98 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
An odd feature of the Pacific cod fisheries is that neither Port- 
land nor Astoria have ever had vessels engaged in it. In 1877 Capt. 
Joshua Slocum, with the schooner Pato (about 45 tons register), 
was at the Philippine Islands, when he conceived the idea of mak- 
ing a cod-fishing voyage to the Okhotsk Sea and marketing his catch 
at the islands. Leaving the islands in March, he proceeded to the 
Okhotsk via Yokohama. Salt and fishing gear were obtained from 
vessels met with on the sea, and a cargo of 23,000 fish was soon 
taken. When the time for sailing arrived the captain decided not 
to return to the islands, but took his fare to Portland instead, where 
he sold it at a profitable price. This was the only fare of cod to be 
landed at Pcrtland. 
For the first few years of the fishery no suitable arrangements were 
in existence at San Francisco or elsewhere on the coast for curing the 
fish. In certain cases the fishermen received their share of the voyage 
in fish, which, after being cured in a good, bad, or indifferent manner 
by themselves, were hawked around the city. 
The late Thomas W. McCollam, of San Francisco, enjoys the dis- 
tinction of having been the first man on the Pacific coast to establish 
the industry on a permanent basis. In 1867 he bought his first cargo 
of cod, and the next year he bought and cured several cargoes at Old 
Sausalito, but as this locality was not satisfactory he soon after estab- 
lished a new station at the mouth of Redwood City Creek, about 30 
miles south of San Francisco. 
Having decided to engage directly in fishing himself, Mr. McCol- 
lam went east in 1868, and in New England purchased the fishing 
schooners Rippling Wave, Wild Gazelle, and Flying Mist. The 
first was lost on the passage in Magellan Strait; the others arrived 
safely and were immediately outfitted and sent north to the Shu- 
magin Islands for cod. In addition to handling his own fish he also 
continued to buy the cargoes from other vessels. 
In 1873 a partner was taken into the business and the firm was 
then known as Thomas W. McCollam & Co. In 1874 the schooner 
Alfred Adams was added to his little fleet, while the Plying Mist 
went sea-otter hunting on the Asiatic shore. 
In 1876 the firm again changed the location of its home curing 
station, removing to Pescada Landing, opposite Sausalito, on Rich- 
ardsons Bay, where its successor, the Union Fish Co., still carries 
on the business. In 1883 several new members were admitted into 
the firm and its name changed to the McCollam Fishing & 'Trad- 
ing Co. 
The first shore fishing station for cod in Alaska was established 
by this firm at Pirate Cove, Popof Island, in the Shumagin Group, 
in 1876, a more detailed description of which will be found in the 
chapter devoted to the history of the shore fishing stations in Alaska. 
