Jacob Vandenberg Brower (January 11, 1844 in York, MichiganBROWER, Jacob Vradenberg
in ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...

'', 1901-1902 edition; p. 138; via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

–1905) was a prolific writer of the Upper Midwest region of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

who championed the location and protection of the utmost headwaters of the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

rivers. He was born in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and moved to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. In 1862 he served under the command of Colonel

Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. mil ...

during the

Dakota Uprising The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...

in Minnesota. After the war he was County Auditor and County Attorney for

Todd County, Minnesota Todd County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,262. Its county seat is Long Prairie. History The county was created by the Minnesota Territorial legislature on February ...

. The City of

Browerville, Minnesota Browerville is a city in Todd County, Minnesota, Todd County, Minnesota. The population was 790 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Browerville was platted in 1882, and named after Jacob V. Brower (1844–1905), a ...

is named in his honor. In 1872, he was elected to the

Minnesota State Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...

, where he represented the 41st District from 1873 to 1874.Brower, Jacob V. "J.V., J. H."
at the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library; retrieved March 3, 2023 Brower lies buried at North Star Cemetery in

Saint Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stearn ...

. His monument recognizes him as the founder of

Itasca State Park Itasca State Park (pronounced eye-ta-ska) is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans of northern Minnesota, and is located about north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and from Ba ...

and the Minnesota State Park system.

Lake Itasca

In 1888 acting as surveyor he visited

Lake Itasca Lake Itasca is a small glacial lake, approximately in area. Located in southeastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north central Minnesota, it is notable for being the headwater of the Mississippi River. The lake is in Itasca Sta ...

to settle a dispute over the headwaters 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 creek through swamps and ponds to Lake Hernando de Soto. Brower spent five months on Lake Itasca and eventually concluded that since the Nicollet Creek was an intermittent stream, it should not qualify as the source of the Mississippi. Brower led the campaign to stop

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

around Lake Itasca by the

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

owned by

Friedrich Weyerhäuser Friedrich (Frederick) Weyerhäuser (November 21, 1834 – April 4, 1914), also spelled Weyerhaeuser, was a German-American timber mogul and founder of the Weyerhaeuser Company, which owns saw mills, paper factories, and other business enterprise ...

. 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 Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, 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 ...

had discovered the true source of the Missouri River on August 12, 1805, above

Lemhi Pass Lemhi Pass is a high mountain pass in the Beaverhead Mountains, part of the Bitterroot Range in the Rocky Mountains and within Salmon-Challis National Forest. The pass lies on the Montana-Idaho border on the continental divide, at an elevation o ...

on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

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 Mountains The 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. The range extends east from Monida Pass along ...

on the Montana side of the Continental Divide. In 1888 he visited the site of

Brower's Spring Brower's Spring is a spring in the Centennial Mountains of Beaverhead County, Montana that was marked by a surveyor in 1888 as the ultimate headwaters of the Missouri River and thus the fourth longest river in the world, the Mississippi-Missouri ...

and left a metal tablet with his name and date where he believed the source to be located. In 1896 he published his findings "The Missouri: Its Utmost Source." Both sources ultimately drain into the

Jefferson River The 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 For ...

which combines with the

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and the

Gallatin River The Gallatin River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 120 mi (193 km long), in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. It is one of three rivers, along with the Jefferson River, Jefferson and Madison River, Madison, ...

s to form the Missouri at

Missouri Headwaters State Park Missouri Headwaters State Park is a public recreation area occupying at the site of the official start of the Missouri River. The park offers camping, hiking trails, hunting, and water-related activities. It is located on Trident Road northeast ...

References

External links

Brower's Map of Lake Itasca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brower, Jacob 1844 births 1905 deaths County auditors in the United States County officials in Minnesota Writers from Michigan 19th-century American businesspeople