The small town of Brockton is located in Montana’s Roosevelt County, east of Poplar. The community was incorporated in the early 1950s and is situated within the Fort Peck Reservation on the Missouri River.
Along with seven others, Brockton is one of the communities located within the boundaries of what is the ninth-largest Indian Reservation in the country.
The first post office was established in Brockton in 1904, and although the reservation stretches for over a hundred miles and covers more than 200,000 acres, the town’s population size remains small. In fact, the number of residents in the area has yet to reach anything close to the 400 mark.
This so-called “wind-swept village on the prairie” lies south of the Twin Buttes, which serve as historical and recreational landmarks in the area.
The buttes were the site of a major battle that occurred between Crow and Sioux people, and these unique geographical features got their name from the fact that they appear to rise somewhat dramatically from the otherwise flat and rolling prairies of the north-eastern Montana landscape.
Brockton is located just to the west of Culbertson off Highway 2.
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The Twin Buttes are located just a few miles north of town. The area has some historical significance in that it was the site of a crucial battle between the Crow and the Sioux Indian Tribes.
The story goes that Crow agents, having stolen a couple of hundred horses from the Sioux, were finally ambushed as they camped between the two buttes, and retribution was served in full.
Today elements of both the Sioux and the Assiniboine live on the 2 million or so acres that the Fort Peck Reservation encompasses.
Most of the land is just east of Fort Peck Lake, and Brockton is the site of the Badlands Celebration, an important powwow celebrating native culture and traditions through various displays of dance, food, crafts, and fellowship with one another, and the general public is always welcome to participate or watch.
Recreation Activities in and around the Area
The 200,000+ acre Fort Peck Lake is around an hour away along Highway 2, heading in the direction of Poplar. The huge reservoir came about as a result of the construction of the Fort Peck Dam.
The project was completed in 1940 and is the largest lake in Montana.
You can find this huge body of water just to the west of the reservation, needless to say, it is something of a central point for water-based recreation in the area like fishing.
The lake holds a variety of species from the native Bigmouth Buffalo to Brown Trout and Black Bullhead just to name a couple.
Hiking
You can take your pick from two or three state parks and a couple of nature trails for hiking and other outdoor activities in the general region, depending on how far out you are prepared to travel.
The Fort Peck Campground and Recreation Area can keep visitors busy for a day or two, and the Makoshika State Park has some interesting Badlands terrain then there are the Brush Lake State Park and the Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge if you like rugged and undeveloped outdoor terrain.
Camping
The Fort Peck Downstream Campground is set along the Missouri River just below the dam. The campground is a popular spot, especially during the warmer months, and the sites offer access to surrounding recreation.
The quiet country setting of the Culbertson RV Park is another popular camping option in the area, set near the crossroads along Highway 2 and Highway 16.
The Shady Rest RV Park is a 40-site campground option in the region of Brockton to the north of the Fort Peck Campground in Glasgow.
It’s all wide-open space here in a location convenient for local attractions like the Pioneer Museum. Restrooms and showers are available and some sites are kept open year-round.
Accommodation Hotels and Lodging
As you can probably imagine there isn’t much along the lines of developed hotel accommodation in a town as small as Brockton.
You’d have to head more in the direction of Poplar and Wolf Point to find some of the options you might be looking for accommodation-wise.
Special Events in or near Brockton
- July – Badlands Celebration – annual powwow celebrating native culture and traditions through dancing, food, crafts, and fellowship
Activities and other Points of Interest near Brockton
Forests/State/National Parks/Wilderness Areas
- Custer National Forest
- Kootenai National Forest
- Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Brush Lake State Park
- Makoshika State Park