1958 Map of Lewis Reservoir

About this map

Fort Peck Lake dominates the eastern landscape of this Valley County region, its shoreline fingers reaching into the deep drainage system of the Charles M Russell National Wildlife Range. The map reveals an intricate network of water management and irrigation infrastructure throughout the interior coulees and ridges, highlighted by the Rentention Levees Experimental Area and the Willow Flat Diversion Dam. Dozens of small, family-named and numbered reservoirs like Lost McMenomey Reservoir, Langen Reservoir, and Berger Reservoir dot the landscape between South Fork Duck Creek and North Fork Duck Creek. This pattern of scattered reservoirs and levees underscores the vital role of water conservation in the Montana rangeland during the mid-20th century, where every coulee and creek was harnessed to support local livestock and wildlife.