Ackley Lake
Photo courtesy: MTOT
Moccasin was named after the nearby Moccasin mountain range. These mountains with low, rounded summits and densely forested with Lodgepole did resemble Indian moccasins. Moccasin has been plagued by destructive firesin 1916, 1919, 1922, and 1955. The town never really recovered from the 1919 blaze, the biggest of all, which burned an entire block of buildings. Moccasin is in the productive wheat-raising area of Judith Basin County and was once a station on the Great Northern. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)
Moccasin began as a homestead community. In 1908 the Montana State legislature created the MSU Central Agricultural Research Center, 3 miles west of Moccasin. The purpose of the center was to teach dry land farming techniques to the newly arrived homesteaders. Even after the homesteaders bust, the center went on to develop machinery and new crops, improving the area's wheat yields.
The nearby Ackley Lake State Park, named after an early settler and frontiersman, offers diverse water sports opportunities. Stocked with rainbow trout, the lake is often good angling for 10 to 15 inch fish. The elevation of the park is 4,336 feet and is 160 acres in size.
