Jacob Vandenberg Brower (January 11, 1844BROWER, Jacob Vradenberg
in ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( 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 A ...

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

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

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

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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

and

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

rivers.

Early life

Brower was born in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

and later moved to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. 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. mi ...

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, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota collectiv ...

in Minnesota. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, he served as County Auditor and

County Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

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 Februar ...

. The city of

Browerville, Minnesota Browerville is a city in Todd County, Minnesota. The population was 790 at the time of the 2010 census. By the 2020 Decennial Census the population had increased to 839. History Browerville was platted in 1882, and named after Jacob V. Brow ...

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 decenni ...

, 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

Lake Itasca

In 1888, acting as surveyor, Brower visited

Lake Itasca Lake Itasca ( ) is a small glacial lake, approximately in area. It is located in Itasca State Park, in south-eastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north-central Minnesota, and is notable for being the headwater of the Mississip ...

to settle a dispute regarding the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The issue was whether Nicollet Creek at the southern tip of Lake Itasca, which flows into the lake, was the official start of the Mississippi. Brower followed the creek through swamps and ponds to Lake Hernando de Soto. He 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 skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckscompanies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

owned by timber industrialist

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 sawmills, paper factories, and other business enterprises ...

. 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 Brower 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 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 ...

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 ...

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 alon ...

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 identified by surveyor Jacob V. Brower in 1888 as the ultimate headwaters of the Missouri River and thus of the fourth- longest river system in the w ...

, which he determined as the true source of the Missouri, and buried a metal tablet with his name and the date nearby. In 1896 he published his findings in "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 Fo ...

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 * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

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 and Madison, that converge near Three Fork ...

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 ...

Death and legacy

Brower died in 1905. He lies buried at North Star Cemetery in

Saint Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud or Saint 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 c ...

. His monument recognizes him as the founder of

Itasca State Park Itasca State Park () 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 Bagley, Minnesota. The ...

and the

Minnesota State Park There are 64 state parks, nine state recreation areas, nine state waysides, and 23 state trails in the Minnesota state park system, totaling approximately . A Minnesota state park is an area of land in the U.S. state of Minnesota preserved ...

system.

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