Sites:Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
Sacagawea was either 16 or 17 years old when she joined the Corps of Discovery. She met Lewis and Clark while she was living among the Mandan and Hidatsa in North Dakota, though she was a Lemhi Shoshone from Idaho. She had been taken during a raid by the Hidatsa when she was either 11 or 12, and had lived at the Awatixa (Sakakawea) Village.
The image of Sacagawea as a mother is such an enduring part of her story that she is pictured with her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, on the face of the U.S. Golden Dollar coin first minted in 2000. In February 1805, after a labor that Meriwether Lewis described as “tedious and the pain violent,” Sacagawea gave birth to her first child, who was affectionately nicknamed Pompey by Captain William Clark.
Sites:Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
As we count down to the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which was signed into law on Aug. 26, 1920, we’re taking a closer look at modern images of the Shoshone woman who accompanied the Corps.
Woman throughout history have had a powerful impact on our country’s growth, direction, and success. March is Women’s History Month and we’ll look at several woman who made significant impact on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Apart from the two Captains, a young Shoshone woman is perhaps the best known member of the entire Expedition. Fact and fiction have made Sacagawea a legendary figure whose name often appears in lists of the country’s most admired women.
Imagine yourself a teenager – just 16 or 17 years old. Could you lead visitors through your old neighborhood, a place you had last seen as a child of 11 or 12? Could you also care for your spouse and newborn baby? Sacagawea, the only woman to travel with the Corps of Discovery, did this and more.
In 1804, Sacagawea was living among the Mandan and Hidatsa, near present day Bismarck, North Dakota. Approximately four years earlier, a Hidatsa raiding party had taken Sacagawea from her home in Idaho and from her people, the Lemhi Shoshone. Living among the Mandan and Hidatsa, Sacagawea married French trader Toussaint Charbonneau. In February of 1805, she gave birth to a baby boy, her first child. Captain Lewis recorded the event in his journal: “about five o’clock this evening one of the wives of Charbono was delivered of a fine boy.”
Two months after the birth of her son, Sacagawea left the Mandan and Hidatsa villages to journey west with the Corps of Discovery. While Sacagawea is often remembered as the guide who led the Corps across the plains, Expedition journals offer little evidence of this. Historians generally believe that Sacagawea joined the Expedition because her husband had been hired as a translator. Still, Sacagawea contributed significantly to the success of the journey.
Simply because she was a woman, Sacagawea helped the Corps. Among the tribes the explorers met, her presence dispelled the notion that the group was a war party. William Clark explained that “the Wife of Shabono [Charbonneau]…reconciles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions. A woman with a party of men is a token of peace.”
Once the Corps reached Idaho, Sacagawea’s knowledge of the landscape and the Shoshone language proved valuable. The Corps was eager to find the Shoshone and trade with them for horses. The success of the journey hinged on finding the tribe: without horses the explorers would be unable to get their supplies over the mountains. Recognizing landmarks in her old neighborhood, Sacagawea reassured the explorers that the Shoshone - and their horses - would soon be found. When the Expedition did meet the Shoshone, Sacagawea helped the Corps communicate, translating along with her husband.
As the Corps traveled eastward in 1806, returning to St. Louis, they stopped again at the Mandan and Hidatsa villages. There Sacagawea and her family ended their journey. Historians have debated the events of Sacagawea’s life after the journey’s end. Although opinions differ, it is generally believed that she died at Fort Manuel Lisa near present-day Kenel, South Dakota. At the time of her death she was not yet 30.
Locations:Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Missouri National Recreational River
Duration:60 Minutes
Grade Levels:Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject(s):Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
Using the Webquest Slides, students will explore and learn about the important members and contributors to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Each slide will have links) to National Park web pages with information about each member or group. For each member, students find four facts and write a sentence about their role (contribution) to the expedition. This activity can be done in a handful of ways, with the suggested method being a Jigsaw.
Locations:Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, North Country National Scenic Trail
The Northern Plains National Heritage Area amplifies the nationally important heritage that flows from the Missouri River in central North Dakota. This includes the interconnected stories of explorers and settlers, tribal citizens, origins of various agrarian lifeways, and the expansion of the United States reflected within this lived-in landscape.
Locations:Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
In traditional Hidatsa society, women constructed, owned, and maintained the earthlodge, or awadi. The elaborately designed structure was home to between ten and twenty people, often sisters and their families spanning several generations. Today, shallow depressions mark the locations of the earthlodge villages at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in North Dakota.
Locations:Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
Sacagawea was either 16 or 17 years old when she joined the Corps of Discovery. She met Lewis and Clark while she was living among the Mandan and Hidatsa in North Dakota, though she was a Lemhi Shoshone from Idaho. She had been taken during a raid by the Hidatsa when she was either 11 or 12, and had lived at the Awatixa (Sakakawea) Village.
Salmon, Idaho calls itself the “Birthplace of Sacajawea.” Nestled in the beautiful Lemhi Valley with its many streams and rivers, in the shadow of the Beaverhead Mountains and the Continental Divide, this is the homeland of the Agai’dika Shoshone-Bannock people. The Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural, and Educational Center which is dedicated to honoring and providing education about America’s great historical heroine, Sacajawea, and her role in the Corps of Discovery.
One of the most complicated parts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was the language barrier. Speaking with the Native peoples Lewis and Clark met required many translators. From their English to Shoshone or Salish, the chain of communication stretched across 5 languages and 6 people.
This outdoor wall mural portrays Sacajawea viewing Mt. Hood in the distance and celebrates the Lewis & Clark Journey through the Columbia River Gorge area. Painted by local artist, Taniya Roberts, as her high school senior project, this is a vibrant contribution to our community and is easily viewed by westbound travelers on WA SR-14.
