The Last Journey of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau
Sacramento to Danner

Alexander Willard relocated to California after a lengthy career as a private in the Corps of Discovery, the official name of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Alexander joined the Corps in 1803 and become one of nearly 50 to join Captains Lewis and Clark in their mission to map the West in 1804. Alexander Willard was born in Charleston, New Hampshire on August 24, 1778. He was known as a strong man and talented blacksmith. When the expedition ended, Willard was chosen as the government blacksmith for the Sauk and Fox Indian tribes. Later, Willard married and moved to Platteville, Wisconsin. His family grew to include 7 sons and 5 daughters. Two of his sons were named for his friends, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark. In 1832, Willard, at the age of 54, fought alongside 4 of his sons in the Blackhawk War. In 1849, Willard´s eldest son headed west to explore the gold fields of California. He wrote home about the lush valley of Sacramento. In 1851, at age 71, lured by the memories of his experiences out West, Alexander Willard moved his family to California. They settled in the area south of Sacramento, on lower Stockton Road, then known as Georgetown. The town later came to be known as Franklin. Alexander Willard lived out the remainder of his life in Franklin, dying on March 6, 1865. His grave remains at the Franklin cemetery at Franklin Boulevard and HoodFranklin Road A plaque placed there by the Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America recognizes him as the “Giant of Georgetown.”

The Placer County Historic Courthouse, also known as the Auburn Courthouse, was built in 1898 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This grand, three-story Classic Revival structure is topped by a bracketed cornice and simple Renaissance Revival-inspired dome.

Settlers traveling west in the mid-nineteenth century–especially the Stevens-Townsend-Murphy party of 1844, the Donner Party in 1846, and the gold seekers of 1849–crossed Nevada in their wagons, leaving depressions in the soil. Those near Fernley, in the last seven miles of the Forty-Mile Desert (an area between the Humboldt and Carson Rivers that had no water and became legendary on the trail), became known as the Fernley Swales and are still there.

Fernly is suggested as a convenient place for lodging, food, and fuel before venturing further north.

Just above the site where thousands of wagon trains forded the Humboldt River on the long trek to California, sits the Humboldt Museum. The modern brick building mirrors its historic predecessor, a church turned museum. Also on site is the Greinstein Building– an 1880’s store, and the Richardson-Saunders House– an 1899 Eastlake style home. Together, the buildings house the story of the community.

Remains from the Ice Age of 13,000 years ago, wonderful beaded and quilled regalia from an American Indian collection, vintage automobiles, keepsakes from Winnemucca’s “art Nouveau” period, and an early soda manufacturing scene are just some of the displays awaiting your visit.

You will be in a very remote part of the west, so taking the opportunity for fuel and food when possible is a good suggestion. The Diamond Inn Bar offers classic bar food, ice-cold refreshments, shuffleboard, cards, a pool table, and bar dice for a tried-and-true Sagebrush Saloon experience from the heart of Virgin Valley.

Order up a Basque chorizo pizza, or giant breakfast burritos made with Basque chorizo, potatoes and cheese. Or, opt for diner classics like hot wings, a bowl of chili, corn dog, chicken strips, and much more. Besides being the heartbeat of Denio’s social scene, the Diamond Inn Bar is also a great place to stock up on groceries, ice, and other essentials you might need as you explore this remote corner of Nevada. While you’re here, be sure to check out a display of locally made goods, including jams and jellies, jewelry, and more.

On the way to visiting Pompey’s grave is to experience driving on what feels like the surface of the moon, a seemingly endless dry lake bed. This experience is other wordly and can be disorienting.

Denio is an access point to the Alvord Desert—a breathtaking expanse of playa, formed when rainwater fills shallow depressions, leaving behind shimmering salt deposits as it evaporates. Stretching approximately 12 miles long and 7 miles wide, the Alvord Desert receives just 7 inches of rainfall annually. Towering to the west, Steens Mountain provides a stunning contrast to the vast, dry lake bed. Adventurers can explore the desert by car, bike, or on foot across public lands. However, driving is recommended only during the dry season (July–November) to avoid getting stuck in the mud.

Finally arrive at your destination, the memorial to Jean Baptiste. Lodging is scare in these parts, so plan accordingly.

We last hear of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau in 1866—now a western traveler bound for the Montana Frontier. Many believe his was seeking gold, but maybe California was getting too crowded, or maybe he simply wanted to see the mountains and prairies of his younger mountain man years. After crossing a swollen and cold Owyhee River—we don’t know if he was in the stagecoach, on horseback, or on foot—he took a chill and later died several miles away at Inskeep Station. He likely died from pneumonia.

The interpretive sign at Jean Baptiste’s grave site helps clarify some of the facts found in the above obituary:

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau 1805–1866

This site marks the final resting place of the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Born to Sacajawea 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 age 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 enroute, reached “Inskip’s Ranche”, here, and died on May 16, 1866.

The side trip to the Owyhee Canyon is worth the time and effort. It has some of the most amazing scenery in the nation and is well hidden from the mainstream traveler.

The Owyhee River is a 346-mile-long tributary of the Snake River that begins in northern Nevada and flows through southwestern Idaho, before finishing its route in Oregon. The downstream section of the river below the confluence with the South Fork of the Owyhee River is known as the “Grand Canyon of the Owyhee,” referring to the steep, rhyolite walls ranging in height from 250 feet to over 1,000 feet near the Oregon border. Floating the Owyhee is popular in the spring during higher water flows, and low water float trips are possible in smaller craft.

The Owyhee River and its tributaries are located in the “Owyhee Volcanic Field,” an area of volcanic activity from the Miocene Era (25 to 3 million years ago). Where overlying basalt is present, rhyolite (rock created by lava flow) formations are nestled in the rubble slopes below vertical walls of basalt. Weathering and erosion have carved towering cliffs and numerous sculptured pinnacles known as “hoodoos.” This is the most dramatic area of hoodoo formations in the entire Owyhee River system, and the Owyhee, together with the Bruneau and Jarbidge river systems, provide the largest concentration of sheer-walled rhyolite/basalt canyons in the western United States.

The Owyhee River canyons are dominated by a mixture of high, vertical lines and forms of coarse-textured, red, brown, or blackish eroded cliffs, often glazed with yellow to light green micro-flora. Intertwined with the vertical features are some very steep diagonal lines that frame triangular forms associated with talus slopes. The slopes have a mosaic of medium-textured, yellow and subdued green sagebrush- bunchgrass communities, and/or dark green juniper, as well as either medium-textured, reddish rhyolite rubble fields, or coarse-textured, blackish basalt rubble fields.

Spring rains result in medium-textured, rich green riparian vegetation that follows the meandering lines of fast-moving streams that run brownish in high flows. Large boulders and whitewater rapids are interspersed to varying degrees between the calm reaches. During summer months, sparkling pools and slow-moving water tinted with green and brown channel colors reflect blue sky and a blend of forms, colors and lines from surrounding cliffs and steep slopes. Receding waters also expose whitish, medium-textured stream-bottom gravel and boulders.

The basalt and rhyolite canyon/riparian associations found along the designated Owyhee, Bruneau, and Jarbidge segments are among the best representations of this landscape in the region. They provide exceptional combinations of line, form, color, and texture found amidst this close association of landforms, water, and vegetation.