Sacagawea and the Corps of Discovery

                While reading about the historic voyage of Lewis and Clark and their exploration of the area west of the Mississippi river all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The contributions and importance of Sacagawea to the success of the Corps of Discovery was surprising to me. The personal challenges that Sacagawea faced in her life are not part of her story that I had heard before.

            The Corps of Discovery consisted of only 33 member, Sacagawea was the only female explorer, and took place from 1804-1806. Sacagawea along with her husband a French fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau were hired to act as interpreters for the expedition. Sacagawea was a member of the Shoshone people but had been kidnapped by a Hidatsa war party when she was 12 years old and eventually was sold as a slave to Charbonneau who took her his wife. Lewis and Clark correctly surmised that Sacagawea’s Shoshone heritage would be helpful in buying horses from her native people later in the expedition. Sacagawea was only 17 years old when the she joined Lewis and Clark, even more amazingly she had just given birth to her son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau 55 days prior to beginning her journey. Sacagawea carried her infant son on her back throughout her journey. The presence of Sacagawea and her child was beneficial when meeting new bands of Native Americans for the first time because war parties did not travel with women or children. Furthermore when the explorers met with the Shoshone Chief Cameahwait they learned that he was Sacagawea’s brother.

            Unfortunately Sacagawea died at the age of 25 from an illness that was aggravated by the birth of her second child. The contributions that this amazing young woman made to the success of Lewis and Clark's voyage are immeasurable. Sacagawea is immortalized by a statue in Bismarck ND included below. She was clearly a remarkable woman.

Source:

“PBS Lewis & Clark: The Native American.” PBS, Web. 8 February 2016.