Authors and Illustrators Database

Born: 01/21/1844  York
Died: 06/01/1905
Parents: Abraham Duryea and Mary R. Brower

Image	Title	Genre	Audience	Publisher	Date
	Itasca State Park, an Illustrated History	Non Fiction	Adult	St.Paul, MN: McGill-Warner	1904
	Kansas : Monumental Perpeturation of Its Earliest History 1541-1896	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: McGill-Warner	1903
	Minnesota : Discovery of Its Area, 1540-1665	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: H. L. Collins	1903
	Kakabikansing	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: H. L. Collins	1902
	Kathio	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: H. L. Collins	1901
	Harahey	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: H. L. Collins	1899
	Quivira	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: H. L. Collins	1898
	The Missouri River and Its Utmost Source	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: Pioneer Press	1896
	Prehistoric Man at the Headwater Basin of the Mississippi	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: Pioneer Press	1895
	The Mississippi River and Its Source	Non Fiction	Adult	Minneapolis, MN: Harrison and Smith Publishing	1893
	Mille Lac	Non Fiction	Adult	St. Paul, MN: H. L. Collins

What is the aim or goal of your writing: During this work he discovered traces of ancient habitations, which impelled him to devote his energies to archeology, especially of the rich fields of Minnesota and Kansas. As Itasca State Park Commissioner (1891-95) for which office he was particularly fitted on account of his explorations of the region, he continued to note sites of archeological interest. Continuing his geographic studies, in 1896 he traced the sources of the Missouri River. In this period he rediscovered Quivira, the legendary locality in central and eastern Kansas reached by the Coronado expedition in 1541. Always exploring with an indefatigable energy, he located the surprising number of 1,125 ancient aboriginal mounds at Mille Lac, Minn., evidently a populous ancient Indian center. In the prolific field of Minnesota archeology no one has done more than Brower. In one decade he contributed 100,000 specimens to the State Historical Society at St. Paul. Not only did he collect, but he made it a rule to publish promptly. That he found means to publish, and most voluminously, indicates an enviable situation rarely acoorded to scientific men. As an example of his perseverance, after a fire which destroyed the notes of years of research, he calmly began the work anew. Necessarily most of his contributions were confined to the essential preliminary investigations which science demands as a groundwork. Other more original contributions resulted from excavations in graves, mounds, and village sites. While not having the training required by present day archeologists, Brower accomplished much by self-education and in following the lead of Henry R. Schoolcraft.

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MeLCat Links:
http://elibrary.mel.org/search/a?searchtype=X&searcharg=brower%2C+jacob+Vradenberg&SORT=D&searchscope=15&submit.x=44&submit.y=22

Last Modified On: 4/3/2013 12:00:00 AM