an American explorer, guide, fur trapper trader, military scout during the Mexican-American War, alcalde (mayor) of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia and a gold prospector and hotel operator in Northern California. He spoke French and English, and learned German and Spanish during his six years in Europe from 1823 to 1829. He also spoke Shoshone and other western American Indian languages, which he picked up during his years of trapping and guiding. Jean Baptiste was the son of Sacagawea, a Shoshone, and her Métis French Canadian husband Toussaint Charbonneau, who worked as a trapper and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition; he was born at Fort Mandan in North Dakota.
