Montana's Missouri River Country
Reserve is near the North Dakota border in northeast Montana and was named because the town was established on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. It began as a siding on the Great Northern branch line when it was built in 1910. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company) The town is located along Big Muddy Creek and was settled by homesteaders when the reservation land was made available by the Dawes Act of 1887.Reserve is located just a few miles from Brush Lake State Park, a deep, clear lake with white, sandy beaches surrounded by grass fields and linear stands of spring wheat. It is also near Homestead Lake, and Medicine Lake Wilderness Area, which covers 11,366 acres and is an administrated unit of Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located on the heavily glaciated rolling plains of northeastern Montana, between the Missouri River and the Canadian Border. The Refuge consists of two tracts: the 28,396-acre north tract, which includes the 8,213-acre Medicine Lake proper, five smaller lakes, and numerous potholes and the smaller 3,264-acre south tract, which contains the 1,280-acre Homestead Lake.Thousands of migrating waterfowl make their summer home at Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Great blue herons, white pelicans, sandhill cranes, grebes and 12 different species of ducks share the prairie lake ecosystem. Self-guided hiking and a 14-mile driving tour around the wildlife refuge are some popular options. One tour stop is the site of teepee rings of stone, perhaps 4,000 years old, which mark areas where Indian lodges were built. Another highlight of the refuge is a 100-foot observation tower which offers a panoramic view of the area, and an observation platform with telescopes that provide a view if the largest white pelican colony in Montana, over 10,000 birds.
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