Brower's Spring is a spring in the Centennial Mountains of Beaverhead County, Montana, that was identified by surveyor Jacob V. Brower in 1888 as the ultimate headwaters of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

and thus of the fourth- longest river system in the world, the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

–Missouri River. In 1896, Brower declared the spring to be the source of the Missouri in his book published by the Pioneer Press titled ''The Missouri river and its utmost source''. He had visited the site in 1895 and buried a copper plate nearby upon which the name of the river and the date were engraved. The spring is further than the spot

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 ...

reported in 1805 as the source of the Missouri above Lemhi Pass on Trail Creek. Both sources are near the Continental Divide in southwestern Montana. Brower's Spring 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. From Clark Canyon Reservoir the Beaverhead River flows northeast to join the

Big Hole River The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately 153 miles (246 km) long, in Beaverhead County, Montana, Beaverhead County, in southwestern Montana, United States. It is the last habitat in the contiguou ...

, 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 Mount Jefferson to the northwest, and is southwest of the Sawtell Peak Observatory in Idaho, about southwest of West Yellowstone, Montana, and about southwest of the nearest point on the North American Continental Divide. Brower's Spring is not listed as an official name in the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

maintained by

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

References

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