By Lotte Govaerts
This blog post is part of a series discussing my research on the historical archaeology of the River Basin Surveys (RBS). In previous posts, I discussed Garrison Dam and several archaeological sites located within its reservoir area. In this post, as well as the next several posts in this series, I will focus on Oahe Dam.
Oahe dam is located in the middle of South Dakota, approximately 6 miles northwest of Pierre and 1,123 miles above the mouth of the Missouri (Caldwell and Smith 1963). The dam and reservoir take their name from Oahe Mission, which was established among the Dakota in 1874. The mission was located at the site of an old Arikara village called Ti Tanke Ohe (“Site of the Large House”). That name, later shortened to “Oahe” was used by the mission, and later by the dam project. A mission chapel was built in Peoria Bottom, near the site of the dam. It was moved to a temporary location shortly before the reservoir started filling, and then moved again to its current location (by the Oahe Dam Visitor Center) in 1964 (South Dakota State Historical society 2022).
Dam specs
Oahe dam was the third of the main stem Pick–Sloan dams to be constructed. Construction started in 1948; the dam was closed in 1958, when reservoir filling began. The reservoir reached its minimum operating pool in 1962 and the dam has been operating continuously since then.
Aerial view of Oahe Dam Outlet works Intake Structures. Taken Aug. 5, 1958. “Two days after diversion. Pool Elevation 1439.5.” Photo: South Dakota State Historical Society 2010-04-01-002.
The rolled earth and shale berm dam measures 9,300 feet (2,835 m); it includes 92,000,000 cubic yards (70,339,047 m3) of fill and 1,045,000 cubic yards (798,960 m3) of concrete. While the exact measurements of reservoirs change over time, according to the US Army Corps of Engineers’ documentation, at 1,607.5 msl, the Oahe Reservoir’s shoreline measures 2,250 miles (3,621 km), and its surface area is 310,000 acres (1,254.5 km2). Its maximum depth is 205 feet (62.5 m) (US Army Corps of Engineers 2012).
President John F. Kennedy at the Oahe Dam dedication, August 17, 1962. You can find the recording of his speech at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library website (Accession number WH-120-002). Photo: South Dakota State Historical Society, 2010-02-23-009.
Dam Impacts
As I previously discussed in my post on Garrison Dam and described in more detail elsewhere (Govaerts 2016), the construction of any large dam has enormous environmental and social impacts. The construction of the Pick–Sloan dams completely changed the ecosystems of the Missouri basin from Montana to the confluence with the Mississippi, as well as the lower Mississippi and its delta. Research continues to discover the far-reaching ecological impacts of this dam project (USACE 2004; Alexander et al. 2012; Johnson et al. 2012). Moreover, along with many thousands of dams in the world, the Pick–Sloan dams contribute to changes in the environment on a global scale.
The pallid sturgeon was placed on the Endangered Species list in 1990, mainly due to a loss of habitat caused by the construction of the Pick-Sloan dams on the Missouri River. Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service, reproduced from NPS, nd.
As for the social impacts of dams, most of the data concerns displaced populations. Development-induced displacement, and specifically dam-related displacement has been extensively studied (Brokensha 1963; Cernea and Guggenheim 1993; Cernea 1999; Bilharz 1998; Scudder 2005). There is consensus in the field that, although every dam project, every displaced population, and every individual within such a population is naturally unique, development-induced displacement has predictable effects. All displaced populations experience trauma. The impact is especially profound for those populations whose sense of community and identity is closely tied to “home” as a physical location and whose culture is found only in geographically restricted areas. Indigenous people and other ethnic minorities who fit these susceptibility criteria are disproportionally affected by dam building worldwide (Scudder 2005, p. 135).
2004 ledger art painting of tribal members being relocated near the site of Oahe Dam, by Lakota artist Dwayne Wilcox. Photo: South Dakota State Historical Society, reproduced from Lawson 2009, p. 140 (original is in color).
Twenty-three tribes were affected by the construction of the Pick-Sloan dams. While the construction of Garrison Dam mainly impacted the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, the construction of Oahe Dam impacted the people of Standing Rock and Cheyenne River reservations. I will discuss these impacts in more detail in the next three installments of this blog series.
References
Alexander, Jason S., Richard C. Wilson, and W. Reed Green. “A Brief History and Summary of the Effects of River Engineering and Dams on the Mississippi River System and Delta.” United States Geological Survey, 2012. http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1375/C1375.pdf.
Bilharz, Joy Ann. The Allegany Senecas and Kinzua Dam: Forced Relocation through Two Generations. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998.
Brokensha, David W. “Volta Resettlement and Anthropological Research.” Human Organization 22 (1963): 286–90.
Caldwell, Warren W, and G. Hubert Smith. Oahe Reservoir: Archeology, Geology, History. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution River Basin Surveys, 1963.
Cernea, Michael M. The Economics of Involuntary Resettlement: Questions and Challenges. Washington: World Bank, 1999.
Cernea, Michael M, and Scott E Guggenheim. Anthropological Approaches to Resettlement: Policy, Practice, and Theory. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1993.
Govaerts, Lotte E. “Transformative Consequences of Garrison Dam: Land, People, and the Practice of Archaeology.” Great Plains Quarterly 36, no. 4 (December 30, 2016): 281–308. https://doi.org/10.1353/gpq.2016.0050.
Johnson, W. Carter, Mark D. Dixon, Michael L. Scott, Lisa Rabbe, Gary Larson, Malia Volke, and Brett Werner. “Forty Years of Vegetation Change on the Missouri River Floodplain.” BioScience 62, no. 2 (February 1, 2012): 123–35. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.2.6.
Lawson, Michael L. Dammed Indians Revisited: The Continuing History of the Pick-Sloan Plan and the Missouri River Sioux. Pierre: South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2009.
National Park Service, “Pallid Sturgeon in the Missouri River.” Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail, nd. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/pallid-sturgeon-in-the-missouri-river.htm
Scudder, Thayer. The Future of Large Dams Dealing with Social, Environmental, Institutional and Political Costs. London; Sterling, VA: Earthscan, 2005. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=430177.
South Dakota State Historical Society, “Oahe Chapel – Pierre, SD.” South Dakota State Historical Society, 2022. https://history.sd.gov/preservation/oahechapel.aspx
United States Army Corps of Engineers, “Oahe Project Statistics.” Oahe Dam, 2012. https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Media/Fact-Sheets/Fact-Sheet-Article-View/Article/487631/oahe-project-statistics/
United States Army Corps of Engineers - Northwestern Division. “Missouri River Final Environmental Impact Statement - Master Control Manual Review and Update.” United States Army Corps of Engineers - Northwestern Division, March 2004.
Previous posts in this series
What is Historical Archaeology?
How the River Basin Surveys Shaped Historical Archaeology
The Upper Missouri River Basin in the Nineteenth Century: Fur Trade
The Upper Missouri River Basin in the Nineteenth Century: Military Frontier
The Upper Missouri River Basin in the Nineteenth Century: Indian Agencies
Lake Sakakawea and the Woman it was Named After
Garrison Dam Archaeology: Village Sites
Garrison Dam Archaeology: 32MN1 - Fort Floyd
Garrison Dam Archaeology: 32ML2 – Like-A-Fishhook Village and Fort Berthold