By DAVE MAUK Charbonneau Country Club

The history of Charbonneau , Wilsonville and neighboring communities is colorful . Charbonneau resident and Wilsonville Historical Society member , Rosemary Ricken , has written extensively on the subject . She has graciously allowed the Charbonneau Communications Committee to use her essays as the basis of publishing a series in The Villager about our local history . This article shares how Charbonneau is linked with Sacajawea and her son Jean-Baptiste . A life-size statue of them will soon be at home here . Stay tuned for future articles that will reveal how Daniel Boone , five US presidents , the infamous Donner Party , governors , legislators , Frank Lloyd Wright , banks , developers and two doctors all fit into our local history . Here ’ s the first episode of the series .

Sacajawea , a member of the Lemma Shoshone tribe at now Salmon , Idaho , was 12 years old when she and several other children were captured by Hidatsa Sioux and held captive

in present day Washburn , ND . She was 15 years old when Toussaint Charbonneau , a fur trader from Quebec , Canada purchased her in a non-consensual marriage , perhaps through gambling . Toussaint was known as an unreliable drunk , but nevertheless was hired as a translator and guide for the Lewis & Clark expedition at Fort Mandan on the shore of the Missouri River .

It ’ s thought that having a wife who spoke native languages was instrumental in Toussaint being hired . They joined the expedition and moved into the fort in early November , 1804 . Sacajawea , who William Clark called Janey , was pregnant at the time . She gave birth to Jean- Baptiste Charbonneau on Feb . 11 , 1805 . The delivery was assisted by crushed rattlesnake rattles soaked in water . Clark promptly provided him assorted nicknames of Pomp , Pompy and Pompey . And thus was born the namesake of our community , Charbonneau .

While paddling the Missouri River , Sacajawea rescued Lewis and Clark ’ s journals that had fallen into the current when a dugout canoe capsized . The expedition corps named that stretch Sacajawea River to honor her feat

in rescuing the documents that were written for President Thomas Jefferson .

As the group entered Shoshone territory , they discovered that the tribe ’ s chief was none other than Sacajawea ’ s brother . This made for a joyous reunion , peaceful encounter and successful horse trading . Food was scarce during the winter months when Sacajawea proved her resourcefulness once again , in foraging and cooking camas roots and other native plants . When the expedition finally reached the mouth of the Columbia River , Sacajawea traded her blue-beaded belt for a sea otter fur coat that was to be a gift to President Jefferson . At this time , Sacajawea was a full voting member of the expedition , and its only woman .

On the return trip East , Sacajawea was principal guide , due to possessing a keen sense of navigation and her knowledge of the territory . The route she led over the Continental Divide became the same route later used by the Northern Pacific Railway . Not only was her work as a guide and interpreter valued , so too was her presence as a woman and mother . Clark wrote in his journal , “ she reconciles all

This is the Sacajawea dollar .

COURTESY PHOTO

the Indians as to our friendly intentions , as a woman with a party of men is a token of peace , as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians .”

At journey ’ s end back at Fort Mandan in August , 1806 , Clark wrote this to Toussaint : “ Your woman who accompanied you that long , dangerous and fatiguing route to the Pacific Ocean and back deserved a greater reward for her attention and services on that route than we had in our power to give her ... Wishing you and your family great success & with anxious expectations of seeing my little dancing boy Baptiste I shall remain your Friend , William Clark .’