Gravesite of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

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.