430 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



conjunction with a man named Fitzpatrick, operated a seine at 

 Tenasillihe, as did also a Mr. Welch; P. J. McGowan, who, with his 

 sons, in 1884 started a cannery at McGowan, and later, at Warrendale, 

 Ilwaco, etc., operated two small seines at Chinook Beach; and Hap- 

 good, Hume & Co. had two small gill nets about 125 fathoms in length 

 and 32 meshes deep. The gill net of Mr. Reed was much smaller than 

 these. At this period the river literally swarmed with salmon, and 

 the cannery had no trouble in packing 4,000 cases, which it increased 

 to 18,000 the next year and to 28,000 cases in 1868. 



In 1867 a crude canneny on a scow was started by S. W. Aldrich, 

 a ship carpenter. The scow was about 50 by 20 feet, with a cabin 

 on it, and in one end of this he constructed a brick furnace in which 

 he set a large cast-iron cauldron for a cooker. Along one side he 

 rigged a bench and manufactured the cans. Aldrich was a regular 

 jack-of-all-trades, as he did everything from catching the fish to 

 canning and cooking them ready for the market. 



In 1868 a cannery was built near Eagle Clift" by one of the Humes, 

 while in 1873 R. D. Hume built another at Bay View, Wash. He 

 operated it until 1876, when Mr. Leveridge, of Leveridge, Wadhams 

 & Co., of San Francisco, bought it and operated it during 1877 and 

 1878. George W. Hume took it then and a few years later sold it 

 to Da\dd Morgan, jr., who got into financial difficulties, and the 

 plant was ordered sold by the court. C. W. Fulton, of Astoria, 

 later a United States Senator, had the matter in charge, but was 

 unable to find a customer, and finally in desperation offered it to 

 W. H. Barker, of George & Barker, for $600. Mr. Fulton closed 

 with him the same day. It proved a most profitable transaction for 

 the purchasers, who acquired a million and a half labels which could 

 be utilized, the machinery was taken out for other plants, the timber 

 on the land belonging to the tract sold, and the floating property 

 sold for a considerable sum, after which the stripped plant and land 

 were sold back to Mr. Morgan for $600, the purchase price. He 

 sold it to George W. Hume, who wanted it to correct a title. It 

 was sold for taxes a couple of years later and was bought in by 

 B. A. Seaborg, who operated it for two years, since when it has 

 been idle. 



George W. Hume was the first salmon canner to employ Chinese. 

 This was at Eagle Clifi" in 1872. At this period the white laborers 

 in the canneries were recruited from the rift'rafl' and criminal element 

 of Portland. He had a Chinese working for him and through this 

 man secured a Chinese gang from Portland. This labor proved so 

 satisfactory that the custom soon spread to the other canneries. It 

 was not found that the Chinese could do the work any better or 

 quicker than the white laborer, but they proved more reliable in 

 their work and gave less trouble. 



Donald and Kenneth Maclcay, of Portland, and William Corbitt, 

 of San Francisco, who were in business in Portland, were the first 

 to make a direct shipment of canned salmon to Liverpool. This 

 was in 1871, and the shipment abroad that year amounted to 30,000 

 cases. 



Of the 35 canneries on the Columbia River in 1881, it is said that 

 about one-half had been established by the Hume brothers. G. W. 

 and William Hume were partners in the firm of Hapgood, Hume & 

 Co., on the Sacramento River, and established the first cannery on 



