❖ SHIPPING OUT FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY

Puget Sound Ports
leading to the world.
Click map image to enlarge.

Getting closer to home,
Click the image to enlarge.
Map cards from the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

"From the first records to the present day the fishing and its industry have always been a most important factor in the development of this county. About 1850, numbers of small fishing sloops would fish around the southerly part of San Juan Island. They would anchor in what is now charted as Griffin Bay [formerly San Juan Harbor.] They prepared their fish for salting in barrels, that they sold to the Hudson's Bay Co., at Victoria, B.C. This being such a convenient haven some of them built shacks ashore and as the number grew, small schooners would come and gather up the barreled fish. This was probably the first freighting out of the islands. The shantytown grew and a man called Captain Higgins put in a small stock of supplies. Fishermen wrote letters and left them with him for mailing to Victoria. They gave as a return address, 'Victoria, care of Capt. Higgins, San Juan town,' and thus was born the first town in the county. Many Native American maidens kept house for the fishermen. In time there were two stores with liquor in the backroom, and rooms to rent on the upper floor, and fairly regular mail service. This first town was finally abandoned and was later destroyed by fire, but during the days of the boundary dispute, it was a lively place and high-life a-plenty.
      The fishing industry had a steady development. A fish saltery was built near Friday Harbor. A few years later it was destroyed by fire. Shortly after this loss a packer from the Columbia River, named Develin, built a cannery at Friday Harbor, San Juan Island. Fish traps were introduced and many of these made big money for their owners––and on the hush-hush, they often made money for the fish-pirates, too. 

Fish trap fishing
Pacific Northwest Washington.
The top photo is a trap in Point Roberts, WA.
Click image to enlarge.

      It was quite a welcome income from the outside. Many of the piles were gotten out in the county and most of the traps were manned by young men from the growing families in the county. 

FISH TRAP LOCATIONS IN
NORTHERN PUGET SOUND
DATED 1913.
Click image to enlarge.

Fish trap 
westside of San Juan Island, WA.
Click image to enlarge.
From the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

At one time there were some 40 odd traps in the county. They were finally legislated out of existence. [1934]
      The first seiners were all hand-operated, but the advent of gasoline-powered engines soon put them out of the running. 

Puget Sound seine fishermen
hand-hauling in the net.
Low res scan of original photo dated 1943.
From the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

The first powered seiners were a big advance, but no one could foresee that someday we would have the wonderful seaworthy and comfortable boats that now comprise the seining fleet. What with seiners, trollers, gillnetters, and the reefnet gears, [and the early fish traps], it seems a marvel of nature that there are enough fish caught to keep all this vast fleet in the black.
      

Reefnet fisher Ed Hopkins.
Day's end on the fish boat,
one of the pair of boats
comprising his gear #7.
Squaw Bay, San Juan County, WA.
1980s.

Fish in the net,
Gear #7
Squaw Bay,
Shaw Island, WA.
Ed Hopkins and
crew Jim Sesby.
Click image to enlarge.
Photos courtesy of gear owners
Ed & Kathy Hopkins.

      One of the very interesting operations is a reefnet gear. It is an operation originally used by the Native Americans, and boats and methods of fishing very much the same as it was when explorers like Captain Gray, Vancouver, and others first witnessed and described its operation. 
      At one time there were seven or more canneries operating in this county, now there are only two in this year of 1953.

Friday Harbor Waterfront
Undated.

      Quicker transportation, modern transportation, and machines that are so marvelously skillful and tireless have made a great change in the canning industry. Now, too, the top market for the highest grade is here in the United States. At one time the highest prices were obtained in England. In the early 1900s, a British bark was towed into Friday Harbor cannery and loaded most of the pack for delivery in England. In those days the humpbacks were not even canned, but thrown overboard, thousands and thousands of them.
      Lime is one of the major natural assets in the county and has made a major contribution in the wealth and development of San Jan county, and probably bids fair to outrun all industries, other than agriculture. Many an early settler while clearing his land and getting his farm in shape, was glad to put in off-time at cutting and hauling cordwood for the lime kilns.

      

Lime manufacturing
Roche Harbor, San Juan Island
Click image to enlarge.
Original photos from the archives of
the Saltwater People Historical Society©

There have been many changes in methods of packing and transportation of lime. The bucking and falling saws have given way to the chain saw and the cordwood wagons drawn by so many handsome draft horses have been entirely displaced by trucks; but the firing of the limestone is still a matter of heat, wood, and work.
      The first lime was probably burned by some of the English soldiers who were familiar with the industry. They built some small pot kilns and barreled the lime they made in empty beef casks and traded it to the Hudson's Bay Co. With the packaging of the lime, there came quite a development in coopering. This, too, was a gainful occupation that could be worked at during the off days from the seasonal farm work. Nearly all the early steamers were wood burners. The cutting and hauling of cordwood to the different boat landings furnished a considerable payroll. No one in those days would have believed that there would be ferry boats or any craft over 250-ft long making daily trips through the Islands. And what of the future –– who knows."
Words by Mr. Frank Mullis., from a pioneer family of San Juan Island, WA. for the Friday Harbor Journal Nov. 1956. Maps, chart, photographs from the archives of the Saltwater People Log. 
      

❖ OLD SHIPS ARE LIKE RARE WINE

4 July 1948 

YACHT EL PRIMERO
Built in 1893 at Union Ironworks,
San Francisco, CA.
The image is inscribed with the name
of the yacht owner,
S. A. Perkins, Tacoma, WA.
From the archives of the Saltwater People Log©

'Old ships are like rare wine –– they improve with age if kept in repair.' That was the observation of Commodore S. A. Perkins, Tacoma capitalist, newspaper publisher, and philanthropist, as he strolled the decks of his sturdy steel yacht, EL PRIMERO, moored in Lake Union.
      'But you must keep them up –– make replacements and improvements from time to time,' Perkins added as he showed visitors the comfortable after deck with its attractive furniture, the cabins, galley, pilothouse and crew quarters.
      'Do you know, the EL PRIMERO is a better yacht than when she was constructed at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco. She was rebuilt three times, once by the Lake Washington Shipyards in 1926. She has four steel collision bulkheads and is double-riveted and double-plated below the waterline.
      The EL PRIMERO is so sturdy she could plow through the heaviest ice floes. She is built like a battleship, pocket-size and can take seas of any height. And she is the best seaboat I ever traveled in. No yacht afloat has more deck space. She has cruised to Honolulu and to every part of Alaska.'
      The EL PRIMERO has a cold-storage plant sufficient for the needs of a cruise from Puget Sound to Alaska and return; a machine with a capacity for 30 pounds of ice an hour, fule capacity for a cruise of 5,000 miles and three heating plants.
      While underway, the steam boiler furnishes heat. There is an independent hot-water plant for time spent in port and as an electrical heating system for the staterooms. Other equipment includes a powerboat, an unsinkable lifeboat, and a life-buoy.
      'Probably more presidents have been entertained aboard the EL PRIMERO than any yacht afloat.' Perkins continued. 'They included Taft, Roosevelt, Harding, and Hoover. And during the Times Cup races on Lake Washington some years ago, the EL PRIMERO carried more Navy admirals than any vessel in existence. She was the flagship at all the Times' Cup races.'

EL PRIMERO
The flagship for the Times Cup races,
Lake Washington, Seattle.
Click image to enlarge.
Original photo from the archives
of the Saltwater People Log©

      Recently, the 137-ft yacht and her triple-expansion compound steam engine were given a complete overhaul at the plant of the Lake Union Drydock Co and after the work was completed, Perkins received a letter from Frank Oliver, the yard's superintendent. It said:
'Hoping all waters on the globe shall prove good cruising for you and yours, and all others aboard who love the sea. Bon voyage to the EL PRIMERO and my good friend, Sam Perkins.'
      Oliver said he found the EL PRIMERO in excellent condition and 'far superior to many vessels of the same age have made ready for sea. In fact, your vessel seems to improve with age.'
      The 17-knot EL PRIMERO formerly was owned by the late Charles Thorne*, Tacoma banker. 
      The EL PRIMERO can carry 125 persons on deck. She has sleeping accommodations for 30 persons and carries a crew of eight men who always address the yacht's owner as commodore. Crew members have their own eating and sleeping quarters.
      Perkins has master's licenses for ships of any tonnage, steam or diesel, on any ocean and also is a licensed pilot.
      Born in Boston, Perkins has large business interests, but the EL PRIMERO is his pride and joy. 'She is in fine condition and we will be shoving off soon on a cruise.' Perkins said. 'Perhaps to British Columbia or Alaska."
Above text from the Seattle Daily Times. 4 July 1948 p.15 
Courtesy of Ronald R. Burke, maritime historian, who submitted this clipping to the Saltwater People Log from his high school scrapbook, 24 July 2019.

EL PRIMERO
Photo by Ronald R. Burke, Seattle.
2013.

*1911: H.W. McCurdy's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest lists Chester Thorne, Tacoma banker, selling the El Primero to S. A. Perkins. The legend is that Thorne lost the yacht to Perkins in a card game.
1919: Listed on the timeline on the home page of the Saltwater People Log there is a short clipping of El Primero getting up steam for a race with Aquilo. Click here
1926: El Primero was extensivley rebuilt at Houghton, WA., for S. A. Perkins.
1954: Sidney A. (Sam) Perkins, 90, died.
The ship lives on at this writing. Update coming soon.


   

❖ FERRY NAMES ON PUGET SOUND ❖

M.V. KLICKITAT
approaching Port of Friday Harbor,
San Juan Archipelago, WA.
4 February 1962.
Original photo by Fred Milkie,
from the archives of the Saltwater People Log©

What's the best name for a new ferry?

The Vacation State, or the Klahowya!

The Washington State, or the Tillikum!

How about the Sales-Tax State, or the Duckabush?

If it weren't for William O. Thorniley and a determined band of citizens who followed his lead, our Washington State ferries wouldn't bear the Native American names that puzzle tourists (and a few natives as well).
      It was early 1958 when the furor arose. Lloyd Nelson, a member of the State Toll Bridge Authority, had been given the innocent-sounding task of naming two new ferries in the state's seven-year-old expanded system. After reviewing the names of the most recent acquisitions––the Rhododendron and the Olympic, launched in 1953; the Evergreen State, christened in 1954––Nelson set sail with his imagination and came up with two sure winners; the Vacation State and the Washington State. A small item announcing the names appeared on a back page of the January 14 1958, Seattle Times. With the pleasing sensation of a job well done, Nelson went on to his next task.
      He hadn't reckoned with William O. Thorniley. An employee of the Black Ball Ferry Line before the state acquired that private service in 1951, Thorniley had long advocated using Native American names for the ferries. In fact, he had collected Chinook names for years and had personally named many of the ferries on the Black Ball Line. Now, when he heard the proposed names, Thorniley launched a campaign through the Seattle Chamber of Commerce to return to the tradition of Native American ferry names. The result was a month-long controversy, with hundreds of citizens joining the fray.
      State officials explained that Native American names were too difficult for tourists to pronounce or understand –– and the state intended to make the tourists as comfortable as possible. But to Bill Thorniley, a bored tourist was no more likely to return than a confused tourist. The redundant new names certainly bored him.
      "Vacation State!" Thorniley snorted. "What's the matter with nice-sounding colorful Indian names like Bogachiel, Twana, Humptulips, Solduc, Dosewallips, Nooksack, Stillaguamish, and Duckabush!"
      Poor Lloyd Nelson. Many Washingtonians agreed with Bill Thorniley, and there were plenty of ideas besides those he half-jokingly suggested. Letters poured into the State Toll Bridge Authority. Western Washington newspapers took up the hue and cry. Suggestions ranging from Tahoma after the mountain to Squat (Salish for silver salmon) were submitted by interested and irate citizens, complete with scorching comments about the state's lack of imagination.
      Supporting a return to Native American names, Edward E. Carlson, executive vice president of Western Hotels, asserted, "Anything that has to do with the romance of a region adds to its attraction for tourists. Look at the fantastic job they have done in Hawaii. We should lay emphasis on everything that's colorful and picturesque in the Puget Sound area."
      Rudi Becker, connected with a harbor sightseeing service, branded the new names "unimaginative––just what you'd expect from politicians with no romance in their souls."

Rudi Becker, protestor
with his boat named Sales Tax State.

      In protest, Becker dubbed the 1918-model power dory he kept in his back yard the Sales Tax State. (Now there's a name that would have stood the test of time.)
      In the end, the state gave in. "All I want to do is smoke the peace pipe," Nelson declared. On February 15, just one month after the names Vacation State and Washington State had been announced, Nelson offered to withdraw them. Later, Thorniley served as the expert on Chinook Jargon when the state set up a nine-member committee for name selection. After three months, the committee decided on two new names. Klahowya, meaning "greetings" and Tillikum, meaning "friend."
      Following are the Native American names for some of the ferries currently in service [1986.] Most of the definitions were among Thorniley's papers and can be found with other definitions, in Ferry Boats, a book by Mary Kline and George Bayless. (Thorniley had remarked that Chinook was exclusively a spoken language, so the accuracy of spelling and pronunciation in his list depended on the hearing and literacy of early settlers who first wrote them down.)

Elwha: The Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula takes its name from the word for elk in the Clallam tongue.
Hiyu: Chinook Jargon for "plenty, much."
Hyak: Chinook Jargon for "fast, speedy."
Illahee: Chinook Jargon for "land, place" or "location."
Kaleetan: Chinook Jargon for "arrow."
Klahowya: Chinook Jargon for "greetings" or "welcome."
Klickitat: Native American tribe of south-central Washington. Some early explorers claimed the word meant "beyond," but the majority seemed to favor "robbers" or "dog robbers."
Nisqually: Tribe which headquartered at the mouth of the Nisqually River.
Quinault: Lake Quinault and the Quinault tribe of the western Olympic Peninsula.
Spokane: Tribe in eastern Washington.
Tillikum: Chinook Jargon for "friend."
Walla Walla: Tribe in eastern Washington.
The most recent line of ferries was launched in the early 1980s, christened in the tradition of Northwest Native American names.
Chelan: A lake on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountain range, from the word for "deep water."
Issaquah: A city in western Washington, from a word of uncertain origin.
Kathlamet: Tribe in western Washington.
Kittitas: Shoal people; also defined as "land of bread."
Kitsap: Chief Kitsap, sub-chief of the Suquamish Tribe, under Chief Sealth.
Sealth: Chief Sealth, after whom the city of Seattle was named.
What's the best name for a ferry?
      For a sense of regional history combined with a spirit of romance, Bill Thorniley's ideas were worth a few shots across the state's bow––and a second look. Take a ride on the Sealth, or the Tillikum, or someday (who knows?) maybe even the Duckabush.
Text by Margaret D. McGee, Seattle, WA. Excerpt from Ferry Tales of Puget Sound; Collected by Joyce Delbridge. Vashon Point Productions. pp 26-28.

❖ OLD SCHOOL QUALITY & A PROUD CREW ❖ SO LONG HYAK ❖

M.V. HYAK
Sister to the ELWAH, the YAKIMA, and the KALEETAN,
called the "Super Ferries."
The HYAK 1967-2019.

M.V. HYAK
approaching Lopez Island, San Juan County, WA.
Built by National Steel & Shipbuilding Co
San Diego, CA. Launched in 1967 to
sail the coast to her new home in Seattle,
entering the state service on the Seattle-Bremerton run.

The news on the waterfront is the Washington State Ferries has lost a workhorse boat as we head into the busy summer travel season. 
      The organization has retired the ferry HYAK after nearly 52 years of service. She is being decommissioned because the state legislature decided not to fund costly maintenance, WSF said. Lawmakers instead chose to fund new boats.
      The mothballing of the HYAK means the state is soon down to 22 vessels.
      "This boat could just keep running, we could get ten more years out of this thing," said staff chief engineer Dave Knutsen. Like the HYAK, Knutsen is also retiring after 42 years with the WSF. He worked on the HYAK for 12 years. Knutsen, "there's a lot of life left in this boat. The hull is in great shape. They replaced a lot of the keel, a lot of the plating on the hull is new. 
      Knutsen, as part of her crew, credits the reliability and longevity over the years to the KISS simplicity of her guts, its old-school build quality, and a proud crew. 
      "There have been some really good people on the boat over the years, that's key. You've gotta have people who care. It's got an old feel to it, even the smells, the sights, the sounds and everything about it is old. Personally I kind of like the nostalgia, like the history. It's a neat old boat, but you've gotta make room for the new stuff eventually.
      Over the past one-half century, HYAK has sailed almost every WSF route. 
      She will have her usable equipment removed and be prepared for sale at WSF's Eagle harbor maintenance facility.
      The $6.5 million HYAK was the first of the four 'super ferries' to join the fleet––ELWAH, KALEETAN & YAKIMA followed as part of the fleet modernization effort by WSF.
      Time crept on but the HYAK stayed basically the same. The boat relied on an old-school telegraph system, which the pilothouse used to signal down to the control room for throttle adjustments. 
Source: Ted Land, King5 News and Nathan Pilling, Kitsap Sun.

❖ GOING FOR GOLD ❖ By Sail San Francisco to Alaska

Schooner FRED J. WOOD
121109
Built in 1899 by George H. Hitchings,
Mathews Yard, Hoquiam, WA
181' x 38.1' x 14'
681 G.t. 601 N.t.
Preparing for castoff from San Francisco,
July 1923.
Click image to enlarge.
Original photo from the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society©

"After chasing the golden rainbow, and finding no bag of gold at the end, seven modern Argonauts, including Capt. Nicholas Borgeson, members of a gold-seeking expedition which sailed from San Francisco 6 July, returned to Seattle from the Seward peninsula district of Alaska aboard the Alaska Steamship Co liner VICTORIA.
      Many men, women, and children were in the party which voyaged to the northland where they expected to find gold on the shores of the Bering Sea, but ill-fate ended their adventure and they returned disillusioned and determined never again to seek the rainbow's end.
      Just as they were ready to land on what they had been told were the 'golden beaches of Port Clarence Bay,' their ship, the schooner FRED J. WOOD, was wrecked in an 80-mile gale and they were left destitute on the barren shores of Alaska.
      Fortunately, they had been shipwrecked near an Alaska missionary station and were taken in by Elmer Dahl, who lives at this isolated spot on the coast. For 3 weeks the stranded Argonauts lived on the shores of Port Clarence Bay, and then the power schooner BOXER, Capt. S. Whitlam of the US Bureau of Education, hove in sight. She was a welcome rescue ship and the gold seekers were soon aboard the government vessel bound for Nome. All those who arrived in Seattle aboard the VICTORIA were members of the crew of the FRED J. WOOD. The other members of the expedition are aboard the steamship DUFORD of the Alaska-Siberian Navigation Co and are due in Seattle next week.
      Members who arrived are, Capt. Nicholas Borgeson, master, Mrs. Borgeson, Karl Klenke, mate, H. Anderson, Joseph Conley, John Stuth, and J. McDay, sailors.
      On 27 Sept we anchored in Port Clarence Bay to await lighters when a great storm arose. It was soon blowing 80mph and although we anchored two miles offshore, we were driven on the beach. The ship went ashore dragging her anchors, so fierce was the gale.'
      A.H. Moore of Los Angeles, head of the expedition was formerly an expressman at Nome. He went to San Francisco and Los Angeles to organize the expedition. They were all stockholders in the venture. Moore told the members that he had 50 miles of beach and 5,000 acres of gold-bearing sands and a large dredge on the bay which would net at least $40,000 per day. There were 105 adults and children in the expedition. The FRED J. WOOD was equipped with radio, phonograph, games, and carried a cow, sheep, horses, an airplane, and an automobile.
Above text; The Seattle Times 7 Nov. 1923
      
1902, 30 July: Capt. Jorgen J. Jacobsen, age 43, well-known shipmaster was stabbed to death while in command of FRED J. WOOD on the high seas on a voyage from Astoria, Oregon, to Kau Chow, China. The mixed crew of French, Portuguese, and Norwegians bestowed upon the captain their asseveration that he was unusually kind towards his men in both language and actions.
      The murderer, the ship's Japanese cabin boy, Tanbara Gusaburo, was held in custody and delivered to the authorities upon the schooner's arrival at Honolulu. Mrs. Jacobson and the crew on watch at the time of the crime were also left as witnesses, the vessel continuing her voyage in charge of the mate Henry Meyers. 
1902, 14 August: Tanbara was hanged at 12:30 for the murder of Captain Jorgen J. Jacobsen. A reprieve was granted by Gov. Dole to allow an appeal to Washington but President Roosevelt refused to exercise executive clemency. 

H.W. McCurdy's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest. Gordon Newell, editor. p. 85.
Hawaiian Star. 6 August 1902. Condensed from a gruesome full-page report.

❖ ADVENTURES WITH CAPT. TARTE ❖ June Burn in 1930

From Military History Now. 

"The adventure in which young Jim Tarte was involved in Victoria, was far more serious than a mere thirty-six-mile row on the Strait of Juan de Fuca at its maddest. Even if that trip had meant death to him it would still have been less serious than the incident I am about to relate now. 
      It used to be the custom in the English navy to flog naughty sailors at 4 o'clock in the morning. Many was the time the Tarte family had heard the screams of some poor devil getting his daily dozen from the cat-o'-nine tails out on a man-of-war a mile away from Victoria. Perhaps recollections of those horrible early-dawn sounds made young Jim more willing to engage upon the dangerous job of helping one of those sailors due for such a flogging.
      The chap, a marine, was a body-servant to one of the officers. It being the custom for officers to use the enlisted personnel thus. The officer was especially overbearing, exasperating. One day the marine, suddenly unwilling to endure any more, lifted his hand to strike his master, thought better of it quickly, lifted the motion into a salute. But the officer, knowing what was meant, reported him. He was court-martialed, sentenced to be whipped and turned adrift on a hatch grating with a day's supply of food and water. 
      His fellows asked young Tarte if he would aide them to help the fellow to desert. Plans were made. Somehow they got the irons off his arms, got him ready for the rowboat. 
      'My brother and I rowed quietly alongside,' Captain Tarte says. 'They dropped his little bundle down into the boat and then dropped the marine down and we made off to the shore. When we got on land the fellow offered me $10 but I refused. I made him hold up his right hand and swear that he would touch no drop of liquor until he was out of the country. If he had spent his money for liquor, he would have got drunk and have been caught as others had been. I suppose he kept his promise. I never heard from him again. That was the only time I ever helped a deserter. It would have been five years for me if they had caught me doing it.'
      When the summer in Victoria was over, Jim bought himself a light rowboat, put it aboard the steamer Enterprise, came up the Fraser River to Ladner Landing, had himself set down with his boat. There he hired a yoke of oxen and a sled and hauled his boat to Boundary Bay when he rowed home to Semiahmoo in 1871. Later he sold that boat for $20 to a man down at Bow. 
      In 1872, young Jim shipped on the historic General Harney, owned by Capt Roeder, captained by Mason Clark. Jim was mate.
      In those days the boat would anchor in the mouth of the river at Marietta in eighteen feet of water. Ten years later the river silt had filled in the harbor eleven feet so that the water was only seven feet down. Today [1930] trees grow where the old General Harney used to stand at anchor! That seems incredible and is due, doubtless, to the increased washing from the hills because of their being logged. Bellingham waterfront has been filled in, too, but mostly by artificial means. All manner of buildings stand along our bayfront where ships used to lift and fall with the swells.
      Jim Tarte went off to Seattle for another job on a boat.
      The first thing he got at Seattle was a job loading lumber on Yesler dock. A big Siwash took the end of the lumber on the even side of the pile, leaving the smaller man the far more arduous job of handing the odd lengths. In two days he was done up. A wreck. The captain of the Colfax was looking for a man. When Jim applied the captain cursed him, said he was looking for a man and not a ghost, but ended by giving the young lad a chance. 
      Thus began two years of steamboatin' with one of the roughest old captains whoever came to the Sound.
      See you tomorrow." June Burn. Puget Soundings. April 28 1930.

Jim Tarte (c. 1850-1933) served as mate on steamers COLFAX, ADDIE, NELLIS, DESPATCH & others. His last command was on the steamer BESSIE and his last active service was as mate on the tug DANIEL KERN to Clallam at age 80 years.

❖ PEGLEG BILL, LONG-TIMER OF FIDALGO ISLAND

PEGLEG BILL
photo dated 1972
Anacortes, WA.
from the archives of the
Saltwater People Historical Society©
AP Wirephoto.

"Pegleg Bill, a one-legged Glaucous-winged seagull whose home for more than 25 years has been the old pilings of an Anacortes, wood products company drives off a young competitor. 
      In 1947, a millworker rescued the bird when a bullet had left one leg smashed and dangling. A coworker, Clyde LeMaister, packs an extra sandwich daily for Pegleg Bill, who flies to unknown breeding rocks every April and returns each September to his 5-acre kingdom. When LeMaister retires next year, the bird no doubt will be on hand to screech a farewell."

~Clyde Bernard LeMaister (1908-2005) born on Lopez Island, lived to be 97 years, probably long surpassing the years of his bud, Pegleg Bill.
      Clyde, who served in Germany in the US Army 1944-1946, was one of the original shareholders in Anacortes Veneer. He worked as a tugboat operator until retirement in 1973 and was a member of the Samish Indian Nation. He was  buried on Guemes Island.

❖ NORTH TO ALASKA 70 SUMMERS AGO ❖

SEA TRIALS WITH A SEINER DESIGNED BY ED MONK, BUILT BY GRANDY BOAT COMPANY, AND READY FOR WORK IN THE FAR NORTH

LIBBY 21
"One of the speediest of the 1949 crop of new fishing
vessels built in Seattle was the Libby 21 from the drafting
board of designer Mr. Ed Monk of Seattle.
She was constructed by the Grandy Boat Co yard on
Lake Union for the Alaska salmon department of
Libby, McNeil & Libby. She was equipped with a
140-HP engine and logged 11-knots. The 40' purse seiner
was shipped on the deck of a freighter to the cannery
at Mosher Bay, AK."
Click image to enlarge this
photo by Ray Krantz from his photo-boat STARDUST
on Lake Washington, Seattle, WA.
From the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society©
Photo date of 3 June 1949.

By the 1940s Libby, McNeil & Libby was one of the largest producers of salmon canning operations in the US. On average it produced 700,000 cases of canned salmon annually. Their canneries were at Egegik, Ekuk, Libbyville, Koggiung, Egushik, Nushagak, Kenai, Yakutat, and Ketchikan.