466 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



15 miles wide. The rivor is navigable for small boats to within 10 miles 

 of the lake, whence there is a succession of rapids, around which it 

 is necessary to portage. The lower part of the river has numerous 

 shoals, some of which are exposed at low water. King Salmon River, 

 the principal tributary, enters about 7^ miles from the mouth. 



The red salmon is the principal species, although all the other 

 species are found in much lesser abundance. Gill nets alone are used 

 here. 



In 1895 the ^Vlaska Packers Association established a fishing sta- 

 tion on the right bank about 5 miles from the mouth and operated 

 as a saltery until 1900, when the apparatus w^as moved to the cannery 

 site. 



In 1899 the Alaska Packers Association, under the name of the 

 Egegak Pacldng Co., commenced building a cannery on the left bank 

 opposite and a little above the salting station. This plant was finished 

 in 1900 and packs were made that year and each succeeding year 

 except 1905 and 1906. 



In 1903 the North iVlaska Salmon Co. built and operated a cannery 

 on the opposite shore from the Alaska Packers Association and has 

 operated it nearly every year since, of late years under the name of its 

 new owners, Libby, McNeill & Libby. 



UGASHIK RIVER 



This river has its rise in a chain of two lakes, but with the excep- 

 tion of that portion below the upper cannery, about 25 miles, it is 

 very little known to the whites. The river is very tortuous in its 

 course. It has two known tributaries — King Salmon River, which 

 enters through the left bank about 17 miles from the bar at the mouth, 

 and Dog Salmon River, which enters through the left bank about 37 

 miles from the bar. From Smoky Point to the capes at the mouth 

 the river widens very greatly, being about 20 miles across at the 

 mouth. Shoals are numerous, but there is a channel with about 9 

 feet at low water. Gill nets exclusively are used here. 



This river is essentially a red salmon stream, but the other species 

 are also taken in small numbers, although the humpback is very 

 scarce. 



C. A. Johnson was the first man to operate commercially on this 

 river, having erected a saltery on the left bank, about 23 miles above 

 Smoky Point, in 1889, and operated it continuously from 1889 to 

 1898, both inclusive. This saltery was merged hi the cannery of the 

 Bermg Sea Pa<'king Co. In 1894 Mr. Johnson established and oper- 

 ated another saltery on the right bank of the river, about 12 miles 

 from the bar, which he sold in 1899 to the Alaska Packers Association, 

 who absorbed it in their cannery plant. 



The Benng Sea Packing Co., a branch of the Alaska Improvement 

 Association, in 1890 built the first cannery on the river, this being 

 located on the left bank near the first Johnson saltery. A small pack 

 was first made in 1891. The plant was closed in 1892 and 1893, 

 and as the location had proven far from suitable, it was, yi 1894, 

 moved to a point on the left bank, about 15 miles above Smoky 

 Point, where it was operated until 1896. The next year it was sold 

 to the Alaska Packers Association. The machinery and equipment 

 were utilized in the latter company's cannery, and the old location 

 abandoned. 



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