Sacajawea - 1st part
No
one knows exactly when or where she was born. It is thought
that she was born around 1787 in what is now western Montana or
eastern Idaho. As a young teenager, she was captured by
a slave-hunting party of Indians from the area and sold as a slave
to a French Canadian fur trapper-trader whom she married.
The woman was called Sacajawea, which means “Bird Woman”.
Sacajawea was a Shoshone. She and her husband joined the
members of the Lewis and Clark expedition that had been sent by
President Thomas Jefferson to explore new lands west of the Mississippi
River. Sacajawea and her husband helped to lead the Lewis
and Clark expedition through the West.
Sacajawea
gave birth to a son in February 1805, while the expedition camped
for the winter. The baby was named Jean Baptiste.
Sacajewea and her husband and baby went on with Lewis and Clark
to the coast, wintered on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and
then began the return journey. Sacajawea and her family
stayed in the North Dakota area. It is thought that in
1809 they met William Clark in St. Louis and turned Jean Baptiste
over to him to be educated. There is a mystery connected
with the death of Sacajawea. Some sources say she died
at Fort Lisa, near present-day Omaha, Nebraska, on December 20,
1812. In 1875 an old woman living among the Wind River
Shoshone in Wyoming claimed she was Sacajawea. This woman
died in 1884. If she was Sacajawea, she was then nearly
100 years old.
Information
taken from:
The
United States Yesterday and Today
Authors:
Timothy Helmus, Edgr Toppin, Norman Pounds, Val Arnsdorf
Silver
Burdett & Ginn Inc, 1990
Sacagawea
- 2nd part
Sacagawea
(sa•kuh•juh•WEE•uh) was a Native American woman from the Shoshone
(shoh•SHOH•nee) tribe. She is best known for helping Meriwether
Lewis and William
Clark complete their journey to the Pacific Coast in 1805-1806.
Many
details of Sacagawea's life are still a mystery . Historians
are not exactly sure what is fact and what is legend. Much of
what we do know about her life comes from journals written by
members of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
At
birth Sacagawea was named Boinaiv, which means "Grass Maiden."
When she was about 11 or 12 years old, warriors from the Hidatsa
tribe captured young Boinaiv. The Hidatsas called her Sacagawea,
or "Bird Woman." Some time between 1800 and 1804, Sacagawea
was sold as a slave to a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint
Charbonneau (TOO•san SHAR•buh•noh). Charbonneau claimed Sacagawea
as his wife, and they lived among the Mandan people of North Dakota.
In
October 1804 Lewis and Clark arrived at the Mandan villages where
Charbonneau and Sacagawea lived. Lewis and Clark were exploring
western North America and looking for a
water route to the Pacific Ocean. Since Charbonneau and Sacagawea
both spoke Hidatsa, the explorers hired them as translators. Sacagawea
had just had a baby two months before the group left the Mandan
villages in April 1805. Even so, she kept up with the men, carrying
her baby hundreds of miles through the wilderness.
Lewis
and Clark felt that Sacagawea was the most helpful member of the
expedition. Since no Native American tribe sent women or children
into battle, anyone who saw Sacagawea's group knew they were peaceful.
Sacagawea and her baby helped the group avoid a lot of unnecessary
fights. Sacagawea showed the group which wild plants, roots, and
berries were safe to eat. When heavy winds knocked over a supply
boat, Sacagawea rescued most of the medicine, papers, books, and
other important supplies from the water.
Because
of Sacagawea, Lewis and Clark were able to get horses from the
Shoshones. Without these horses they might not have been able
to complete the expedition. Lewis and Clark's dangerous mission
was a success, thanks in large part to Sacagawea.
Information
taken from:
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/biographies/sacagawea/
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