Brower'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. He visited the site in 1888 and buried a copper plate with his name and date.
The spring is 100 miles (200 km) further than the spot Meriwether Lewis reported in 1805 as the source of the river above Lemhi Pass on Trail Creek. Both sources are near the Continental Divide in Montana. It is 298.3 miles (480.1 km) from where the Missouri River officially starts.
The site of Brower's Spring at around 9,030 feet (2,750 m) [1], 0.4 mi. and 500 feet above Red Rock Creek. It is commemorated by a rock pile. Red Rock Creek flows west into 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 joins 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.[2]
According to Google Earth, the Spring is at 44.5505 N, 111.4842 W, just below a ridge extending to the southeast from the peak of Mt. Jefferson, about 20 miles southwest of West Yellowstone, MT, and about 0.4 mile southwest of the nearest (straight line distance) point on the Continental Divide Trail. The Google Earth description has it located to the left of an unnamed stream. The topo map also shows an intermittent stream higher on the ridge at about 9,300 feet but intermittent streams are not considered the source of streams.
As of 10 February 2007, the site was not listed as an official name on the Geographic Names Information System maintained by USGS.[3]