36 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
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, Perey 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 8. Hapgood, who had learned the tin- 
smith’s trade, and who a short time after G. W. Hume left for California went to Bos- 
ton 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 business, 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 busi- 
ness 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 Facific coast were as plentiful as 
represented by Mr. Hume much money could be made in a salmon-cannery business. 
The plan decided on was that G. W. Hume, on his return to California, should try and 
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 cut to 
California in time for the spring season of 1864. William Hume being agreeable to 
take part in the enterprise, Mr. Hapgood set out on the journey and arrived at San 
Francisco on March 23, 1864, and a few days later at the location where the operations 
were afterwards conducted.¢@ . 
* * * * * * % * 
a The description of the machinery used and the methods of canning have been quoted in full under 
“Canning” elsewhere in this report. 
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