Smith v. State

This action involves the character of the water, whether navigable or non-navigable, in Cow lake, sometimes called Lake Meridian. The lake is meandered. Upon testimony taken in open court, together with a view of the premises by the trial judge, the lake was found and adjudged to be non-navigable. The state has appealed.

The sole question in the case relates to the navigability of the water. “Navigability is always a question of fact.” Proctor v. Sim, 134 Wash. 606, 236 Pac. 114. The lake is small, being spoken of in the court’s findings as a “pond or lake being about a mile long and about a…