 



This region has been the favorite fishing ground for the smaller 

 operators, although a few of the larges't canneries in Alaska are 

 located here. Of recent years transportation facilities have been 

 exceedingly good and fairly cheap, while the nearness to the States 

 and the considerable resident population which could be drawn upon 

 for labor have been big factors in its development. 



The Russians did considerable salting of salmon. Petroff, in his 

 report in the Tenth Census on the "Population, industries, and re- 

 sources of Alaska," writes as follows of the Redoubt near Sitka: 

 "The once famous Redoubt or deep-lake salmon fishery on Baranof 

 Island, which at one time during the Russian rule supplied this 

 whole region, and whence 2,000 barrels of salmon were shipped in 

 1868, now lies idle." 



Bancroft'' in speaking of the king salmon of Alaska says: "So 

 choice is its flavor, that during the regime of the Russian American 

 Co. several barrels of the salted fish were shipped each season to St. 

 Petersburg for the use of the friends of the company's officials." 



One of the earliest operators in southeast Alaska was a Greek, or 

 Slav, named Baronovich, who married the daughter of Skowl, one 

 of the old-time chiefs of the Kasaans, and received from him the 

 fishery on Karta Bay, a part of Kasaan Bay, and one of the best red 

 salmon streams south of Wrangell Narrows. Baronovich built a 

 saltery here, kept a store and traded with the Indians. He died some 

 years ago, and for some time after his death his sons operated it. 

 It finally collapsed a couple of years ago. 



For a number of years a saltery was operated at Klawak, on the 

 west coast of Prince of Wales Island. In 1878 the North Pacific 

 Trading & Packing Co. purchased the saltery and. erected the first 

 cannery in Alaska here. A pack was made the same year, and the 

 plant has operated every year since. In 1899 the cannery burned 

 down, but it was immediately rebuilt on the opposite side of the bay. 

 For some years this plant was operated almost exclusively with 

 native labor, and at present the majority employed are natives. 



The same year that the above cannery was established the Cutting 

 Packing Co. built a cannery at old Sitka, and operated it in 1878 and 

 1879, then it was closed down. In 1882 the machinery was taken 

 by another company to Cook Inlet. 



"^In 1882 M. J. Kinney, of Astoria, under the name of the Chilkat 

 Packing Co., built a cannery on the eastern shore of Chilkat inlet and 

 made a pack the same year. The cannery changed hands several times 



o History of Alaska, Vol. XXXIll, p. OGl. By Uubcrt Uovvc Bancroft. San Francisco, 1886. 



