Epic 1888 cruise of the USS Albatross netted details of pioneer fishermen
The 1887 to 1889 cruise of the USS Albatross all along the mainland West Coast would have been an awe-inspiring adventure for anyone interested in American industrial and social history. The resulting “Report on the Fisheries of the Pacific Coast of the United States,” by J.W. Collins based on work by W.A. Wilcox and A.B. Alexander, is one of the best first-hand accounts we possess about the people and resources of the West Coast in a pivotal period. The Albatross poked into dozens of “small streams, bays, and harbors along the coast, many of which had not previously been investigated.” The original edition of the report — I recently found one for about $20 — is packed with detailed charts of river mouths and estuaries, showing canneries, fish traps, gillnet drifts, shellfish beds and dozens of other features. The charts of the Columbia River are humble masterpieces, but far too large to reproduce for a newspaper article. View 6 images read the rest here 07:24
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