San Juan Cove is a small embayment on the north shore of Tutka Bay, a deglaciated fjord on the southern shore of Kachemak Bay in the Kenai Mountains in Kachemak Bay State Park, about 13 miles (21 km) south-southeast of Homer and 11 miles (18 km) east-northeast of Seldovia, Alaska. San Juan Island lies 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the north shore of the cove. Both the cove and the island are named after the San Juan Fishing and Packing Company, which installed canning machinery in an existing herring saltery in 1928 and operated the salmon cannery for three years. The Kenai Mountains comprise one of the world’s largest accretionary complexes, known by various names such as the Chugach terrane, Chugach-Prince William terrane, and more recently, the Southern Margin Composite terrane. The oldest rocks are blocks of Paleozoic age embedded within the mélange of the McHugh Complex. This complex is represented at Tutka Inlet and underlies San Juan Cove with graywacke and conglomerate. These formations were created from sedimentary deposits in a deep ocean trench during the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous periods, later lithified and thrust up during the Mesozoic era as a forearc ridge. The present-day landscape of Kachemak Bay and Tutka Inlet is the result of multiple glaciations during the Pleistocene epoch. These ice expansions occurred repeatedly when colder temperatures and increased snowfall favored the formation of glacial ice. During the Last Glacial Maximum, ice streams flowed from alpine sources, scouring bedrock to create deep fjords before merging with other glaciers to fill the Cook Inlet basin. By 16,000 years ago, Pleistocene glaciers likely began retreating from the outer coast, potentially opening this area to human occupation. As these glaciers retreated, post-­glacial rebound caused the land to rise, but at a much slower rate than the sea-level rise, which inundated the coastal fringe by about 400 feet (120m).

Human migrations began shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum. The earliest known settlers of Kachemak Bay were from the Ocean Bay archaeological tradition, characterized by distinctive technology and artifacts dating back 4,500 years. They were followed by the Arctic Small Tool tradition, which used the bay around 4,000 years ago. About 3,000 years ago, the Kachemak tradition arrived and utilized the area until around 1,500 years ago. For the past 1,000 years, the bay has been continuously inhabited by the Dena’ina Athabascan and Alutiiq Sugpiat peoples. When European explorers arrived, the southern coast of Kachemak Bay was occupied by the Sugpiat Alutiiq and the northern shore by the Dena’ina Athabascan. This cultural mix led to conflicts over resources, and at least one island at the mouth of Tutka Bay served as a refuge, known as Q’na’qesle. According to oral tradition, besieged islanders relied on a man who swam ashore at night to fetch water in a bladder, as none was available on the island. In the 18th century, Russian fur hunters, known as promyshlenniki, were among the first Europeans to visit Kachemak Bay. In 1778, Captain James Cook sailed into Cook Inlet, searching for the fabled Strait of Anián across North America. In 1786, Stepan Zaikov of the Lebedev-Lastochkin Company established a trading post at the Kenai River‘s mouth. These fur traders subjugated the Aleut and Alutiiq people, forcing the men to hunt sea otters for the maritime fur trade. After the Alaska Purchase in 1867, when the territory was transferred from Russia to the United States, Kachemak Bay became popular with miners, fishers, and fur trappers. Miners traveled to the goldfields of upper Cook Inlet and the interior, while fishers exploited the bay for herring and salmon. Fox farms, operating into the early 1900s, were established on several islands at Tutka Bay’s mouth.

San Juan Fishing and Packing began its fresh fish business in Seattle in 1899. In 1901, the company built the first cold storage plant in Alaska at Taku Harbor. A salmon cannery was established in Seward in 1917 and later moved to Port San Juan at Sawmill Bay on Evans Island in 1924. In 1926, the company constructed another cannery named Port O’Brien on Kodiak Island at Northeast Arm in Uganik Bay. Fish were primarily caught using company-owned purse seiners and fish traps. These traps, known as pile traps, were highly efficient for capturing Pacific salmon. Salmon canning companies owned and operated most of these traps in Alaska. The first salmon trap was built in Cook Inlet around 1885. It was initially based on the pound nets used in the Great Lakes fisheries but was significantly modified to endure strong tidal currents and waves. Whole log piles were driven into the sandy bottoms to support the trap, with webbing and wire netting fastened to the piles to form the walls. The initial success of the first fish trap led to the construction of more traps in other areas, including four in Kachemak Bay. One trap was located on the north shore between Travers Creek and Diamond Creek, while three were on the south shore at MacDonald Spit, Point Naskowhak, and near Flat Island on the mainland. These pile traps were only feasible in relatively shallow waters with soft bottoms suitable for driving piles. Highly efficient, a single trap in a prime location could catch up to 100,000 salmon in one day. However, the cannery at San Juan Cove was unprofitable, and in 1931, the facility and traps were sold to the Fidalgo Island Packing Company, which also ran the cannery at Port Graham. In 1934, Fidalgo dismantled the Tutka Bay plant but continued operating the four traps. The use of salmon traps became controversial, as many Alaskans believed they contributed to the decline in salmon runs. The number of traps fluctuated annually until they were abolished by the new state legislature in 1959. Read more here and here. Explore more of San Juan Cove and Tutka Bay here: