Lake Francis Case is a large

reservoir A reservoir (; from French language, French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to water storage, store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a num ...

impounded by

Fort Randall Dam Fort Randall Dam is a earthen dam which spans the Missouri River and impounds Lake Francis Case, the 11th-largest reservoir in the U.S. The dam joins Gregory and Charles Mix counties, South Dakota a distance of 880 river miles (1,416 km ...

on the Missouri River in south-central

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large portio ...

, United States. The lake has an area of and a maximum depth of . Lake Francis Case has a length of approximately and has a shoreline of . The lake is the eleventh-largest reservoir in the United States and is located within the counties of: Charles Mix, Gregory, Lyman, Brule, and Buffalo. The lake stretches from

Pickstown, South Dakota Pickstown is a town in southern Charles Mix County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 230 at the 2020 census. It was named after U.S. Army General Lewis A. Pick, former director of the Missouri River Office of the United States A ...

upstream to

Big Bend Dam Big Bend Dam is a major embankment rolled-earth dam on the Missouri River in Central South Dakota, United States, creating Lake Sharpe. The dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Pick-Sloan Plan for Missou ...

. The reservoir is named for former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Francis Higbee Case, of South Dakota.

History

The Fort Randall Dam and concomitant reservoir were authorized by the

Flood Control Act of 1944 The Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78–534), enacted in the 2nd session of the 78th Congress, is U.S. legislation that authorized the construction of numerous dams and modifications to previously existing dams, as well as levees acro ...

and built next to a historic 1856 military base:

Fort Randall The Fort Randall Military Post was established in 1856 to help keep peace on the frontier. It was located on the south side of the Missouri River in South Dakota, just below the present site of the Fort Randall Dam. History The site for the fo ...

. The dam began construction by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1946, and in 1954, its operation was inaugurated by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The resulting reservoir, Lake Francis Case, flooded White Swan, a Native American settlement that had existed along the river. The population of the community was forced to move elsewhere, with many settling in Lake Andes, South Dakota. Lake Andes, nevertheless, experiences flooding.

Fish and wildlife

Species of fish in the reservoir include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close rela ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

sauger The sauger (''Sander canadensis'') is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae that resembles its close relative, the walleye. The species is a member of the largest vertebrate order, the Perciformes.Jaeger, Matthew. 2004. Montana's Fi ...

, sunfish,

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

common carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

black bullhead The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (''Ameiurus melas'') is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbel ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States ...

, and smallmouth bass. Big game animals around the lake include whitetail and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, coyotes and wild turkeys.

Waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

and upland

game birds Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...

include

ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and '' Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the sh ...

pheasants Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasi ...

, prairie chickens, and

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondri ...

. The Karl E. Mundt National Wildlife Refuge is located just downstream of the lake, as a sanctuary for wintering

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

s. Bald eagles are commonly spotted around the dam during winter months.

Recreation

The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks (GFP) maintains several Lakeside Use Areas for lake access around the lake. In addition, the GFP operates seven State Recreation Areas on Lake Francis Case: * North Point Recreation Area, near Pickstown * Randall Creek Recreation Area, near Pickstown * Pease Creek Recreation Area, near Geddes * North Wheeler Recreation Area, near Geddes * Platte Creek Recreation Area, near Platte * Snake Creek Recreation Area, near Platte on

South Dakota Highway 44 South Dakota Highway 44 (SD 44) is a state highway in southern South Dakota that runs from U.S. Route 385 (US 385) west of Rapid City to Interstate 29 (I-29) south of Sioux Falls. It is just more than long. Route description SD ...

* Buryanek Recreation Area, near Burke * American Creek Campground, near Chamberlain (City of Chamberlain Park)

Lake crossings

Several major highways cross Lake Francis Case.

crosses over the lake between rural Charles Mix County and Gregory County on the longest bridge in South Dakota, and

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

crosses the reservoir between Chamberlain and Oacoma.

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Fort Randall ProjectLake Francis Case Map, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

References

{{authority control Francis Case Francis Case Chamberlain, South Dakota Protected areas of Brule County, South Dakota Protected areas of Charles Mix County, South Dakota Protected areas of Gregory County, South Dakota Protected areas of Lyman County, South Dakota Bodies of water of Brule County, South Dakota Bodies of water of Charles Mix County, South Dakota Bodies of water of Gregory County, South Dakota Bodies of water of Lyman County, South Dakota