McCook Lake 1908
McCook Lake 1909
McCook Lake is an oxbow lake, formed when the Missouri River changed course in the 19th century. The lake was named for General John Cook who commanded a company of soldiers stationed there in 1864. It is unknown when or why the “Mc” was added.
During the 1930's, locks were constructed at each end of the lake. These locks were intended to allow the Missouri River to flow into the lake during periods of high flow in an effort to stabilize the lake level. Since construction of the main dams on the Missouri River, high flows on the river have been eliminated. In addition, the Missouri River was channeled in the 1950's and it has dug deeper into the ground and is now deeper than the lake itself, rendering the locks ineffective.
Without a source of water, McCook Lake would have shrunk to a muddy marsh filled with reeds years ago. For the past 40 years, local organizations have used various means to pump water into the lake to allow continued recreational use.
1956 Dredging Project Miss McCook Dredge
Over the years several dredges have been used to pump silt from the lake. One of the most memorable was named Miss McCook, acquired in 1982, was originally built in Sioux Falls for a project there. It was on loan to them and we were able to rent it for a dollar per year. The only place that it could be operated was on the south end of the lake because we didn’t have anywhere to dump the dredged silt. A farmer, Clyde Hoffman, let us build a silt pond along the lake next to his property. The steel discharge pipe was supported on wooden racks that held steel barrels for floatation. Volunteers spent every weekend replacing barrels because the steel bands would cut through them as they were tossed around by waves.
P.O. Box 1185, McCook Lake, SD 57049
