--- ---  # LIFE's First-Ever Cover Story: Building the Fort Peck Dam, 1936 by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 16, 2012 8:57 PM UTC  Workers on Montana's Fort Peck Dam blow off steam at night, 1936. Workers on Montana's Fort Peck Dam blow off steam at night, 1936.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Nov 16, 2012 8:57 PM UTC “If any Charter Subscriber is surprised by what turned out to be the first story in this first issue of LIFE,” the magazine’s editors wrote in the Nov. 23, 1936, issue, “he is not nearly so surprised as \[we\] were. Photographer Margaret Bourke-White had been dispatched to the Northwest to photograph the multimillion dollar projects of the Columbia River Basin. What the editors expected were construction pictures as only Bourke-White can take them. What the editors got was a human document of American frontier life which, to them at least, was a revelation.” Thus the men and women behind what would become one of the longest-lived experiments — and one of the greatest success stories — of 20th century American publishing introduced themselves, and their inaugural effort, to the world. In her riveting 1963 autobiography, _Portrait of Myself_, Bourke-White herself recalls the heady experience working for LIFE — on the debut issue, and on countless subsequent assignments for what would become one of the indispensable weeklies of the past 100 years: --- > “” ---  First LIFE cover November 23, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine A few weeks before the beginning, Harry Luce called me up to his office and assigned me to a wonderful story out in the Northwest. Luce was very active editorially in the early days of the magazine, and there was always that extra spark in the air. Harry’s idea was to photograph the enormous chain of dams in the Columbia River basin that was part of the New Deal program. I was to stop off at New Deal, a settlement near Billings, Montana, where I would photograph the construction of Fort Peck, the world’s largest earth-filled dam. Harry told me to watch out for something on a grand scale that might make a cover. --- > “” --- --- > “” --- Seventy-six years after Margaret Bourke-White’s remarkable photos from the Depression-era wilds of Montana graced the pages of that very first issue of LIFE — and one of her characteristically monumental “construction pictures” (as the editors put it) served as the cover image for that issue — LIFE.com reprints the Fort Peck Dam feature in its entirety, along with a number of Bourke-White photos that did not appear in the original cover story. Here is a portrait of a community brought together by circumstance, i.e., by FDR’s New Deal, in a barren place, in an unimaginably hard time, for the express purpose of building one of the chief engineering marvels of the age. (Fort Peck Dam is still, today, the highest of all the major dams along the great Missouri River.) Bourke-White’s photos, meanwhile, capture the vast scale of the audacious project and the far more intimate scope of the human capacity for finding joy — or, at the very least, a kind of rough pleasure and fellowship — wherever one can, whatever the odds. So, while LIFE’s “charter subscribers” and its editors might have been surprised “by what turned out to be the first story” in the magazine’s history, in retrospect Bourke-White’s tale seems — with its heroic overtones, its astonishing photography and its focus on the _human_ aspect of a superhuman effort — a perfectly apt introduction to LIFE’s mission and its method. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Workers on Montana's Fort Peck Dam blow off steam at night, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In the Wild West town of Wheeler, near Fort Peck, Montana, Frank Breznik (left) is the law. He used to be a traveling salesman in Atlantic city. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. This is Wheeler, Montana, one of the six frontier towns around Fort Peck in Mr. Roosevelt's new Wild West. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. The New West's new hotspot is a town called 'New Deal.' Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. The only idle bedsprings in New Deal are the broken ones. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Beneath a "No Beer Sold to Indians" sign, a woman tosses back a drink in Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Life in the cowless cow towns is lush but not cheap. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Lt. Col. T. B. Larkin, head of the dam project, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Bar X, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Ruby's Place. This is the beer bar. The only drink you can legally sell by the glass in Montana is beer and you mustn't sell that to Indians. For the heavy liquor customers go to another bar behind. It's merely a formality. The back bar is just as open. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. One-fourth of the Missouri River will run through this steel 'liner.' Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Major Clark Kittrell, No. 2 man on the Fort Peck Dam project. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Drinking in Ed's Place, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Ruby, second from the left, is the founder of the town of Wheeler -- and its rich woman. What she learned in the Klondike has turned to good account. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Drinking at the bar Finis, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Drinking at the bar Finis, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Mrs. Nelson, who washes New Deal, Montana, without running water. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. One of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Men and women in one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. A bar in one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. A bar in one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. A bar in one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Workers in one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Scene from one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Scene from one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. One of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Workers in one of the several "frontier towns" near the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Workers on the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Workers on the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Workers on the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Workers on the site of the Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. The mammoth pipes to be used to divert the flow of the Missouri River, during building of Fort Peck Dam, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Construction of Fort Peck Dam, Montana, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  First LIFE cover November 23, 1936. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the inaugural, Nov. 23, 1936, issue of LIFE magazine. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the inaugural, Nov. 23, 1936, issue of LIFE magazine. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the inaugural, Nov. 23, 1936, issue of LIFE magazine. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the inaugural, Nov. 23, 1936, issue of LIFE magazine. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine  Page spreads from the inaugural, Nov. 23, 1936, issue of LIFE magazine. Margaret Bourke-White—LIFE Magazine LIFE's First-Ever Cover Story: Building the Fort Peck Dam, 1936 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3764198/lifes-first-ever-cover-story-building-the-fort-peck-dam-1936/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3764198/lifes-first-ever-cover-story-building-the-fort-peck-dam-1936/"},"headline":"LIFE's First-Ever Cover Story: Building the Fort Peck Dam, 1936","datePublished":"2012-11-16T20:57:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:47.584Z","description":"LIFE.com reprints the very first cover story from the very first issue of LIFE magazine, in its entirety, along with a number of Margaret Bourke-White photos that did not appear in the November 23, 1936, issue.","url":"https://time.com/3764198/lifes-first-ever-cover-story-building-the-fort-peck-dam-1936/","keywords":["LIFE Photo Essay","photography","New Deal","margaret bourke-white"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf047116b0a9fa09/698785e3e20a87aa50a85d55/150330-fort-peck-dam-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdf047116b0a9fa09/698785e3e20a87aa50a85d55/150330-fort-peck-dam-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Montana 1936","caption":"Workers on Montana's Fort Peck Dam blow off steam at night, 1936.","creditText":"Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/life-photo-essay/","name":"LIFE Photo Essay"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3764198/lifes-first-ever-cover-story-building-the-fort-peck-dam-1936/","name":"LIFE's First-Ever Cover Story: Building the Fort Peck Dam, 1936"}}]}] ```