 He was one of the founders of The Oregon & Washington Fish Propagating Co., a collection of Columbia River salmon packers who in 1877 established the first salmon cannery in the Pacific Northwest on a tributary of the Clackamas River in Oregon.In 1888, it became a station of the United States Fish Commission.After Megler's death in 1915, his wife Nellie Megler took over the company and ran it until 1925, when external managers were brought in.