Lewis A. Pick
| Lewis Andrew Pick | |
|---|---|
Lieutenant General Lewis A. Pick
|
|
| Born |
November 18, 1890 Brookneal, Virginia |
| Died | December 2, 1956 (aged 66) Washington, D.C. |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1917–1953 |
| Rank |
 Lieutenant General
|
| Commands held | Chief of Engineers (1949-1953) |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II Cold War |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Medal (2) |
Lewis Andrew Pick (November 18, 1890 – December 2, 1956) was born in Brookneal, Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1914. He received his Regular Army commission in the United States Army Corps of Engineers on July 1, 1917.
During World War I he served with the 23rd Engineers in France.. He served in the Philippines from 1921 until 1923 and helped organize The 14th Engineer Regiment Philipine Scouts, largely composed of Filipino soldiers. He was the Corps of Engineers' District Engineer in New Orleans during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and he helped coordinate federal relief efforts. Pick was named Missouri River Division Engineer in 1942, and with William Glenn Sloan of the Bureau of Reclamation he co-wrote the Pick-Sloan Plan for controlling the water resources of the Missouri River Basin.
Pick carefully wrote his plan to avoid flooding Bismarck, ND, Williston, ND, Pierre, SD and Chamberlain, SD, but intentionally flooded the entire productive acreage of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, some 155,000 acres, supporting 349 families of 1,544 individuals. United States Secretary Of The Interior Julius Albert Krug ordered compensation in the form of an equal amount of acreage on lesser lands, at-cost hydroelectric power for irrigation, grazing and watering rights for tribal cattle, and $5,105,625 in payment for lost lands. Colonel Pick revoked this order and all its compensations, then denied the Three Tribes all access to the reservoir which would flood their lands, including the rights to fish, water their cattle, or cut any timber from the land to be flooded. The tribes were likewise forbidden to hire legal counsel with any compensatory money they might receive. The revised plan was approved by Krug.
...
Wikipedia