Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, nicknamed "Pomp" or "Little Pomp" by William Clark, was born to Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau at Fort Mandan on February 11, 1805, just two months before the expedition departed westward. He is the youngest known member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, having been carried by his mother across the Rocky Mountains, down the Columbia River, and to the Pacific Ocean as an infant. After the expedition, William Clark took a personal interest in his education, and Jean Baptiste later traveled to Europe with Prince Paul of Württemberg, becoming fluent in English, French, German, and Spanish.
Related Locations
Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 5 months (Aug 19, 1805 → Jan 6, 1806). Jean Baptiste Charbonneau may have been present in the corps during that span but is not named in the journals.
Tent of Many Voices (4)
Journal Entries (46)
Cross-Narrator Analyses
AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Jean Baptiste Charbonneau — showing 6 of the most recent matches.
A Deer in the River, a Colt on the Fire: Four Views from Camp Chopunnish
Detained at Long Camp by mountain snow, four expedition journalists record the same May afternoon — a chased deer, a slaughtered colt,…
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau: The Infant Traveler of the Corps of Discovery
Born at Fort Mandan in February 1805, Sacagawea's son 'Pomp' became the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, carried across…
Sleds, Smiths, and Silent Returns: Three Voices at Fort Mandan
On a single February day at Fort Mandan, three expedition journalists record vastly different scales of experience — from a hauling party's…
A Birth at Fort Mandan, A Hunt on the Prairie: Divergent Lenses on February 11, 1805
On the same winter day at Fort Mandan, the expedition's narrators record radically different scenes — Gass and Ordway tracking deer and…
Iron, Corn, and Curious Axes: The Blacksmith Trade at Fort Mandan
On a fair February day at Fort Mandan, Lewis and Ordway document a brisk trade in corn for ironwork, while Gass —…
Toussaint Charbonneau: The Interpreter Who Brought Sacagawea
A French-Canadian fur trader hired at the Mandan villages, Charbonneau served as interpreter across the continent — though his greatest contribution to…
