68 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
ment of the commercial salmon fisheries and the preparation of the 
catch by salting and canning on the part of the independents who 
succeeded the company: 
SALMON CANNING INDUSTRY. 
No sketch of our history could be called complete without containing some reference 
to the origin and development, during the early stages, at any rate, of the industry of 
salmon canning. 
By its charter the Hudson Bay Co. was granted “‘the fishing of all sorts of fish, whales, 
sturgeons, and all other royal fishes in the seas, bays, inlets, and rivers, within the 
premises (that is within the undefined area surrounding Hudson Bay), and the fish 
taken therein.’”? Though no similar grant was contained in the exciusive license of 
trade with the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains, which was the only title the 
company had in this region, yet it claimed and exercised a monopoly of the salmon 
fishing on the Fraser River. 
Reference has already been made to the salmon fishery carried on by the company 
at SanJuan Island. In August, 1829, at Fort Langley (the name of this place has since 
been changed to Derby) 7,544 salmon were obtained from the natives at a cost of £13 
17s. 2d. in goods. The trade increased; in 1835 and for many years thereafter 3,000 
or 4,000 barrels of salt salmon were exported, principally to the Hawaiian Islands. 
With the revocation of the license in 1858 this claim of monopoly fell. 
Capt. William Spring, in 1863, began salting and curing salmon at Beechy Bay. 
In the following year Mr Annandale, with whom Mr. Alexander Ewen was associated, 
opened asalmon saltery on Fraser River. This venture was almost a complete failuré 
owing to the attempt to use the Scotch trap nets instead of drift nets. The former 
were found utterly unsuited to the conditions on Fraser River. When this enter- 
prise failed, Mr. Ewen introduced drift nets and carried on an extensive business in 
salted salmon with the Hawaiian Islands and Australia. 
The first attempt, on the Fraser River, to preserve salmon in hermetically sealed 
cans was made in 1867 by James Symes. This was not acommercial effort, but a mere 
experimental test to ascertain the possibility. A few cases were prepared, filled, and 
cooked by boiling on an ordinary kitchen stove. The result was most encouraging. 
The product was shown at the agricultural exhibition held in New Westminster in 
October, 1867, and was pronounced excellent, the directors making special mention 
of it. 
About the same year Donald McLean established another salmon-curing establish- 
ment at New Westminster. Besides salted salmon, he put up pickled salmon, salmon 
boiled and preserved in vinegar, and smoked and kippered salmon. 
The canning of salmon as a business was first undertaken on the Fraser by Alexander 
Loggie & Co. The persons interested were Alexander Loggie, Alexander Ewen, 
James Wise, and David S. Hennessy. Mr. Wise was an experienced fisherman; 
Messrs. Loggie and Hennessy had had experience in the canneries of New Brunswick. 
In June, 1870, these persons built, in connection with a salmon saltery, the first salmon 
cannery in British Columbia. It was located at Annieville, about 3 miles below New 
Westminister. The cannery was a very primitive affair; the cylinders upon which 
the cans were shaped were of wood covered with sheet iron; the trays were small wooden 
contrivances holding about three dozen one-pound cans. There was practically no 
machinery ; the operations were almost entirely byhand. The fish after being put into 
the cans was preserved by boiling in large wooden vats. Great difficulty was experien- 
ced in thoroughly cooking the fish, the boiling point of ordinary water not proving 
sufficient; to overcome this, salt wasadded to the water, and by this means the tempera- 
ture was raised to 230°. The roomin which the cooking was performed was, in tempera- 
ture like a Turkish bathroom; no windows or doors were allowed to be opened, except 
of necessity, under the mistaken idea that the cold currents of air would injure the 
roduct. 
Capt. Stamp, who has been frequently mentioned in the foregoing pages, also 
entered the business at the same time. His cannery was located at Sapperton, New 
Westminster. He did not attempt to manufacture his cans, but obtained his supply 
from Mr. Deas, a tinsmith of Victoria. 
About 1873, Loggie & Co. removed their cannery to New Westminster, where in the 
meantime Messrs. Lane, Pike, and Nelson had established themselves in the same 
business. These latter persons conceived the plan of canning the salmon whole; the 
sockeyes, being of an almost uniform size, lent themselves readily to this attempt. It 
Hee La a failure, as owing to the great vacuum in the cans, they became much 
listorted, 
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