Jacob Vandenberg Brower was a prolific writer of the Upper Midwest region of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
who championed the location and protection of the utmost headwaters of the
MississippiThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and
MissouriThe Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
rivers.
He was born in
MichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and moved to
MinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. In 1862 he served with
Henry Hastings SibleyHenry Hastings Sibley was the first Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota.-Early life and education:...
during wars against the
SiouxThe Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
in Minnesota.
After the war he was County Auditor and County Attorney for
Todd County, Minnesota
. The City of
Browerville, MinnesotaAs of the census of 2000, there were 735 people, 318 households, and 181 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,052.5 people per square mile . There were 337 housing units at an average density of 482.6 per square mile...
, which he originally plotted, is named in his honor.
Lake Itasca
In 1888 acting as surveyor he visited
Lake ItascaLake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota. The lake is located in southeastern Clearwater County within Itasca State Park and it has an average depth of 20–35 feet , and is 1,475 ft above sea level.The Ojibwe name for...
to settle a dispute over the source of the Mississippi River.
The issue was whether Nicollet Creek at the southern tip of the Lake Itasca and flows into the lake was the official start of the Mississippi. Brower followed the stream through swamps, ponds to Lake Hernando de Soto. Brower spent five months on Lake Itasca and eventually ruled that since the Nicollet Creek was intermittent stream it did not qualify as the source.
Brower was to lead a campaign to stop logging around Lake Itasca by companies owned by
Friedrich WeyerhäuserFriedrich Weyerhäuser was a German-American timber mogul and founder of the Weyerhaeuser Company, which owns saw mills, paper factories, and other business enterprises, and large areas of forested land...
. On April 20, 1891 the state legislature by a margin of one approved the plans for a state park.
The official visitor center for the park is now called the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center and Brower is often referred to as the "Father of Lake Itasca."
Brower's Spring
In the late 1800s he questioned the conventional wisdom that
Meriwether LewisMeriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...
had discovered the true source of the
Missouri RiverThe Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
on August 12, 1805, above
Lemhi PassLemhi Pass is a high mountain pass in the Beaverhead Mountains, part of the Bitterroot Range in the Rocky Mountains The pass lies on the Montana-Idaho border on the continental divide, at an elevation of 7373 feet above sea level.-History:...
on the
Continental DivideThe Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
at the source of Trail Creek.
Studying maps, he said the source should be 100 miles further away at the source of Hell Roaring Creek at about 8,800 feet on Mount Jefferson in the
Centennial MountainsThe Centennial Mountains are the southernmost sub-range of the Bitterroot Range in the U.S. states of Idaho and Montana. The Centennial Mountains include the Western and Eastern Centennial Mountains...
on the Montana side of the Continental Divide.
Once again there were streams higher and further on the mountain but they were also intermittent. In 1888 he visited the site of
Brower's SpringBrower's Spring is a spring in the Centennial Mountains of Montana that is believed to be the ultimate headwaters of the Missouri River.The spring is named for Jacob V. Brower who in 1896 declared it to be the source of the Missouri in The Missouri: Its Utmost Source...
and left a metal tablet with his name and date. In 1896 he published his findings "The Missouri: It's Utmost Source."
Both sources ultimately drained into the
Jefferson RiverThe Jefferson River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the U.S. state of Montana. The Jefferson River and the Madison River form the official beginning of the Missouri at Missouri Headwaters State Park near Three Forks...
which combines with the
Madison RiverThe Madison River is a headwater tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 183 miles long, in Wyoming and Montana. Its confluence with the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers near Three Forks, Montana form the Missouri River....
to form the Missouri at
Missouri Headwaters State ParkMissouri Headwaters State Park is a Montana state park that marks the official start of the Missouri River. It includes the Three Forks of the Missouri National Historic Landmark.It is located near Three Forks, Montana at an elevation of ....
.
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