THE TOWN THAT DISAPPEARED FOR A DAM

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]The three affiliated tribes had lived on the Missouri River bottomlands of North Dakota for centuries. The Mandan, the Hidatsa, the Arikara. The bottomland was their most fertile ground, their towns, their farms, their burial sites. In 1944, Congress authorized the Garrison Dam as part of the Pick-Sloan Plan. The dam would create Lake Sakakawea, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the United States. To do that, 155,000 acres of Fort Berthold Reservation had to be flooded. 94% of the tribal members who lived in the bottomlands had to be relocated. The town of Elbowoods, the cultural and commercial center of the reservation, was submerged. The tribes were given $12.6 million for land, later appraised at over $60 million. "It was A tribal leader named George Gillette wept openly when he signed the agreement. He said, "We are being obligated to sign away the best part of our reservation.

[00:00:58]The Army Corps of Engineers called it necessary. Elbowoods is still underwater today. Follow Off-Limits America. We show you the system. You decide what it means.