Named for the famous Lemhi Shoshone woman who traveled with Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, Lake Sakakawea is the largest man-made lake, or reservoir, entirely within the state of North Dakota. At 480 square miles, it’s the second largest in the United States behind Lake Oahe. Spanning six counties at 178 miles long, and fourteen miles wide at its widest point, the lake has over 1,500 miles of shoreline. That’s more than the coastline of mainland Florida! That’s a lot of room to cast a line or launch a boat! But remember, the lake is man-made - so what did the area used to be like?

Before 1947, the waters of Lake Sakakawea were simply those of the Missouri River. As a part of a government program called the Pick-Sloan Project, designed to increase flood control and hydroelectric power generation along the Missouri, the Garrison Dam was completed in 1953 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This left much of the land along the banks of the Missouri flooded by the dammed water, including the land where the original Fort Stevenson stood, the namesake for Fort Stevenson State Park outside of the town of Garrison. The rising lake waters also forced the displacement of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The towns of Van Hook, Sanish, and Elbowoods, belonging to the Three Affiliated Tribes comprised of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nation, were lost beneath the flood, as were important farming and ranching lands, wiping out much of the reservation’s economy as well. Although the tribes gained some remuneration and established new communities such as the aptly named New Town, the final legislation denied the tribes’ right to use the land along the banks of the reservoir for hunting, fishing, irrigation development or grazing, among other traditional uses. Additionally, there were no bridges across the lake for decades, which hindered relations among the people who were now dispersed along the shoreline.

Today, there are many public recreation areas for fishing, boating, camping, and more along the shores of Lake Sakakawea which are managed by several agencies and organizations, including the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, as well as the Corps of Engineers, the North Dakota Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Game and Fish Department. The lake plays a considerable role in the tourism industry for North Dakota as it draws thousands each year seeking rest, relaxation, and amusement. If in your travels, you visit Lake Sakakawea State Park in Pick City, adjacent to the Garrison Dam, you may even recognize the names given to the campgrounds - Van Hook, Sanish, and Elbowoods.