Clark adopted Sacagawea’s children

Clark adopted Sacagawea’s children, which is one of the most interesting facts about Lewis and Clark expedition. Sacagawea traveled with the Corps of Discovery while nursing her infant son, Jean Baptiste, whom the explorers dubbed "Pomp." When Sacagawea left the expedition in August 1806, William Clark took a liking to the youngster and volunteered to adopt him and "raise him as my child." Despite first rejecting the proposal, Sacagawea later agreed to let Clark pay for her son's schooling in St. Louis. Jean Baptiste was a brilliant and fascinating young man who mastered French, German, and Spanish and went on to hunt with German nobility in the Black Forest, travel in Africa, and return to further explore the American West. He passed away in 1866 while traveling to Montana's recently found gold fields.

At Fort Manuel, a fur-trading outpost situated in what is now South Dakota, Sacagawea gave birth to her second child, a daughter she named Lisette, in 1812, but she passed away soon after. Lisette was adopted by Clark, who brought her up alongside himself. What happened to Lisette is unknown, although Jean-Baptiste afterward visited Europe before going back to the American frontier to work as a trapper and wilderness guide.