Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau | |
---|---|
Born | Fort Mandan, present-day Washburn, North Dakota, U.S. | February 11, 1805
Died | May 16, 1866 | (aged 61)
Resting place | Jordan Valley Hamlet Cemetery, Danner, Oregon, U.S. 42°58′58″N 117°03′17″W / 42.982647°N 117.0547225°W |
Other names | Jean, Pompey ("Pomp" or "Little Pomp") |
Known for | Accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an infant |
Parent(s) | Sacagawea Toussaint Charbonneau |
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (February 11, 1805 – May 16, 1866), sometimes known in childhood as Pompey or Little Pomp, was a
Jean Baptiste's father was also a member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, a French Canadian explorer and trader named Toussaint Charbonneau. Jean Baptiste was born at Fort Mandan in North Dakota. In his early childhood, he accompanied his parents as they traveled across the country. The expedition co-leader William Clark nicknamed the boy Pompey ("Pomp" or "Little Pomp"). After the death of his mother, he lived with Clark in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended St. Louis Academy. Clark paid for his education. Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau also had a second child, a daughter named Lizette Charbonneau; however, because she receives only occasional mention in Clark's papers, her life remains unclear beyond her third birthday.[1]
Jean Baptiste and Sacagawea appear on the United States Sacagawea dollar coin. He is the second child depicted on United States currency. Pompeys Pillar on the Yellowstone River in Montana and the community of Charbonneau, Oregon are named for him.[2]
Childhood
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born to
The party that were ordered last evening set out early this morning. the weather was fair and could wind N. W. about five o'clock this evening one of the wives of Charbono was delivered of a fine boy. It is worthy of remark that this was the first child which this woman had boarn and as is common in such cases her labour was tedious and the pain violent; Mr. Jessome informed me that he had freequently administered a small portion of the rattle of the rattle-snake, which he assured me had never failed to produce the desired effect, that of hastening the birth of the child; having the rattle of a snake by me I gave it to him and he administered two rings of it to the woman broken in small pieces with the fingers and added to a small quantity of water. Whether this medicine was truly the cause or not I shall not undertake to determine, but I was informed that she had not taken it more than ten minutes before she brought forth perhaps this remedy may be worthy of future experiments, but I must confess that I want faith as to it's efficacy.[3]
The infant traveled from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back, carried along in the expedition's boats or upon his mother's back. His presence is often credited by historians with assuring native tribes of the expedition's peaceful intentions, as they believed that no war party would travel with a woman and child.
After the expedition
In April 1807, about a year after the end of the expedition, the Charbonneau family moved to
Clark evinces a philosophical taste in the preservation of many subjects of natural history. We believe this is the only collection of specimens of art and nature west of Cincinnati, which partakes of the character of a museum, or cabinet of natural history.[4]
As a boy, Charbonneau learned from the vast collection.
Clark paid for Charbonneau's education at St. Louis Academy, a Jesuit Catholic school (now called St. Louis University High School), although the expense was considerable for the time. The school's single classroom was then located in the storehouse of Clark's friend, the trader Joseph Robidoux. Brothers James and George Kennerly paid for Charbonneau's supplies for 1820 and were reimbursed by Clark.[a]
From June through September 1820 and in 1822, Jean Baptiste boarded with Louis Tesson Honoré, a Clark family friend and member of his church, Christ Episcopal.[7]: 67 The general had helped organize the church in 1819. They lived in St. Ferdinand Township in St. Louis County, Missouri near Charbonneau's father's 320 acres (1.3 km2) of land[citation needed].
Adult life
On June 21, 1823, at age eighteen, Charbonneau met
The two set sail on the Smyrna from St. Louis in December 1823. Jean Baptiste lived at the duke's palace in Württemberg for nearly six years, where he learned German and Spanish and improved his English and French. The latter was still the dominant language of St. Louis, which had first enabled his conversations with the Duke.[7]: 71 According to a 1932 translation of Wilhelm's journal by the historian Louis C. Butscher, Wilhelm wrote that Charbonneau was "…a companion on all my travels over Europe and northern Africa until 1829."[7]: 75 [9] In 2001, Albert Furtwangler, PhD, questioned the accuracy of Butscher's German translation, noting two more recent translations of the duke's journals, and suggests that Charbonneau's role in Wilhelm's court may have been less intimate than Butscher's perhaps romanticized account implied.[10][11] Charbonneau may have been hired as a servant, rather than invited as a companion. As support, he notes the apparent lack of further contact between the two men after Charbonneau's return to America. However, lack of contact in itself does not mean Charbonneau was a hired hand. Such an act may have been an insult to Clark, which the duke likely would have avoided.[12][13] As with many aspects of his life, little is known for certain about Charbonneau's time in Europe.
Children
Parish records in Wuerttemberg show that while there, Charbonneau fathered a child with Anastasia Katharina Fries, a soldier's daughter. The baby, Anton Fries, died about three months after his birth.[12]
Nearly two decades later, while in California as an alcalde or magistrate, Charbonneau was recorded as being the father of another child. On May 4, 1848, Maria Catarina Charguana was born to her mother Margarita Sobin, a
Trapper and hunter
In November 1829, Charbonneau returned to St. Louis, where he was hired by Joseph Robidoux as a fur trapper for the American Fur Company, to work in Idaho and Utah.[7]: 84 [15] He attended the 1832 Pierre's Hole rendezvous while working for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. There he fought in the bloodiest non-military conflict that preceded the Plains Indian wars, which began in 1854.[7]: 88
From 1833–1840 Charbonneau worked in the fur trade in the Rocky Mountain Trapping System[16] with other mountain men, such as Jim Bridger, James Beckwourth and Joe Meek.[17] From 1840–42 he worked from Fort Saint Vrain, floating bison hides and tongues 2,000 miles (3,200 km) down the South Platte River to St. Louis. On one of the voyages, he camped with Captain John C. Frémont on his cartographic expedition. In 1843, he guided Sir William Drummond Stewart, a Scottish baronet, on his second long trip to the American West, which was a lavish hunting expedition.[18]
Seeking employment again, in 1844 Charbonneau went to
Mexican–American War
In October 1846, Charbonneau,
A contingent of soldiers made up of some 339 Mormon men and six Mormon women, known as the Mormon Battalion, were the builders of that new road over the uncharted southwest from Santa Fe to San Diego and Los Angeles. A memorial to the historic trek of the Mormon Battalion and their guide Charbonneau has been erected at the San Pedro River, one mile (1.6 km) north of the U.S.–Mexico border near the present-day town of Palominas, Arizona. Other monuments or historic markers are in Tucson, Arizona and in California at Box Canyon near Warner Springs, at Temecula, at Old Town San Diego and at Fort Moore in Los Angeles. Colonel Cooke's diary mentions Charbonneau some 29 times from November 16, 1846, to January 21, 1847.[7]: 150 Eight of the twenty wagons reached Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, four miles (6.4 km) from today's Oceanside, California, and the leaders counted the expedition as a success.
Cooke wrote of the Mormon Battalion, "History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry."
Alcalde
In November 1847, Charbonneau accepted an appointment from Colonel John D. Stevenson as alcalde (mayor) at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. This position made him the only civilian authority, a combined sheriff, lawyer and magistrate, in a post-war region covering about 225 square miles (580 km2). From 1834–50, the lands were owned by rancheros through legally questionable land grants.
The rancheros hired local
Gold mining
In September 1848, Charbonneau arrived in
A measure of his success was that Charbonneau could afford the mining region's highly inflated cost of living. For example, at a time when a good wage in the West was $30 per month, it cost $8–16 per day to live in Auburn.
Final journey and death
It is not clear exactly why Charbonneau left
His route and travel method likely took him on a stagecoach over Donner Summit and east along the well-traveled Humboldt River Trail to Winnemucca, Nevada, then north to the U.S. Army's Camp McDermitt at the Oregon border.[7]: 197 Passing the camp in rugged terrain, the men reached an Owyhee River crossing at present-day Rome, Oregon, where an apparent accident occurred and Charbonneau went into the river. The accident's cause is unknown, but there are several possibilities. He may have been on a stagecoach operated by the Boise-Silver City-Winnemucca stage company that began its route in 1866 out of Camp McDermitt and in crossing the river, the coach sank.[7]: 198 Or he may have been on horseback and fallen off the river bank or slipped out of the saddle while crossing. The Owyhee River in snow melt may have turned into whitewater. Other possibilities are he was injured on the land journey, inhaled alkali dust, or fell ill from drinking contaminated water.[7]: 199
The ill Charbonneau was taken to Inskip Station in Danner, Oregon, built in 1865, about 33 miles (53 km) from the river and west of Jordan Valley. It is now a ghost town. The former stagecoach waystation, mail stop, and general store served travelers to Oregon and the California gold fields. It had its own well, and Charbonneau may have deteriorated from drinking the water.[7]: 200 After his death there, his body was taken approximately one-quarter mile (0.40 km) north and buried.
Charbonneau died at age 61 on May 16, 1866. A death notice was sent by an unknown writer, likely one of two fellow travelers on the journey east,[26] to the Owyhee Avalanche newspaper and it said he died of pneumonia.[27] This is the first documented evidence of his death.[7]: 201 The Placer Herald obituary writer opined that he succumbed to the infamous "Mountain Fever", to which many illnesses in the West were attributed.
Gravesite Memorial
Charbonneau's gravesite, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, sits on one acre (4,000 m2) of land within sight of the Inskip Station ruins. (The site is also within half a mile of Danner's abandoned Anderson General Store, which is still intact.) Located amidst the 6,000-acre (24 km2) Ruby Ranch grounds, the encircled memorial area was donated to Malheur County by the landowners for historic preservation, and features three historical markers within walking distance:
- In 1971, the Malheur County Daughters of the American Revolution placed a standing stone marker.
- In 1973, the Oregon Historical Society erected a second standing marker made of wood, which 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 America in 1829, he ranged the Far West for nearly four decades as a mountain man guide, interpreter, magistrate, and Forty-Niner. In 1866, he left the California gold fields for a new strike in Montana, contracted pneumonia en route, reached "Inskips Ranche", here, and died on May 16, 1866.
- In 2000, a third marker was dedicated in bronze by an Idaho-based group which included descendants of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe. As the son of Sacagawea, a Northern Shoshone who lived in the Lemhi Valley, Charbonneau is considered one of their people.
Also known as the Jordan Valley Hamlet Cemetery, the interment site itself is additionally host to five other graves from the late 1880s.[28] A plaque laid nearby at Inskip Station lists their names beside that of "J.B. Charbonneau", along with the inscription:
"Under the wide and starry sky..."
Disputed Timelines
Earlier in the twentieth century, Dr Grace Raymond Hebard of the University of Wyoming, a political economist, not a historian or anthropologist, argued that Charbonneau died and was buried at the Shoshone Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Dr. Charles Eastman, a Santee Sioux and not of the Shoshone language group, did research that attempted to establish that Charbonneau's mother Sacagawea died at the reservation on April 9, 1884. Some believe that Charbonneau died in 1885 and was buried next to her. Memorials in their names were erected in 1933 at nearby Fort Washakie.[29] Eastman did his research in 1924–25, interpreting oral history. But his translation has been superseded by documentary evidence for both Charbonneau and Sacagawea.
In 1964, an edited nineteenth-century journal was published stating that Sacagawea died much earlier, on December 20, 1812, of a "putrid fever" (possible following childbirth) at Fort Lisa on the Missouri River.[30] Four 19th-century documents support this earlier date, including a statement by William Clark years after the 1805–07 Lewis and Clark expedition that "Sacajawea was dead."[31]
Legacy and honors
- Charbonneau's image appears with that of his mother in the United States Roanoke half-dollar.[32] The portrait design is unusual, as the copyrights have been assigned to and are owned by the United States Mint. Therefore the portrait is not in the public domain, as most U.S. coin designs are.[33]
- Pompeys Pillar on the Yellowstone River in Montana and the community of Charbonneau, Oregon[2] are named after him.
- A memorial plaque was established in his honor under the cedar tree near the Old Fire House in Old Town, Auburn, California.[34]
See also
Notes
- ^ *January 22, 1820: payment to J. E. Welch for the two-quarters tuition of J. B. Charbonneau, a half-Native American boy, and firewood and ink. Amount = $16.37
- April 1, 1820: to J. & G. H. Kennerly for one Roman History for Charbonneau, a half Native, $1.50; one pair of shoes, $2.24; two pairs of socks, $1.50; two squires of paper and quills, $1.50; 1 [William] Scott's Lesson,[5] $1.50; 1 dictionary, $1.50; 1 hat, $4.00; four yards of cloth, $10.00; one ciphering book, $1., one slate and pencils, $.62.
- April 11, 1820: to J. E. Welch for one quarter's tuition, including fuel and ink. Amount = $8.37.
- June 30, 1820: to Louis Tesson Honoré for the board, lodging and washing. Amount = $45.00.
- October 1, 1820: to L. T. Honoré for lodging, boarding, and washing from 1 July to 30 September at $15.00 per month. Amount = $45.00
- March 31, 1822: to Louis Tesson Honore for boarding, lodging and washing of J. B. Charbonneau, a half native.[6]
References
- ISBN 9780806185415. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
- ^ ISBN 0-87595-277-1
- ^ Lewis, Meriwether; Clark, William; Floyd, Charles (1904), Original journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804–1806, vol. 1, p. 257.
- ^ Schoolcraft, Henry R (1825), Travels in the Central portions of the Mississippi Valley, New York: J. and J. Harper, p. 294.
- ^ Scott's Lesson textbook formally dealt with elocution, language and speaking.
- ^ Abstract of Expenditures by Captain W. Clark as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1822, American State Papers, vol. 2, USA: Department of the Interior, 1834, p. 289.
- ^ ISBN 1-59457-868-0.
- ^ Butscher, Louis C. (1942-07-01). "A Brief Biography of Prince Paul Wilhelm of Wurttemberg (1797-1860), with his "Account of Adventures in the Great American Desert"". New Mexico Historical Review. 17 (3 (Article 2)): 181. Retrieved 2021-11-26..
- ^ Hebard, Grace (1932), Sacajawea: Guide and Interpreter of Lewis and Clark, Glendale, CA: Clarke, pp. 119–24.
- ^ Wilhelm, Paul (1973), Travels in North America 1822–1824, trans. Nitske, W Robert, Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma Press.
- ^ Wilhelm, Paul (1938), "First Journey to North America in the Years 1822 to 1824", South Dakota Historical Collections (19), trans. Bek, William.
- ^ a b Furtwangler, Albert (Fall 2001), "Sacagawea's Son as a Symbol", Oregon Historical Quarterly, 102 (3).
- ^ Morris, Larry E (2004), The Fate of the Corps, New Haven: Yale University Press.
- ^ "Maria Catarina Charguana, child of Margarita Sobin," First Book of Baptisms. May 28, 1848, entry #1884, Plaza Church, Los Angeles, California
- ^ Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series.
- ^ Wishart, David J (1979), The Fur Trade of the American West, 1807–1840, A Geographical Synthesis, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, pp. 125–27.
- ^ United States National Park Service: "Jean Baptiste Charbonneau," The Lewis and Clark Journey of Discovery
- ^ Victor, Frances, ed. (1870), The River of the West: Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains and Oregon, Hartford: Bliss & Co, p. 474.
- ^ Hafen LeRoy, "The W.M. Boggs Manuscript About Bent's Fort, Kit Carson, the Far West and Life Among the Native Americans," The Colorado Magazine 7 (March 1930): pp. 45-69
- ^ Bieber, Ralph, ed. (1938), Exploring Southwestern Trails, 1846–1854, Glendale: Arthur H Clark, p. 104.
- ^ See this page for Portrait of Jose Antonio Pico, the elder brother of Pio Pico and Andrés Pico, USC, archived from the original on 2018-12-22, retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ Angel, Myron; Fairchild, MD (1882), History of Placer County, Oakland: Thompson and West, p. 229.
- ^ Eighth Decennial Census, 1860
- ^ "Obituary", Placer Herald, July 7, 1866.
- ^ Lindgren, Waldemar (1899), Report on Florida Mountain, Idaho State Historical Society Reference.
- ^ "Death of a California Pioneer". The Placer Herald. Vol. 14, no. 45. Auburn, Placer County, California. 1866-07-07. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ^ "Owyhee Avalanche", Owyhee Avalanche, Ruby City, ID, June 2, 1866.
- ^ Armstong, Catherine (23 November 2018). "The Forgotten Oregon Gravesite That No One Ever Visits". www.onlyinyourstate.com.
- Wind River Mountains.
- ^ Luttig, John. Journal of a Fur-Trading Expedition on Upper Missouri, 1812–13, ed. Stella Drumm, New York: Argosy-Antiquarian Ltd., 1964
- ^ Ottoson, Dennis R (Spring 1976), "Toussaint Charbonneau, A Most Durable Man", South Dakota History (6): 152.
- ^ 1937 Roanoke Half Dollar
- ^ "TERMS OF USE (06/11)". USMint.gov. The United States Mint. Archived from the original on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ The Historical Marker Database: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
Further reading
- Colby, Susan (2005). Sacagawea's Child: The Life and Times of Jean-Baptiste (Pomp) Charbonneau. Spokane: Arthur H. Clarke (University of Oklahoma Press).
- 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.
- Ritter, Michael (2011, revised) Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Man of Two Worlds. Charleston: CreateSpace.