Fort Peck

History

The name Fort Peck is associated with Col. Campbell K. Peck, the partner of Elias H. Durfee in the Leavenworth, Kansas trading firm of Durfee and Peck. In 1867, company employee Abe Farwell constructed the Fort Peck trading post along the Missouri River, which enjoyed a virtual monopoly in trade with the Sioux and Assiniboine people. After its short life as a trading post, Fort Peck served as an Indian agency from 1873 until 1878. At that time, the agency was moved to its current location at Poplar. Fort Peck had a post office from 1879 to 1881. A new town of Fort Peck, located approximately two miles north of the original, was built in 1934 to house Army Corps of Engineers employees involved in the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. Designed to be temporary, the government-owned town nevertheless included many features of a permanent town, including an administrative headquarters, a hospital, stores, a theater, a recreation hall, and other facilities. Totally inadequate to house the 10,000-plus employees, Fort Peck was soon joined by numerous shanty towns, including Wheeler, New Deal, Delano Heights, and Park Grove. The Fort Peck Original Houses Historic District, the Fort Peck Theatre, and the hospital, administration building, and other associated public works properties are listed in the National Register. The Administration Building, the Employee's Hotel and Garage, the Garage and Fire Station, the Hospital, and the Recreation Hall of the government-run town are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  773
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  691
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  593
• Western Meadowlark

  Sturnella neglecta Audubon, 1844 · Aves
  553
• Ring-billed Gull

  Larus delawarensis Ord, 1815 · Aves
  541
• Yellow Warbler

  Setophaga petechia (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  482
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  465
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  453