Cannery fish wars came to a head in August 1916 with a fight in the middle of the Rogue River.
It began when Claud Bardon, a fisherman for the Seaborg Cannery, was setting up his drift net at the mouth of the Rogue near Gold Beach. Roderick Macleay, of Macleay Cannery, had just placed a seine net upstream and was heading back in his boat when Bardon’s net blocked him.
Instead of letting Macleay by, Bardon pulled his net from shore to shore, forcing Macleay to get out of the water and hold Bardon’s net down so his boat could get over it. Bardon yelled at Macleay to release his net, then jumped into the water, grabbed Macleay by the neck and choked him until Macleay let go.
The next morning a warrant was issued for Bardon’s arrest on charges of assault and battery. He appeared in court and paid a $9 fine (the equivalent of $132 in 2019).
A few weeks later the Oregon Fish and Game Commission prohibited drift nets in the mouth of the Rogue. Governor James Withycombe, Chairman of the Commission, predicted it would stop the constant trouble between canneries.
Source: "Establish Dead Line At Mouth of the Rogue River." Rogue River Courier, 14 Aug. 1916 [Grants Pass Oregon], p. 1. Historic Oregon Newspapers, oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn96088180/1916-08-14/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=01%2F01%2F1846&city=&date2=12%2F31%2F2019&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&lccn=sn96088180&index=0&words=dead+line&p. Accessed 3 Aug. 2019.
