Jean Baptiste Lepage (1761-c. 1809) was a French-Canadian trader who joined the expedition at Fort Mandan in November 1804, replacing John Newman who had been court-martialed and expelled. Lepage was already familiar with the upper Missouri, having traded among the Arikara and Mandan peoples.
Lepage’s knowledge of the upper Missouri region and its peoples provided useful intelligence for the captains as they planned the next phase of the journey. However, his contributions are only lightly documented in the journals.
The Lepage River in Montana (later renamed) was briefly named for him during the expedition. After returning to St. Louis, Lepage likely returned to the fur trade. He is believed to have died around 1809.
