MOVING HISTORY FORWARD: Sturgeon and Twin Lakes
Could monstrous sturgeon have once lazed in the waters of Twin Lakes?
It seems so. Around 1900, these enormous creatures of the rivers were found in Fish Lake according to reports of citizens from Rathdrum and Spokane. But how did they get into such a small lake?
About 1894, a bachelor by the name of Robert “Commodore” Downs built a pond on his property at the southern end of the lower lake because he wanted some carp and sturgeon. As stated in a 1908 Spokesman-Review article, Downs bought the juvenile sturgeon from an Indian, who brought them from the Snake River, for $2.50 apiece. That price might not have been too outrageous for Downs as he was a bachelor and timber owner.
As the story goes, one day the dam broke and several of Mr. Downs’ fish escaped into a stream that drained into the lake. Having a body of water larger than the pond, the fish were then able to grow to a great size. As soon as the 1908 article mentioning 12-foot sturgeon was published, fishermen began scheming all sorts of ways to catch these valuable fish. By 1910 an issue of the Spokesman reported sturgeon being caught in Fish Lake.
Whether or not they were 12 feet is not known; however, if Commodore Downs’ fish had survived for at least 14 years in his pond and the lake, they would have weighed at least 35 pounds and had a length of 4 feet or more based on data collected by Frazier River Guides.
Sturgeon is also a place name found on old maps of Highway 41 between Rathdrum and Twin Lakes. Could the sturgeon caught in Fish Lake be the reason for its name?
The Idaho, Washington and Northern Railroad, which was completed in 1907, served Fish Lake en route from Spokane to Newport. The first stop out of Rathdrum was at Fish Lake. The main stop was located just a short distance from Deller Landing where a depot was built on the lake side of the tracks. This second stop was called Fir Grove. On June 12, 1910, the I. W. & N. renamed these stops. The Fish Lake stop was changed to Sturgeon, and the Fir Grove station was renamed Twin Lakes.
By 1910, people from Spokane and the surrounding area were building summer homes on the lake, and resorts were being added to accommodate the influx of tourists. During the summer months, a round trip ticket from Spokane to Twin Lakes cost only $1.50. Daily trips continued into the 1920s.
