THE MESAHCHIE BOXThe salmon-fishing season was at its height and the majority of the Fort Oliver Indians were absent from their homes, garnering the silver harvest of the sea for the insatiable maws of the "Iron c****s" at the Sliam cannery. Night and day, men toiled with boats and gill-nets, seeking to enmesh the much-prized sockeye, the king of the salmon tribe, while squaws and young girls worked in the different processes of canning the freshly caught fish. They worked beside almond-eyed Chinese and tiny Japanese women, packing, loading on to the travelling belt to the cooker, or labelled and cased the still warm tins for the markets of the world.
Nor were the ancient fishing grounds free from the competition of modern times. The natives vied with the more active and industrious li
