MAY 16, 1866

SHOSHONE JEAN BAPTISTE “POMP” CHARBONNEAU (SON OF SAKAGAWEA) DIED

Born February 11, 1805, near modern Washburn, North Dakota, his parents, Sacagawea & Toussaint Charbonneau, were interpreters with the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Jean Baptiste made the trek carried in boats & on his mother’s back. After the expedition, Clark raised the boy & paid for his education. In 1823, Charbonneau went with German aristocrat-adventurer, Paul of Württemberg, to live in his castle near Stuttgart. Returning in 1829, he became a trapper for the American Fur Company working in Idaho & Utah, then as chief hunter at Bent’s Fort in Colorado, and, in late 1846, as scout for General Stephen W. Kearny in the Mexican–American War. In 1847, Charbonneau was appointed alcalde (mayor) at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, but left in 1848 for the American River and the California Gold Rush. He worked there successfully for 16 years, then left in April 1866. Near current Rome, Oregon (OR), he fell into the Owyhee River. Charbonneau was taken to Inskip Station in Danner, OR, where he died. 

Sources:
  Frances Hunter, “Sacagawea’s Boy: The Story of Pomp,” Frances Hunter's American Heroes Blog, 12/1/2009.  Retrieved 7/28/2022, Sacagawea’s Boy: The Story of Pomp | Frances Hunter's American Heroes Blog (wordpress.com)
“Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, ‘Pomp,’” Sacagawea.  Retrieved 7/28/2022, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, “Pomp” | Sacagawea (sacagawea-biography.org)
Wikipedia
Photo:  Philkon (Phil Konstantin), 5/25/2003. Permissive Use.