Alaska, Blogs by Kristin, California, Chinese Contract System, history1 Comment

The California Schooner Sails to Klawock, Alaska in 1878 with 18 Chinese Laborers

Kristin Wong

With the first salmon canneries set to open in southeast Alaska in 1878, the transcontinental railroad labor contractor Sisson, Wallace, and Co. in San Francisco created a new company called the North Pacific Packing and Trading Company. They intended to transform some of the existing fish salteries in Alaska into salmon canneries. They prepared the schooner California with needed supplies and also Chinese laborers which they had plenty of from the completion of the railroad construction. This included 120 tons of equipment for a steam sawmill and cannery, 50 tons of tin, along with the first 18 Chinese laborers to … Continue reading The California Schooner Sails to Klawock, Alaska in 1878 with 18 Chinese Laborers

Blogs by Jim, San FranciscoLeave a comment

Grant Ave. SF, now and 100 years ago

jimchiao

Two weeks ago, on Nov. 15th, I visited San Francisco downtown. It was my first visit to downtown area since the start of the pandemic, and it just happens to be during the week of Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). I decided to trace the route on Grant Ave as described in Max Stern’s 1922 articles The Price of Salmon, which my brother & I re-published as a book last year. Stern was an investigative newspaper reporter who was assigned to join a Chinese gang and sailed to Bristol Bay to work in Wood River salmon cannery — in an effort … Continue reading Grant Ave. SF, now and 100 years ago

Blogs by PhilipLeave a comment

Chinese Laborers or Coolies?

Philip Chiao

We have just returned from a tour of Machupicchu and other cities and sights in Peru in South America. Machupicchu is certainly one magnificent human creation that is worth of our admiration. Along the way, we also learned from our tour guide many fascinating facts about the history and geography of Peru. One interesting fact was the popularity of Chinese restaurants. They are identified as “Chifa” not restaurants. Chifa means “eat rice” or “have meal,” in Chinese – a most direct invitation to woo customers. Our guide made mention of the historical import of Chinese laborers in the 19th century. … Continue reading Chinese Laborers or Coolies?

Alaska, Blogs by Kristin, Chinese Contract System, history, San FranciscoLeave a comment

Alaskan Salmon Canneries Open in 1878

Kristin Wong

The Alaskan territory was purchased by the United States from Russia on October 18, 1867 for a mere $7.2 million. Many were starting to discover the abundant natural resources that were there. Before the very first salmon canneries opened in Southeast Alaska in 1878, there were already a few cod and salmon salteries in Klawock, located on the west coast of Prince of Whales Island. In 1869, one was operated by George Hamilton and was called Hamilton’s Fishery, where they caught and brined the fish in salt which were then packed into barrels and sold. They also produced cod oil … Continue reading Alaskan Salmon Canneries Open in 1878

Alaska, Blogs by JimLeave a comment

Orca Cannery, Cordova

jimchiao

This is an 1899 photo shows buildings of the Orca salmon cannery along the shore, mountain background, waters of Orca Inlet in foreground. The cannery was constructed by the Pacific Steam Whaling Company in 1889 in Cordova, and moved to its present location in 1895. I worked at Orca Cannery in 1971, and it was an unforgettable experience. Before Orca, I had worked in Waterfall (SE Alaska 1970), and Egegik (Bristol Bay 1971), but none of them prepared me for the one month at Orca in 1971. It was July 1971, towards the end of the season, I was working … Continue reading Orca Cannery, Cordova

Blogs by Philip, California, San Francisco, Webinar/TalkLeave a comment

Stern’s Morality

Philip Chiao

We have given a webinar recently at the invitation of the Bristol Bay Historical Society. The subject of our talk was the book “The Price of Salmon,” by Max Stern. It is a collection of 37 articles penned by Stern and published by the San Francisco Daily in 1922. It was an expose of the west coast salmon canning industry, and according to San Francisco Daily News, “Gambling, bootlegging, profiteering, exploitation, disease, even death, marked the voyage that Stern took for the readers of the Daily…”and “…work in the Alaska salmon canneries under conditions as near to slavery as anything … Continue reading Stern’s Morality

Alaska, Blogs by Kristin, Chinese Contract System, Contractor, history, San FranciscoLeave a comment

The Chinese Labor Contact System- Similarities between Salmon Canneries and the Transcontinental Railroad

Kristin Wong

While researching information on salmon canneries in the Columbia River in Oregon, I came across some interesting information regarding Sisson, Wallace & Co. based out of San Francisco, California. They were an agency specializing in supplying the railroad companies in Northern California and Nevada not only with construction material, but also for procuring Chinese labor for the transcontinental railroad. They also were responsible for providing the Chinese workers with food and clothing along with room and board. Now, how is this related to the salmon canning industry in Alaska you may ask? The company called Sisson, Wallace, and Co. was … Continue reading The Chinese Labor Contact System- Similarities between Salmon Canneries and the Transcontinental Railroad

Blogs by Jim, Webinar/TalkLeave a comment

A Virtual Talk on The Price of Salmon

jimchiao

This last weekend, on June 17th, 2023, we participated in a virtual talk on the book The Price of Salmon. The event was organized by Chinese Historical Society of America in San Francisco. We were all excited about this event since San Francisco was the center of the salmon canning trade in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It was the financial center on the West Coast, home of many salmon canning companies such as Alaska Packers Association, Italian and Scandinavian fishermen, Chinese contractors and workers, as well as workers of many other colors and nationalities. It was … Continue reading A Virtual Talk on The Price of Salmon

Alaska, Blogs by PhilipLeave a comment

Coolies & Retorts

Philip Chiao

 I am very familiar with this steam cooking machine or retort in the picture. It is made of steel, cylindrical in form, about 4′ in diameter and 10′-12′ in length. It looks like a locomotive, and on the ground there is actually a section of steel railroad for use by dolleys. In 1972, my job was to stack trays of the canned salmon onto a dolley, and then the dolley was pushed into the retort for cooking. I remember very clearly that the foreman told me that my position that summer was that of a coolie. Many Chinese foreign students … Continue reading Coolies & Retorts

Alaska, Blogs by Kristin, British Columbia, history, Oregon, Washington1 Comment

Cannery Bunkhouses

Kristin Wong

Chinese laborers that were hired to work in the salmon canneries beginning in the late 1800s had separate living quarters assigned to them at the canneries. This was similar at canneries from Alaska to the Pacific Northwest to even British Columbia, Canada. Depending on the cannery, sometimes these areas were called “Chinatown” because of the large number of Chinese workers. This segregation was likely due to various factors. First, the assigned jobs and wages earned was specified in the Alaska Packers Association’s contract which was broken down based on ethnicities (e.g. Caucasians, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and Alaskan Natives). This hierarchy … Continue reading Cannery Bunkhouses