Download Interpreters with Lewis and Clark: The Story of Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau AudioBook Free
When interpreter Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian hair trader living among the Hidatsas, and his Shoshone Indian partner, Sacagawea, joined the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, they headed into country essentially unknown to them, as it was to Thomas Jefferson's hand-picked explorers. There exists little doubt concerning the value of Sacagawea's occurrence on the voyage. She has become a near-legendary figure for her role as interpreter, guide, and "token of peace". Toussaint, however, has been maligned in both fiction and nonfiction alike - Lewis himself called him "a man of no peculiar merit". W. Dale Nelson offers a frank and honest portrayal of Toussaint, suggesting his figure has perhaps been judged too harshly. He was indeed valuable as an interpreter no doubt helpful with his knowledge of the Indian tribes the group came across. For example, Toussaint proven his well worth in negotiations with the Shoshones for much-needed horses, and with his experience as a hair trader, he always appeared to strike a better great buy than his companions. During the expedition Sacagawea gave delivery to a son, Jean Baptiste. With her loss of life in 1812, Clark assumed guardianship of her son and Toussaint came back to his life on the top Missouri. Making it through his partner by almost three generations, Toussaint proved helpful under Clark (then Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis) as an interpreter for federal officials, explorers, designers, and browsing dignitaries.
