Lake Sakakawea is a reservoir in the north central United States, located in the Missouri River basin in central North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Sakakawea, it is the largest man-made lake in the state and the third largest in the nation, after Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
The lake lies in parts of six counties in western North Dakota: Dunn, McKenzie, McLean, Mercer, Mountrail, and Williams. A map centered on the Van Hook Arm 47°53′00″N 102°21′14″W of the lake shows its westward extent from its origin at the Garrison Dam.
It is located about fifty miles (80 km) from the state capital of Bismarck; the distance by the Missouri River is about 75 miles (120 km). The lake averages between 2â€"3 miles (3â€"5 km) in width and is 14 miles (23 km) wide at its widest point (Van Hook Arm). Lake Sakakawea marks the maximum southwest extent of glaciation during the ice age.
HistoryEdit
The reservoir was created by construction of Garrison Dam, part of a flood control and power generation project named the Pick-Sloan Project along the Missouri river. Garrison dam was completed in 1956. It is the second (and largest) of six main-stem dams on the Missouri River built and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, hydroelectric power, navigation, and irrigation.
The creation of the lake displaced members of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation from their villages of Van Hook and (Old) Sanish, which were inundated by creation of the lake. They relocated and founded the villages of New Town, White Shield, and Mandaree. One name that had been proposed for New Town was Vanish (a portmanteau of the two previous towns' names). Elbowoods, a third reservation town where the agency headquarters, boarding school, hospital, and jail were located, was also lost to the lake. These three towns are commemorated in the names of the three campground sections at Lake Sakakawea State Park, a state park located adjacent to Garrison Dam.
Lake Sakakawea is home to many summer camps, including Triangle Y Camp and Camp of the Cross.
During a training flight in winter 1969, a U.S. Air Force interceptor aircraft crashed into the western portion of the lake on March 10. The F-106A Delta Dart (59-0014) was from Minot AFB, about sixty miles (100Â km) north of the dam. The pilot ejected safely to land and the plane sank below the frozen lake surface. It was not located until more than 35 years later, in September 2004, after an extended search by a local surveyors' group.
StatisticsEdit
- Maximum water storage: 23,800,000 acre feet (29.4Â km3)
- Maximum water depth: 180 feet (55Â m) at the face of the dam
- Normal surface area: 307,000 acres (480 sq mi; 1,240 km2)
- Normal length: 178 miles (286Â km)
- Normal shoreline: 1,320Â mi (2,120Â km)
Source:
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Lake Sakakawea History McLean County
