This circa 1920s photograph is of two local fishermen, William Ball and Jim “Pud” Patterson, with a young child and a sturgeon caught in the Niagara River. Lake Sturgeon are native to the Great Lakes Basin and have been called a living dinosaur. Some say they look part shark and part alligator. They were initially viewed as a pest as they would often damage fishing gear. Their economic importance was discovered in the 1850s and they were heavily fished until the early 1900s. Sturgeon have a life span of 50 to 100 years and have been known to grow up to six feet long. They are now an endangered species.