Southeast Alaska Herring Fishery Timeline

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---Text may be somewhat readable but is not yet complete---

This timeline gives dates and events, but also dates of who is observing the events in the fishery. We have such limited information on the early fishery, that the few dates when someone has passed on to us written observations of the herring fishery are significant to note. The timeline includes some significant railroad and development of the west dates, because these are intertwined with Alaska's history.

• 1867 Alaska Purchase
• 1869 May 10, First Transcontinental Rail Crossing "Golden Spike"
• 1873, Financial panic, triggered by Jay Cooke Northern Pacific Railroad failure
• 1876 Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer)
• 1876 Rail networks expand north and westward: Mississippi River bridged at La Crosse, WI
• 1878 Northwest Trading Company founded by Paul Schulze, with Henry Villard and other Northern Pacific railroad tycoons; establishes trading post at Killisnoo
• 1879 John Muir explores Glacier Bay
• 1880 Steamer Favorite outfitted and heads for Southeast Alaska for Northwest Trading Company.
• 1880 Favorite starts to explore Glacier Bay but turns back
• 1880 Census (no herring or Killisnoo information)
• 1880 Menhaden boats in New England switch to whaling
• 1880 Dec. 1-7. Favorite travels to the Juneau gold strike with goods and gold miners.
• 1881 March 19. Favorite returns to Juneau with barge; sets up store
• 1882 October. bombardment of Angoon by U.S. Navy Capt. Merriman
• 1883 Summer. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore first trip to Alaska ( Killisnoo processing herring now)
• 1883 Sept. 8. Northern Pacific Railroad completes Golden Spike
• 1883 "winter" (Dec.?) Northern Pacific stock tanks, bankruptcy
• 1884 Summer. Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore second visit to Southeast Alaska.
• 1884 May 14. "Grant Panic", involving railroad stock speculation, in part.
• 1885 Spring. Dire financial times for Northwest Trading Company (Vanderbilt/de Groff letters)
• 1887-88. Northwest Trading assets sold off; Alaska Oil and Guano takes over at Killisnoo
• 1888 Albatross transfers to Pacific coast; July 4 first voyage to Alaska (western only-Tanner 1889); transplants Maine lobsters to California enroute, to Sept. 6.
• 1890 Census Frederick Billings
• 1893 Financial Panic, Northern Pacific bankrupt again.
• 1895 Paul Schulze, former NWT president and Northern Pacific Lands Officer, commits suicide when his swindling habits are revealed
• 1898 July 9-11 Albatross visits Killisnoo; first scientific report on southeast herring (Moser 1899)
• 1905 February. John N. Cobb appointed assistant agent for Alaska. Travels to Alaska each summer; resigns March 1912.
• 1906 Herring are scarce around Killisnoo; plant operates way below capacity
• 1906 First "heavily signed" petition of protest against herring fertilizer plants submitted to Congress (Cobb and Kutchin (1907).
• 1910 First herring frozen for bait at New England Fish Co. plant in Ketchikan (Marsh and Cobb 1911
• 1916 Bureau of Fisheries brings in Scotch-cure experts to assist with developing curing in Alaska Fisheries
• 1919 New construction: Three additional reduction plants contructed
• 1921 Low prices: only 2 of 7 reduction plants operate
• 1929 Peak reduction harvest 78,749 tons; 18 reduction plants in southeastern Alaska.
• 1940-1942 Reduction fishery closed for season (small harvest in 1941); low abundance of herring; difficult to find any herring at all during exploratory fishing
• First year of annual catch quota for reduction fishery
• 1966 Last reduction plant closes in southeastern Alaska.