The story of how a Black man pioneered the salmon canning industry in British Columbia in the 1870s
Located on an island on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada, is the Deas Island Regional Park What many do not know is that the park took its name from John Sullivan Deas, a founder of the salmon canning industry in British Columbia. More than 140 years ago, the island was the site of Deas’ cannery. A tinsmith by trade, Deas is believed to have pioneered the salmon canning industry in British Columbia, becoming the leading canner on the Fraser River in the 1870s. Born in 1838 in South Carolina among some groups of Black people freed from slavery, Deas was a trained tinsmith by the time he was in his teens. Historians have described the 1870s also as the Salmon Rush as anyone with ample capital could open a cannery. Deas knew how to make cans, so salmon canning was an ideal business idea. >click to read< 15:30
I don’t know where you dig these stories up, it’s yet another example of the commitment and dedication you have had, and continue to this day.
Thanks for the many years of interesting stories and keeping folks informed on the continued challenges fishermen and their communities face in this day and age of consolidation, domestic fisheries production being taken over by foreign multi national corporations, so called environmentalist organizations who along with their climate alarmist minions who seek to shut down the purest form of protein on earth in order to fatten their wallets by industrializing our sacred fishing grounds.
This is the only place where we are able to get the straight scoop.
Again, thank you for all that you have done, and all that you continue to do!