Lake Sakakawea

Lake Sakakawea
from space, July 1996
Location	North Dakota
Coordinates	47°29′53″N 101°24′46″W at Garrison Dam
Lake type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Missouri River, Yellowstone River
Primary outflows	Missouri River
Catchment area	317,400 km2 (122,500 sq mi)
Basin countries	United States
Max. depth	180 ft (55 m)
Water volume	23,800,000 acre·ft (29.4 km3)
Surface elevation	1,817 ft (554 m)
References

Lake Sakakawea is a reservoir in the Missouri River basin in central North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Sakakawea, it is the third largest man-made lake in the United States, 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 around the Van Hook Arm 47°53′00″N 102°21′14″W of the lake perhaps better shows its westward extent from its origin at the Garrison Dam.

It is located about 80 km (50 mi) from Bismarck, North Dakota; the distance by the river is about 120 km (75 mi). The lake averages between 2 and 3 miles (3.2 and 4.8 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.

The reservoir was created with the completion of Garrison Dam in 1956, 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 the cities of Van Hook and (Old) Sanish, forcing the creation of New Town. Incidentally, one name that had been proposed for New Town was 'Vanish' (a portmanteau of the two previous towns' names). A third reservation town, Elbowoods was also lost to the lake. These three towns are commemorated in the names of the 3 campground sections at Lake Sakakawea State Park.

Lake Sakakawea is also home to many summer camps, including Triangle Y Camp and Camp of the Cross.

Lake Sakakawea State Park

Lake Sakakawea State Park is the western terminus of the 7,400 km (4,600 mi) North Country National Scenic Trail which is a National Millennium Trail that crosses the northern rim of the continental United States to Port Henry, New York. The park was originally developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as Garrison Lake State Park. In 1965 the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department assumed management of the park and renamed it Lake Sakakawea State Park in honor of the Shoshone/Hidatsa woman Sacagawea who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition up the Missouri River from Fort Mandan in April 1805. The lake was not named Sacagawea State Park because the Native Americans in North Dakota prefer Sakakawea because that is believed to be her real name. Because of this in North Dakota anything related to Sacagawea is given the non-offensive term Sakakawea

Statistics

• Maximum water storage: 23,800,000 acre feet (29.4 km³)
• Maximum water depth: 180 feet (55 m) at the face of the dam
• Normal surface area: 307,000 acres (1,240 km²)
• Normal length: 178 miles (286 km)
• Normal shoreline: 1,320 mi (2,120 km)

External links

• McLean County and Lake Sakakawea History
• History of Lake Sakakawea State Park