In the great tallying up of James Beckwourth's many children, it is difficult to ascertain just who they, their mothers, and their descendants were. By Beckwourth's account he married Luisa Sandoval and five Native American women (including Pine Leaf, pictured), the first of whom he killed after she was disloyal to him. Also by his account, there were upwards of five children: Matilda, Little Jim, Baptiste, and perhaps two other boys. History only mentions two Crow wives and that Beckwourth "fathered several children." Legends of America references two Native wives, one "Hispanic" wife and one "African American" wife, plus "several children." And Sierra County History maintains that Beckwourth's last wife was Elizabeth Ledbetter, whose two children by Beckwourth "died young." Later, he chose to live with another Indian woman identified only as Sue, but left everything to Elizabeth in his will.

Surprisingly, little is known about Beckwourth's descendants. Findagrave remains the best resource online, listing two of his children: George W. Beckwith [sic], who was working as a mail carrier for the Uncompahgre Indian Agency in Colorado when he was kicked in the head by a horse and died on Christmas day in 1876, and Matilda Mary Beckwourth Brown, whose mother Luisa Sandoval took her to California after marrying John Brown. Matilda did marry, but her children either never married, never had children, or had children who died young. If Beckwourth indeed has descendants out there, they remain unknown to this day.

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