Brower's Spring is a spring in the Centennial Mountains of Beaverhead County,

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

that was marked by a surveyor in 1888 as the ultimate headwaters of the Missouri River and thus the fourth

longest river This is a list of the longest rivers on Earth. It includes river systems over in length. Definition of length There are many factors, such as the identification of the source, the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale o ...

in the world, 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. Mis ...

-Missouri River. The spring is named for

Jacob V. Brower Jacob Vandenberg Brower (January 11, 1844 in York, MichiganMeriwether Lewis reported in 1805 as the source of the river above Lemhi Pass on Trail Creek. Both sources are near 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, no ...

in Montana. It is upstream from where the name "Missouri River" is first used. Though the copper plate has not been located, the site of Brower's Spring is believed to be at about on the north fork of where Hell Roaring Creek divides near its source. It is commemorated by a rock pile. Hell Roaring Creek flows west into the Red Rock River, which flows through Upper, then Lower Red Rock Lakes, west through Lima Reservoir, and then northwest into

Clark Canyon Reservoir Clark Canyon Dam is an earthfill dam located in Beaverhead County, Montana, about 20 miles (30 km) south of the county seat of Dillon. The dam impounds the waters of the Beaverhead River, creating a body of water known as Clark Canyon Reserv ...

. From Clark Canyon Reservoir the Beaverhead River flows northeast to join the Big Hole River, forming the Jefferson River, which with the Madison and Gallatin Rivers form the Missouri at Missouri River Headwaters State Park at Three Forks, Montana. Brower's location is just below a ridge extending to the southeast from Mt. Jefferson to the northwest, and is southwest of the Sawtell Peak Observatory in Idaho, about southwest of

West Yellowstone, Montana West Yellowstone is a town in Gallatin County, Montana, United States, adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. The population was 1,272 at the 2020 census. West Yellowstone is served by Yellowstone Airport. It is part of the Bozeman, MT Microp ...

, and about southwest of the nearest point on the North American

. Brower's Spring is not listed as an official name on the Geographic Names Information System maintained by

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

References

{{Montana Landforms of Beaverhead County, Montana Springs of Montana Missouri River Tributaries of the Beaverhead River