Portal:Oregon/Selected biography/43

Robert Deniston Hume (October 31, 1845 – November 25, 1908) was a cannery owner, pioneer hatchery operator, politician, author, and self-described "pygmy monopolist" who controlled salmon fishing for 32 years on the lower Rogue River in U.S. state of Oregon. Born in Maine, and reared by foster parents on a farm, Hume moved at age 18 to San Francisco to join a salmon-canning business started by two of his brothers. They later re-located to Astoria on the Columbia River. After the death of his first wife and their two young children, Hume moved again and started anew in Gold Beach, at the mouth of the Rogue. In 1877 Hume bought rights to a Rogue River fishery, then built a cannery and many other structures and acquired all of the tidelands bordering the lower 12 miles (19 km) of the river. He re-married, invested in a small fleet of ships and a salmon hatchery and expanded his business interests to include a store, hotel, newspaper, and many other enterprises in Gold Beach and in the nearby community of Wedderburn, which he founded. Over the years, he became known as the Salmon King of Oregon. Hume often wrote editorials, engaged in litigation, appealed to legislators, and waged political campaigns to protect his business interests. A Republican, he was twice elected to represent Coos and Curry counties in the Oregon House of Representatives. Despite his efforts to maintain a steady fish supply through egg-collecting and fish-rearing, salmon catches on the Rogue, rising in some years and falling in others, generally declined over time.