Brower, Charles D., 1863-1945

Dates

• Existence: 1863 - 1945

Biography

Charles D. Brower was born in 1863, in New York. In 1886, he arrived in Barrow as a whaling crew member. Brower established a trading post at Barrow and became its first white settler. Eventually he learned Inupiaq, married two Native women and sired 14 children. To this day, many of the community's leaders, white and Eskimo, bear his surname. By 1893, he and partner Tom Gordon were running their own whaling operation. Their Cape Smythe Whaling and Trading Company established the first store in Barrow in 1893. Known as the “King of the Arctic,” Brower remained north of the Arctic Circle for the rest of his life and was the man whom most outside visitors contacted upon their arrival in Barrow. He died in 1945.

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