A Spokane Gun Club Tried to Shoot Down Three Homesteaders on Calispel Lake — and Lost
The Calispel Valley Gun Club fought Carlton Finley and the Desart family all the way to the General Land Office over lakefront claims. The homesteaders won every point.
The contest case instituted by the Calispel Valley Gun Club, of Spokane, against the claims of Carlton H. Finley and Nancy and Emmet Desart, on Calispel Lake, has again been decided in favor of the homesteaders. The hearing of the testimony was before United States Commissioner Rogers at Newport, and in the review of the testimony by the Spokane Land Office the homesteaders won out. The case was appealed to the General Land Office at Washington by the Gun Club, and the General Land Office sustained the Spokane office on every point. An appeal to the Secretary of the Interior remains for the Gun Club, and they will doubtless carry the matter up, as they strenuously object to any settler interfering with their pursuit of sport.
“They will doubtless carry the matter up, as they strenuously object to any settler interfering with their pursuit of sport.”
A sportsmen's club from Spokane tried to pry three homesteaders off the shore of Calispel Lake so it could keep the water to itself — and the land office told them no, twice. The fight over who gets to use Washington's lakeshores, and whether it's a private playground or a public resource, is still being litigated today.
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