Jean Baptiste "Pomp" Charbonneau gained national recognition in American history through a life of unusual travel and adventure. The youngest person accompanying the Lewis and Clark expedition, he was carried westward in a cradleboard by his mother Sacajawea, a Lemhi-Shoshome (Agai-dika). After Sacajawea's death in 1812, he came under the guardianship of Captain William Clark and was schooled in St. Louis, Missouri. He later spent six years in Europe and Africa, where he learned to speak English, Spanish, German, and French fluently in addition to several native languages he already knew, and he accompanied and was hosted by a German royal family, the Wilhelms of Wurttemberg. Returning to the United States, he served as Alcalde of San Luis Rey, California, and later, as a guide, shared with others an appreciation for the natural beauty of the American West.