attractive to drill very deep new wells in the Bakken Formation of the Williston Basin. The discovery in 2000 of the extremely rich Elm Coulee Oil Field near Sidney in Richland County—with a potential for many billions of barrels of oil—and the high price of oil has created a new regional boom in the 21st century. Dams and hydropower The development of electrical power led to demand for electricity. The combination of Montana's abundant rivers combined with ready availability of natural resources for transporting electricity led to the building of multiple dams across the state, particularly a number on the Missouri River, most owned and operated by the Montana Power Company. The city of Great Falls, due to the presence of several existing natural cascades, became a center for hydropower development. In 1933–43, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Public Works Administration built the Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River; it became the largest earthen dam in the world. The goals were to provide flood control, irrigation water, and (in a later upgrade) hydroelectric power, as well as employment for 10,000 people during the Great Depression. It cost more than $160 million. As Chairman of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee in the 1950s, Senator James E. Murray promoted federal development of hydroelectric power through large dams throughout the West. He secured funding for major dams in Montana at Canyon Ferry on the Missouri River, Yellowtail on the Bighorn River, Hungry Horse on the Flathead River, and Libby on the Kootenai River. Politics Montana politics historically were noted for the tendency of Montanans to vote independently, with split ticket voting common and for races to be likely to fall to either major political party, though certain regions of the state more predictably fell into one partisan camp or the other. At times it was said that Montana "sent its liberals to Washington and its conservatives to [the state capitol] Helena". Considering its relatively brief history, the state produced a number of notable and colorful political figures, including Democrats Thomas Francis Meagher, William Andrews Clark, Thomas J. Walsh, Burton K. Wheeler, James E. Murray, and Mike Mansfield; and Republicans Jeannette Rankin and Joseph M. Dixon. Joseph Dixon Joseph M. Dixon (1867–1934), was a Republican politician from Missoula. He served as a Representative, Senator, and the seventh Governor of Montana. A businessman and a modernizer of Quaker heritage, Dixon