424 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



In 1903 the San Juan Fishing & Packing Co., which had begun the 

 fresh-fish business in 1899, bought this business from the Pacific 

 Packing & Navigation Co., to which it had been sold in 1901. 



The first salmon cannery on Puget Sound was erected by Jackson, 

 Myers & Co., in 1877, at Mukilteo, in Snohomish County. The mem- 

 bers of this firm had all been engaged previously in salmon canning 

 on the Columbia River. The first pack was of 5,000 cases, composed 

 wholly of silver, or coho, salmon. Later at this plant were put up 

 the first humpbacks ever canned. In order to divert the minds of 

 purchasers from the fact that the meat of the humpback was much 

 lighter in color than the grades then known to the consuming public, 

 the companj^ printed on its label the legend, "Warranted not to turn 

 red in the can." Even with this shrewd sizing up of the weak side 

 of the consuming public the demand for humpback, or pink, salmon 

 developed very slowly, and it was some years before it became a 

 factor in the markets. 



Within a year or two after the opening of the above plant another 

 was started at Mukilteo by a man named Bigelow. 



In 1880 the Myers's cannery was destroyed by a heavy fall of snow. 

 It was rebuilt in West Seattle and was operated till 1888, when it 

 was destroyed by fire. George T. Myers, now sole owner, built a new 

 cannery at Milton, which was burned two years later, and he then 

 came back to Seattle and built a cannery about where Ainsworth & 

 Dunn's dock now stands. He remained here only one season, after 

 which he moved to where the Pacific Coal Co.'s bunkers are now. 

 Late in 1901 he sold out his plant to the United Fish Co., which com- 

 pany moved the plant to the foot of Connecticut Avenue, where they 

 continued operations for two or three years and then quit. 



The first Puget Sound sockeye cannery was built at Semiahmoo, 

 near Blaine, by J. A. Martin and John Elwood about the year 1891. 

 It was bought in 1892 for $500 by D. Drysdale, who shortly after- 

 ward rebuilt and greatly enlarged the plant. In the same year Mr. 

 Drysdale demonstrated the connnercial success of fish traps. Traps 

 had been in operation before this, however. In 1893 Ainsworth & 

 Dunn had a trap at Five Mile Rock, just beyond the lighthouse 

 at Magnolia Bluff" (now a part of Seattle), and there had been a 

 trap or two in Elliott Bay even prior to this. Traps had not been 

 profitable in this section, however, owing to the cheapness and 

 abundance of salmon, haul seines being cheaper and more profitable 

 to operate. A man named H. B. Kirby, who came originally from 

 Nova Scotia, and another named Goodfellow put in the first trap for 

 Mr. Drysdale. 



During the early years of sockeye canning they were not sold to 

 the trade as sockeyes, but as Alaska reds and Columbia River salmon, 

 for which there had been an established market for some years. 



H. Bell-Irving & Co., of Vancouver, British Columbia, were the 

 pioneers in the labeling of the fish as sockeyes, this being in 1894-95. 

 Like all virtually new products, sockeye salmon had a hard fight 

 for several years to secure a foothold in the salmon markets, and 

 it was not until the Spanish-American War in 1898 caused a heavy 

 demand for canned foods that its position became finally established. 



By 1900 a number of canneries had been erected on the shores of 

 Puget Sound, most of which were then in active operation. In 1901 

 the Pacific Packing & Navigation Co. was organized under the laws 



