20 SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 



The San Joaquin Eiyer has its source in the Sierra Nevada Moun- 

 tains. Flowing westerly and forming- the boundary between Fresno 

 and Madera Counties for a considerable distance, it then turns ab- 

 ruptly 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 in- 

 ception here in 1864. The circumstances leading up to this event 

 and its consummation are interestingly told by Mr. R. D. Hume in 

 the following words: 



The first salmon cannery of the United States was located at Washington, 

 Yolo County, Cal. 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, Sacra- 

 mento city. It was built in 1852 and occupied by James Booker. Percy Wood- 

 som, aud 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 AVoodsom, 

 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 aud 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, 



