When you enter the lobby of the Fort Peck Interpretive Center—a life-sized, fleshed-out model of a Tyrannosaurus rex greets you in addition to its numerous prehistoric exhibits, an impressive collection of wildlife taxidermy, dam construction displays, and modern-day aquatic life.
Peck’s Rex™
When Peck’s Rex was uncovered in 1997, it was the second most complete fossil in the world (at 75%). Today, Interpretive Center visitors will find three versions of Peck’s Rex: its skeleton, a fleshed-out model, and a hands-on exhibit of the dinosaur’s massive skull.
Speed Demon
At four feet tall, Struthiomimus was relatively small compared to other dinosaurs of the Cretaceous. But what it lacked in size, it made up for in speed. Fossil evidence suggests this ostrich-like dinosaur was among the fastest dinosaurs discovered to date. A display of Struthiomimus can be found at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center.
Prehistoric Sea
Fort Peck’s Cretaceous Sea display includes the fossils of various prehistoric creatures. Of note is a forty-foot-long Tylosaurus, a predatory marine reptile closely related to modern-day monitor lizards and to snakes. The skeletal remains of this prehistoric beast hang suspended above visitors.
Living Fossil
Two of Montana’s largest freshwater aquariums are located at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center, featuring several species of fish which can be found in Fort Peck Reservoir. The shovelnose sturgeon is particularly fun to view after touring the center’s Cretaceous Sea display; this species has been around since the time of the dinosaurs and is some 70 million years old.
The Big Dam Attraction
The story of Fork Peck is one of unfathomable numbers. At a time when the nation was clawing its way out of economic depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized one hundred million dollars for the construction of a massive earth-fill dam in Montana—four miles long, holding back nineteen-million-acre feet of water.