During
World War I, Pick served with the 23rd Engineers in
France. He served in the
Philippines from 1921 until 1923 and helped organize The 14th Engineer Regiment
Philippine Scouts, largely composed of Filipino soldiers. He was the
Corps of Engineers' District Engineer in
New Orleans during the
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and he helped coordinate federal relief efforts. Pick was named
Missouri River Division Engineer in 1942, and with
William Glenn Sloan of the
Bureau of Reclamation he co-wrote the
Pick-Sloan Plan for controlling the water resources of the
Missouri River Basin. Pick carefully wrote his plan to avoid flooding
Bismarck and
Williston, North Dakota, along with
Pierre and
Chamberlain, South Dakota, but intentionally flooded the entire productive acreage of the
Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, some 155,000 acres, supporting 349 families of 1,544 individuals.
United States Secretary of the Interior Julius Albert Krug ordered compensation in the form of an equal amount of acreage on lesser lands, at-cost hydroelectric power for irrigation, grazing and watering rights for tribal cattle, and $5,105,625 in payment for lost lands. Colonel Pick revoked this order and all its compensations, then denied the
Three Tribes all access to the reservoir which would flood their lands, including the rights to fish, water their cattle, or cut any timber from the land to be flooded. The tribes were likewise forbidden to hire legal counsel with any compensatory money they might receive. The revised plan was approved by Krug. Forced to sign the Pick-Sloan Plan contract,
George Gillette, leader of the Three Tribes' business council, openly wept. Colonel Pick was assigned to the
China Burma India Theater of World War II in October 1943, replacing
Brigadier General John C. Arrowsmith as Chief Road Engineer. He oversaw construction of the
Ledo Road in
British Raj India and
Burma. His driving force enabled the difficult task to be completed in two and a half years. His men nicknamed the road "Pick's Pike". After his return to the United States in 1945, he served again as Missouri River Division Engineer. On March 1, 1949,
President of the United States Harry S. Truman appointed him
Chief of Engineers. Pick was awarded the
Distinguished Service Medal with
Oak Leaf Cluster.
Pick City, North Dakota, located by the
Garrison Dam on the
Missouri River was founded in 1946 and named for him.
Pickstown, South Dakota, located by the
Fort Randall Dam was also named for him. He died in
Washington, D.C., and was buried in
Auburn, Alabama. ==Personal life==