Jean was born
on February 11, 1805 in Fort Mandan. The
labor was tedious and the pain was violent. He is sometimes called
Pomp.
Sacagawea
rode from the Shoshone camp on horseback with 6 month old Baptiste.
At Chopunnish Baptiste fell dangerously
ill. He had a high fever and his neck and throat was swollen.
He was also cutting teeth at the time. The captains gave him: cream
of tartar and sulfur flour, then applied a poultice of boiled onions to
his neck. His neck continued to swell and his condition remained
serious for over two. Today historians believe he may have had the
mumps or tonsillitis.
Clark
named a place Pompy's Tower after Baptiste. It was where Native Americans
had craved figures on the face of a rock.
In present-day McKenzie county, North
Dakota the mosquitoes were ferociously thick. Baptiste's face
was pink and swollen.
When Baptiste was 19 months old Clark
asked Sacacgawea to take care of him. At the time Sacagawea and Charbonneau
thought Baptiste was too young, but in about a year he would be old enough
to leave Sacagawea.
After the expedition Sacagawea, Baptiste,
and Charbonneau remained in the vicinity of the Mandan and Hidatsa
villages.
Sacagawea
Alana J. White
1997
p. 14, 55, 88, 89, 94, 96, 101
