Phillips County Museum News for Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Cole, Montana was a whistle-stop community about 10 miles northwest of Saco on the Great Northern Railroad branch line to Turner. In 1934, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers was looking for gravel to use in the building of Ft. Peck Dam. Charles McChesney and Stan Hetrick of Saco notified them that gravel could be found in the Cole area. Tests were run and they indicated that there were millions of cubic yards of gravel. The J. L. Shiely Company of St. Paul set up a gravel screening and washing plant. Other contracts for toe and blanket gravel went to the Becker County-Shiely Company.

Almost overn...