The Ross Brothers
Excerpt from "The Ross Brothers, at Home on the Salmon Banks,"
by Lee Makovich, "Fishermen's News," October, 1996
In 1909 John Ross, Sr. was brailing salmon aboard his 42-foot seiner Bogdan. John had the boat built at H.W. Lake Shipyard in Seattle. The Bogdan was a sleek and beautiful little vessel for her day, and John operated her until 1914. Then he had the 52-foot seiner Brooklyn built at the Strubstad yard in Tacoma. It is also believed that John, along with his brother Luca Ross, had an interest in the 1915 Babare-built seiner Juno.
John's sons Emmet, Adam, and Johnnie became fully involved in the fishing business when, in 1924, they purchased the 62-foot Home II, built at Blind Slough, Oregon, in 1916. In 1928, the Ross brothers acquired the 63-foot seiner Westland, built at the Martinolich yard in Dockton, on Vashon Island, the year before. Now there were two boats but still three brothers. It is believed that the reason for not acquiring a third seiner was the fact that Johnnie wanted to have the option of pursuing his ferry boat career when he was not running a fishing boat.
Johnnie, the eldest of the three brothers, was a ferry skipper for the Skansie Transportation Company for a number of years. It seems that Johnnie divided his time between ferry boats and the fishing business. It is known that he ran both the Providence and the Advocator for Lee Makovich, Sr. at different times and was the skipper of the Majestic for a number of years. It was also reported that early on Johnnie skippered the old Juno for one season for his uncle Luca Ross.
Johnnie may best be remembered, however, at least by the younger generation, as being a familiar figure on the Salmon Banks, as skipper of Gerald Crosby's shiny, new Hansen-built senier Sea Comber.
Adam ran the Home II exclusively until he became ill in 1966. Adam was a top skipper around the San Juan Islands and the old Home II proved to be a training ground of sorts for a number of future skippers. Several young men who fished with Adam later went on to own their own fishing boats.
One of those young men is Adam's son, Adam Jr., who went on to own and operate the seiner Chinook. He later sold the Chinook and, in 1968, had the 58-foot seiner Adana R built at the Don Bishop yard in Richmond, California. He ran the Adana R in Southeast Alaska until his retirement in 1994.
Emmett ran the Westland from the time the brothers purchased it until
he became ill about 1967. However, Emmett's first year as the skipper
of a seiner is believed to be 1923 when he ran the Providence for
Lee Makovich, Sr.