Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (February 11, 1805May 16, 1866) traveled across North America as an infant with his mother Sacagawea as part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which journeyed from North Dakota to Oregon and back again during 1805 and 1806. He was the son of Sacagawea and her French Canadian husband, trapper and interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau. Expedition co-leader William Clark nicknamed the boy Pomp or Pompy.

Charbonneau's image can be found on the Sacagawea dollar coin. He is the only child ever depicted on United States currency. Pompeys Pillar on the Yellowstone River in Montana and the community of Charbonneau, Oregoncite book |last = McArthur | irst= Lewis A. |authorlink= Lewis A. McArthur |coauthor= Lewis L. McArthur |title= Oregon Geographic Names |origyear= 1928 |edition= Seventh Edition |year= 2003 |publisher= Oregon Historical Society Press |location= Portland, Oregon |id= ISBN 0-87595-277-1 |pages= 190] are named for him.

Childhood

Charbonneau was born at Fort Mandan in North Dakota, the encampment at which the Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered in 1804-1805. His father, French Canadian trapper Toussaint Charbonneau, had been hired by the expedition as an interpreter. Captains Lewis and Clark agreed to bring along his then-pregnant Native American wife Sacagawea when they learned she was of the Shoshone people, as they knew they would need to negotiate with the Shoshone for horses and guides at the headwaters of the Missouri River. Meriwether Lewis noted the boy's birth in his journal:

Charbonneau traveled from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back as an infant, carried along in the expedition's boats or upon his mother's back. His presence is often credited with reassuring the native tribes the expedition encountered, as it is said they believed that no war party would travel with a woman and child.

Years after the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Charbonneau family moved to St. Louis at Clark's invitation. Clark paid for young Jean Baptiste to attend school there at St. Louis Academy, now known as St. Louis University High School, and continued to oversee his care and schooling when Sacagawea returned up the Missouri River with the elder Charbonneau.

Adult life

At the age of 18, Charbonneau met Prince Paul Wilhelm von Württemberg, nephew of King Fredrick I. The prince, traveling in America on a natural history expedition, invited Charbonneau to return to Europe with him. He lived in Europe for six years and learned to speak German, Spanish and French. He traveled all over the European continent and also visited Africa.PDF| [http://www.idahohistory.net/Reference%20Series/0428.pdf Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau] |23.6 KB ]

In 1829, Charbonneau returned to North America, and began trapping for the American Fur Company in Idaho and Utah. He worked at Fort Saint Vrain and other trading posts, served as an army scout, and became one of the memorable breed of mountain men who explored and led others through the Rocky Mountains. He is known to have traveled with Jim Bridger, Jim Beckwourth, Joe Meek, [United States National Park Service: [http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/CorpsOfDiscovery/TheOthers/Civilians/JeanBaptiste.htm The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau] ] John C. Frémont, William H. Emory, and James Abert, [ [http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/examples/servlet/transform/tamino/Library/lewisandclarkjournals?&_xmlsrc=http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/lewisandclark/files/xml/1805-02-11.xml&_xslsrc=http://libtextcenter.unl.edu/lewisandclark/LCstyles.xsl#noten09021101 Journals of Lewis and Clark: background information] ] and his fluency in numerous European and Native American languages made him well qualified as a guide and interpreter.

Charbonneau and Antoine Leroux were selected by Philip St. George Cooke to guide the Mormon Battalion from New Mexico to the city of San Diego in California in 1846. North of the U.S./Mexico border in New Mexico, a memorial site stands on the Geronimo Trail Road near the Guadalupe Canyon area, where Charbonneau had the Mormon Battalion cross what seemed to be an impossible mountain range by packing down supplies and lowering wagons by rope; one wagon was lost as the rope snapped and the wagon plummeted to the canyon bottom.Fact|date=March 2008

After the Battalion reached California, Charbonneau accepted an appointment there as alcalde of Mission San Luis Rey. He was eventually forced to resign from that post after his repeated attempts to improve the condition of the local Native American tribes caused political trouble for him.

Charbonneau then got caught up in the California Gold Rush sweeping the state, and joined thousands of other "49ers" in Placer County, but it is unknown how successful he was at prospecting. By 1861 he was serving as a clerk at the Orleans Hotel in Auburn, California.

Death

In May 1866, while en route from California to the new gold fields around Virginia City, Montana, Charbonneau died of pneumonia near Danner, Oregon, at age 61.

A burial site (generally believed to be the correct one), along with the remains of an early stagecoach stop, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Jean Baptiste Charbonneau Memorial and Inskip Station Ruins. Because Danner is a ghost town, the address of the site is often listed as being in the Jordan Valley vicinity. The marker reads:


Oregon History
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
1805-1866

This site marks the final resting place of the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Born to Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau at Fort Mandan (North Dakota) on February 11, 1805, Baptiste and his mother symbolized the peaceful nature of the "Corps of Discovery." Educated by Captain William Clark at St. Louis, Baptiste at 18 traveled to Europe where he spent six years becoming fluent in English, German, French and Spanish. Returning to American in 1829, he ranged the far west for nearly four decades as mountain man, guide, interpreter, magistrate, and forty-niner. In 1866, he left the California gold fields for a new strike in Montana, contracted pneumonia enroute, reached "Inskips Ranche," here, and died on May 16.

Another site and memorial stands in Fort Washakie, Wyoming, but whether the body interred there could be his is disputed.cite book |last= Horne |first= Esther |coauthors= Sally McBeth |date= 1999 |title= Essie's Story: The Life and Legacy of a Shoshone Teacher |location=Lincoln |publisher= University of Nebraska Press |id= 080327324X |pages= 151]

ee also

*Santa Ysabel Asistencia

Further reading

*Colby, Susan (2005). " Sacagawea's Child: The Life and Times of Jean-Baptiste (Pomp) Charbonneau". Spokane: Arthur H. Clarke.
*Kartunnen, Frances (1994). "Between Worlds: Interpreters, Guides, and Survivors". Rutgers: Rutgers University Press.
*Moulton, Gary, ed (2003). "The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery". Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

References


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  • Jean-baptiste charbonneau — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Charbonneau. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (11 février 1805 16 mai 1866) était le fils de Sacagawea et son père canadien français Toussaint Charbonneau, né lorsqu ils étaient membres de l expédition de Lewis et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean Baptiste Charbonneau — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Charbonneau. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (11 février 1805 16 mai 1866) était le fils de Sacagawea et son père canadien français Toussaint Charbonneau, né lorsqu ils étaient membres de l expédition de Lewis et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean Baptiste Charbonneau — (* 11. Februar 1805 im Fort Mandan [heute North Dakota][1]; † 16. Mai 1866 in Danner, Oregon [2]) war der Sohn des franko kanadischen Dolmetschers Toussaint Charbonneau und der zum Stamm der Nördlichen Shoshonen gehörenden Indianerin Sacajawea,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Charbonneau. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (11 février 1805 16 mai 1866) était le fils de Sacagawea et son père canadien français Toussaint Charbonneau, né lorsqu ils étaient membres de l expédition de Lewis et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean-Baptiste — is a male French name, originating with St. John the Baptist, and may refer to one of the following: * Charles XIV John, Charles XIV John, born Jean Baptiste Bernadotte. * Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr, French critic, journalist and novelist. *… …   Wikipedia

  • Charbonneau — is surname given as a nickname for someone with a dark complexion (according to the Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0 19 508137 4). The name may also refer to: Charbono, a grape variety Charbonneau, an… …   Wikipedia

  • Charbonneau — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (1805–1866), wurde auf der Lewis und Clark Expedition geboren José Charbonneau (* 1966), kanadischer Eishockeyspieler Joseph Charbonneau kanadischer Erzbischof Louis Charbonneau… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Charbonneau — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Patronyme Charbonneau est un nom de famille notamment porté par : Olivier Charbonneau (1611 1687), pionnier et ancêtre des Charbonneau en Amérique du …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Charbonneau, Oregon — Coordinates: 45°17′14″N 122°45′29″W / 45.28722°N 122.75806°W / 45.28722; 122.75806 …   Wikipedia

  • Jean Guiraud — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Guiraud. Jean Guiraud Naissance 1866 …   Wikipédia en Français

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