Fifty Cents An Hour: The Builders and Boomtowns of the Fort Peck Dam One of the most fascinating chapters in Montana history is the building of the Fort Peck Dam across the Missouri River in northeast Montana. The story of the people who built it, is another. Project Number 30, the Fort Peck Dam, was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It provided jobs and hope for the thousands of unemployed Montana workers, and others across the country. It left a legacy of flood control, electric power, and recreation on Fort Peck Lake enjoyed by thousands today. My family's four year involvement with "the dam" project led me to write a book: