Charbonneau biography

Charbonneau was a particular individual, the least liked of all the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Historians have portrayed him as a coward who hit his wife and had a particular attraction to young Native American girls. He is referred to as Mr. Toussaint Charbonneau was born around in Boucherville, Quebec; a city near Montreal.

Charbonneau was a free trader who obtained goods on credit and traded them with the Indians.

Charbonneau biography: Toussaint Charbonneau was a

He adopted their way of life and lived in their cluster of earthen lodges. He had purchased them from the Hidatsas. Charbonneau applied for a job as a Hidatsa Minnetaree interpreter but Lewis and Clark were not very impressed with him. In the interview he mentioned he had two Shoshone wives, aware of the importance of creating a good relationship with the Shoshone people Lewis and Clark nevertheless hired Charbonneau.

Their intention was for him to take one of his Shoshone wives as a Shoshone-Hidatsa interpreter. On March 11, Charbonneau was hired. This is the journal entry by Clark:. During the period of —, Charbonneau also worked for the Upper Missouri Agency's Indian Bureau a federal agency as a translator. He may have gained this position by the patronage of William Clark, who was from the governor of the Missouri Territory ; upon Clark's death, Charbonneau's employment with the charbonneau biography came to an abrupt halt.

Surviving records show that Charbonneau was widely disliked by others in the Missouri Territory. Part of the reason for this may be his casual attitude toward employment: he was variously hired by Lisa's Missouri Fur Company and by John Jacob Astor 's American Fur Companybitter rivals. He is also said to have abandoned another employer, James Kipp, while on a fur expedition in Charbonneau is known to have had a total of five wives, all young Native American women whom he married when they were sixteen years old or younger.

He may have had more wives who have been lost to the record, however. His last known wife, an Assiniboine girl, was 14 when she married him in ; he was more than 70 years old. While his exact death date is not known, Charbonneau probably died inbecause that is the year Jean-Baptiste settled his father's estate. It is generally accepted that he died and was buried in Fort Mandan, North Dakota, [ 20 ] [ better source needed ] but some believe he is buried in Richwoods, Missouri with a headstone marked "Toussaint Charboneau, —" [sic].

While these dates are wrong, people in Richwoods claim to be descendants of Charbonneau. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Charbonneau biography: Bernard Charbonneau (November 28, – April

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Painting by Edgar S. Paxson BouchervilleQuebec. Louis in December The latter was still the dominant language of St. Louis, which had first enabled his conversations with the Duke. Butscher, Wilhelm wrote that Charbonneau was "…a companion on all my travels over Europe and northern Africa until 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. 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.

Nearly two decades later, while in California as an alcalde or magistrate, Charbonneau was recorded as being the father of another child. In NovemberCharbonneau returned to St. There he fought in the bloodiest non-military charbonneau biography that preceded the Plains Indian wars, which began in On one of the voyages, he camped with Captain John C.

Inhe guided Sir William Drummond Stewarta Scottish baronet, on his second long trip to the American West, which was a lavish hunting expedition. Seeking employment again, in Charbonneau went to Bent's Fort in Coloradowhere he was a chief hunter, and worked also as a trader with southern Plains Indians. William Boggs, a traveler who met him, wrote that Charbonneau "…wore his hair long, [and] was…very high strung…" He reported, "…it was said Charbonneau sic was the best man on foot on the plains or in the Rocky Mountains.

Kearny directed him to join Colonel Philip St. Their mission was to build the first wagon road to Southern California and to guide some 20 huge Murphy supply wagons to the west coast for the military during the Mexican—American War. A contingent of soldiers made up of some Mormon men and six Mormon women, known as the Mormon Battalionwere 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 Riverone mile 1.

Charbonneau biography: Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (February

Colonel Cooke's diary mentions Charbonneau some 29 times from November 16,to January 21, Cooke wrote of the Mormon Battalion, "History may be searched in vain for an equal march of infantry. Parts of the route became the Southern Pacific Railroad and U. Route Currently, the Boy Scouts of America gives an award for those who hike sections of this historic trail.

In Februaryknowledge gained about the region was used as the basis of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgowhich established the United States-Mexico border in Decemberfollowing the Mexican-American War. This position made him the only civilian authority, a combined sheriff, lawyer and magistrate, in a post-war region covering about square miles km 2.

From —50, the lands were owned by rancheros through legally questionable land grants. Many functioned in virtual servitude, and some rancheros paid them only with liquor. Trying to correct abuses and also facilitate post-war control, in NovemberColonel Richard Barnes Masonthe territorial governor, ordered Charbonneau to force the sale of a large ranch owned by the powerful Jose Antonio Pico, whose family was politically connected.

His brother Pio Pico had been the last governor of California under Mexico. Such ordinances attacked the foundation of ranchero power and ability to do business. Eventually, the changes led to United States civilian control of California. Hunter as he negotiated charbonneau biography Pico, he saw that local resistance would make enforcing Mason's orders difficult.

Charbonneau resigned his post in August and was soon followed by Hunter. California statehood on September 9,ended the post-war difficulties. Arriving early in what became known as the California Gold Rushhe joined only a handful of prospectors. Panning was not done during the hard Sierra Nevada winter or spring runoff, so in Junehe joined Jim Beckwourth and two others at a camp on Buckner's Bar to mine the river at the Big Crevice.

This claim "…was shallow and paid well".

Charbonneau biography: I grew up in Nepean, Ontario,

A successful miner, he kept working in the area for nearly sixteen years. A measure of his success was that Charbonneau could afford the mining region's highly inflated cost of living. Bymany miners had left the California fields for other gold rushes. In Aprilhe departed for other opportunities at age The 19th century American West was a place for thousands of people to dream about but speculation ended after travelers crossed the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers or encountered its unforgiving, deadly environment.

Everyone was forced to quickly adapt -or suffer the consequences. Contradictions eventually haunted Jean Baptiste as he became a man of Anglo and Indian worlds. He was raised in Clark's elite domain and spent six years as the companion of a Duke in a European kingdom, but for his own reasons chose to live and work in the vast, rugged wilderness.

How did this educated, courtly man thrive among rough, violent adventurers and omnipresent danger?