Baptiste Deschamps was the foreman of the French boatmen (engagés) who manned the red pirogue during the first leg of the expedition from Camp Dubois to Fort Mandan. He supervised approximately eight French watermen whose expertise in navigating the Missouri River was essential.
The engagés were not members of the permanent party — they were hired specifically for the difficult upstream journey to the Mandan villages. Deschamps and his men returned to St. Louis with Corporal Warfington’s keelboat party in April 1805, carrying the expedition’s first shipment of specimens and reports to President Jefferson.
Deschamps’ management of the boatmen was sometimes criticized by the captains, who felt the French-Canadian watermen were not sufficiently disciplined by military standards. Nevertheless, their river skills were indispensable.
