Tag Archives: English ship captain
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
