Brower's Spring

Imagine a tiny, bubbly spring way up high in the mountains of Montana. This is Brower's Spring! It's like the very first drop of water that starts a HUGE journey.

This spring is so special because it's the beginning of the Missouri River. The Missouri River then joins with other rivers to become the mighty Mississippi River, which is one of the longest river systems in the whole world! It's like a super-long waterslide for water.

A man named Jacob V. Brower was exploring these mountains a long, long time ago, in 1888. He found this special spring and thought, 'Wow, this must be where the Missouri River really begins!' He even buried a special copper plate with the river's name on it.

It's like leaving a secret message for future explorers! This spring is much further up the river than people used to think, making the river system even longer.

Brower's Spring is super high up, almost 8,800 feet above where we live. That's taller than many, many houses stacked on top of each other! It's near a place called the Continental Divide, which is like a giant, invisible line that separates water flowing to different oceans.

The water from Brower's Spring flows west, eventually making its way to the Pacific Ocean, even though it starts as part of the Mississippi-Missouri system that flows to the Atlantic.

The water from Brower's Spring doesn't just become the Missouri River right away. It trickles into a creek called Hell Roaring Creek. Then it flows into the Red Rock River, then into lakes, and then into reservoirs.

It joins up with other rivers like the Beaverhead, Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers. Finally, all these rivers hug each other to form the Missouri River. It’s like a big family reunion for water!