The Thing in the Lake

If you’ve lived near Lake Pend Oreille long enough, chances are you’ve heard the whispers: “You seen it? That big silvery thing out by the deep water?” They call it the Pend Oreille Paddler — kind of a hometown cousin to the Loch Ness Monster. First sightings go back to World War II, when folks thought it might be a submarine… or a sturgeon the size of a rowboat. Most think it’s nothing but a log drifting just right to play tricks on your eyes. But ask around — there’s always someone who swears they saw something strange rippling across the water at dawn. Whether it’s truth, tall tale, or trout bait, the legend’s half the fun.