Crow Flies High State Recreation Area

History

The old Sanish town was established in 1914 by the Soo Line Railroad, where a handful of families ballooned to a population of 463 by 1930. Economic and political life had been teeming in the area and the surrounding towns until 1953, when the entire town was flooded after the completion of the Garrison Dam.

The construction of the dam was mandated by the government to help tame the rising Missouri River, but it permanently submerged Sanish and neighboring areas, including the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.

Over to the West, Crow Flies High Butte was established to commemorate the old Sanish town and Lewis and Clark’s contribution to declaring U.S. sovereignty over the Native American Indian tribes settled along the Missouri River.