In the shadow of the highest of six major dams along the Missouri River lies the Fort Peck Interpretive Center, a cooperative effort between the Army Corps of Engineers and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and many passionate citizens.

Inside, the construction of the largest hydraulically filled dam in the world comes to life. Just seven days after President Franklin Roosevelt penned his name authorizing the 30th Works Project Administration project, hungry men began clearing the site. An “instant” government town and 18 boom towns became home for thousands of people. The construction took seven years and had its fair share of ups and downs, as one can imagine in a massive undertaking such as this. Learn more of the stories by reading firsthand accounts from workers and exploring 1930s life in the construction era boomtown, through photographs, tools, and personal effects.

But the Interpretive Center has more stories to tell besides that of the dam, including tales of ferocious dinosaurs! Peck’s Rex, the life-size, fleshed-out model of a Tyrannosaurus rex discovered 20 miles southeast of Fort Peck in 1997, greets you as you enter the main lobby. Other fossils on display include a Struthiomimus, an ostrich-like dinosaur that could run over 35 miles per hour. Full size marine reptiles as long as sharks hover above, though in life they inhabited the ancient Cretaceous Sea which covered a vast area of present-day North America. Imagine that! Over 100 feet of seawater, home to never seen marine reptiles right over the state of Montana!

Some exhibits are less other-worldly though equally impressive, such as looking eye-to-eye at the diverse inhabitants of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, home to hundreds of wildlife species. There are also two gigantic freshwater aquariums, and while you won’t see those marine reptiles from the Cretaceous Sea, you will enjoy seeing the native and game fish of Fort Peck Lake and the Missouri River!

As one of the fourteen stops on the Montana Dinosaur Trail, the Fort Peck Interpretive Center is a must-see to anyone who loves T. rex and is looking to embrace the history of the region!