Waterfall is a historic cannery on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island on Ulloa Channel, adjacent to Port Refugio on Suemez Island, approximately 145 miles (234 km) southeast of Sitka and 60 miles (97 km) west of Ketchikan, Alaska. The cannery was named for a nearby waterfall that supplies the facility via pipeline. Ulloa Channel was originally named “Canal Ysla de Ulloa”, possibly for Francisco de Ulloa, a Spanish explorer, by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra and Francisco Antonio Mourelle, who also named Suemez Island in 1775-79. The rocks forming Ulloa Channel, Suemez Island and this portion of Prince of Wales Island represent the Port Refugio Formation, which consists of an interbedded sequence of graywacke, conglomerate, siltstone, shale and some limestone. This formation developed between the Ordovician and Permian periods, 450-250 million years ago, and is part of the Alexander terrane that accreted to the North American continent and extends north from south-eastern Alaska into the Yukon Territory and westward into the Wrangell Mountains. After the Last Glacial Period, Pacific salmon began to colonize the newly formed watersheds as the glaciers retreated. Salmonid remains have been found in some of the oldest archaeological sites in the Prince of Wales archipelago, including a 9,000-year-old shell midden on Heceta Island.

The Pacific Coast salmon fishery is ancient. Traditionally, indigenous peoples fished heavily in the coastal waters and tributaries for both food and trade. According to oral tradition, the earliest Tlingit people traversed Prince of Wales Island from the east, following a route up the Harris river and then down to Klawock Lake in search of new fishing territories. The first recorded contact with Europeans occurred in 1779 when two Spanish frigates arrived: the Favorita, commanded by Ignacio de Arteaga, and the Princesa (also known as Nuestra Señora del Rosario), commanded by Bodega y Quadra. Within three days the Tlingit were trading fish and furs in exchange for new technologies and materials. By 1792 there were 30 vessels trading along the south-east Alaska coast, the majority being Americans engaged in the maritime fur trade. A small local salmon market developed in response to their provisioning needs. In 1867 the Alaska Purchase transferred the territory from Russia to the United States. In 1872 the commercial salmon fishery began with a saltery established at Klawock. In 1889 there were 12 canneries operating in south-east Alaska, with sockeye salmon the only species being targeted commercially. By 1900 the entire coast from California to the Bering Sea had become the base of the world’s largest salmon industry. In 1907 fish traps were developed to increase yields more efficiently from a rapidly declining salmon population. By 1912 the number of canneries had increased to 51, and to stay competitive they all used fish traps. In 1927 there were 82 canneries operating 575 fish traps that caught 74% of all commercial salmon. The number of canneries in south-east Alaska peaked at 134, but by 1949, due mostly to overfishing, only 37 were still operating.

Several Norwegians became prominent in developing salmon canneries in Alaska. Most notably, Peter Thams Buschmann organized several canning companies and built at least five canneries. Several of Buschmann’s five sons were also active in the salmon industry. Eigil Buschmann first went to Alaska in 1894 with his father and his brother, August Buschmann, who had built a cannery in Mink Bay at the Boca de Quadra fjord the previous year. In 1907 Eigil took the purse seiner Ruth, the first powered purse seiner in Alaska Territory, and fished for the cannery at Hunter Bay. From 1911 to 1912 he started the Oceanic Packing Company with Craig Millar and Frederick C. Johnstone and built the Waterfall cannery. In 1913, during industry consolidation, the facility was sold to Alaska Fish Company, which had been organized by Johnstone and Fremont King. In 1924 Waterfall Cannery was sold to Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, owner of the nationwide chain of A&P stores, and was operated by a subsidiary called Nakat Packing Company, where Eigil Buschmann was general superintendent. Historically, Waterfall Cannery had a wharf and store with some fishermen’s supplies, gasoline, fuel oil and radio communication during the canning season. In 1932 a major expansion added a warehouse, marine railway, oil dock, hydroelectric dam, power lines, cable house, machine shop, storage room, mess hall, bunkhouses, four seiners and a fish tender. In 1936 Waterfall produced 220,000 cases (96 half-pound cans per case) of coho salmon, setting a record for a single Alaska cannery. In 1969 New England Fish Company purchased the assets of Nakat Packing Company, including Waterfall Cannery, but closed the operation in 1971. In 1980 the property was purchased and renovated as a sportfishing lodge. Read more here and here. Explore more of Waterfall Cannery and Ulloa Channel here: