Clark's signature, the day and date remain visible on the towering pillar's rock face. Protected by a see-through covering, the signature can be viewed any time of year.
After Sacagawea's death, Clark signed on as Pomp's legal guardian, and financed the boy's education at a St. Louis boarding school. Pomp then left school to begin his own life of adventure, traveling to Germany to serve Prince Duke Paul Wilhelm. He returned to St. Louis fluent in French, German, Spanish, and English, and went on to become a guide, interpreter, miner, and adventurer alongside famous mountain men such as James Bridger, Kit Carson, and James Beckwourth. He helped guide the Mormon Battalion from present-day Santa Fe, New Mexico, to San Diego, California, and served as an alcalde—an administrative and judicial official—at the San Luis Rey Mission.
Pomp died at 61 after contracting pneumonia on yet another expedition, "still exploring new territories, still prospecting, still on the move, as the last active bachelor-adventurer of the Corps of Discovery," according to author and historian Albert Furtwangler. In a sense, Jean Baptiste's tombstone in Jordan Valley marks the true end of the Lewis and Clark trail.