PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 439 



The San eJoaquin Kivor has its source in the Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains. Flowing: westerly and forniinG; the boundary between Fresno 

 and Madera Counties for a considerable distance, it then tums 

 abruptly to the north just where it is joined by Fresno Slough, which 

 drains Lake Tulare. From here its general course is northwesterly 

 until it joins the Sacramento River, near the latter's mouth. The 

 Chouchilla 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. William Hume came to California in the spring of 1852, bringing with 

 him a salmon gill net which he had made before leaving his home at Augusta, 

 Me: In company 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 1856 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. Hapgood, who had learned the tinsmith's trade, and who a short 

 time after G. W. Hume left for California went to Boston and entered the employ 

 of J. B. Hamblen, a pioneer 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 busi- 

 ness, a short time after sent Mr. Hapgood to the Bay of Chaleur, an arm 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 

 this was the first salmon canned on the American Continent, and I am informed 

 that the business 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 he 

 made in a salmon-cannery business. The plan decided on was that G. W. Hume, 

 on his return to California, should try to 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 out to California in time for the spring 

 season of 1864. William Hume being agreeable to take part in the enterprise, 



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