Sacagawea's Child: The Life and Times of Jean-Baptiste (Pomp) Charbonneau - Paperback

by Susan A. Colby (Author)

The first complete and documented biography of this remarkable frontiersman, whose life encapsulated much of western American history up to about 1865, for he was by turns a mountain man, interpreter, guide, hotel operator, and gold miner. With Lewis and Clark from the moment of his birth, little "Pomp," whose real name was Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, journeyed from North Dakota to the Pacific and back in the arms of his mother, Sacagawea. In his sixty-one years, he successfully integrated the voyageur lifestyle of his father's people, the proud Native American heritage of his mother's people, and the great Jeffersonian traditions of his guardian, William Clark. Jean-Baptiste remained at the forefront of western expansion his entire life--from his infancy with the Corps of Discovery, to his years as a fur trader and Mountain Man on the upper Missouri and the Santa Fe Trail, to his guidance of the Mormon Battalion and administrative term in southern California, and finally to his gold rush years near Sacramento. Family history of the Charbonneaus is detailed, together with a perceptive analysis of the characters and backgrounds of Jean-Baptiste's father, Toussaint, and mother. The place of Sacagawea within her culture, both as a Shoshoni and Hidatsa, and as wife of the French fur trader, is carefully considered. With Lewis and Clark: His months with the Corps of Discovery is covered in detail. With William Clark: Clark's obvious affection for Jean-Baptiste caused him to assume guardianship of the boy. His Jeffersonian intellectual worldview and insistence on a fine education for Jean-Baptiste expanded the boy's horizons. In addition to the cultures of his mother and father, Jean-Baptiste would also adopt that of his Jeffersonian mentor, William Clark, while living with him in St. Louis. With Prince Paul of Wurttemberg: Following the completion of his education at St. Louis Academy, Jean-Baptiste met and became friends with the duke, spending five years in his company in Europe. A Mountain Man: In 1830 Jean-Baptiste entered the fur trade of the Rocky Mountains, principally with the American Fur Company. After 1834 he was on the Santa Fe Trail, at Bent's Fort, and later at Ft. Vasquez. With the Mormon Battalion: Charbonneau served as guide and interpreter to Philip St. George Cooke and the Mormon Battalion in their epic march to California in 1846. In California: After his arrival with the Mormon Battalion, Jean-Baptiste was made alcalde of the Mission San Luis Rey in southern California. He later worked in the gold country, running a hotel and surveying, before departing for Montana Territory and dying en route in Oregon. Although well educated, Jean-Baptiste did not write his memoirs; thus, nearly all we know of him comes through the eyes of his contemporaries. Like his mother, however, he made a strong impression on those he met, and many of them left provocative glimpses of him over his lifetime. Here is a study of a unique American metis and the cultures and times that molded him.