06/01/2026
Today, May 31st is National Dam Safety Awareness Day, to promote public awareness, responsibility, and best practices regarding dam safety.
On this day in 1889, the South Fork Dam near Johnstown, Pennsylvania failed, killing more than 2,200 people, making it the deadliest dam-related disaster in United States history.
In Big Horn County, the Yellowtail Dam's concrete rises 525 feet high above the Bighorn River. The dam was completed in 1967, creating Bighorn Lake which extends into Wyoming. Part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, it provides flood control, irrigation, recreation, and hydroelectric power, and is a key feature of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. The dam is named after Crow leader Robert Yellowtail, who opposed its construction, and its creation transformed the river into a world-class trout fishery below the dam.
https://www.nps.gov/bica/learn/historyculture/yellowtail-dam.htm
📸 Wikipedia