As a translator, she was invaluable, as was her intimate knowledge of some difficult terrain. Lewis and Clark were so grateful that, a few days later, they named a branch of a Missouri River tributary in Sacagaweas honor. Sacagawea, the daughter of a Shoshone chief, was captured by an enemy tribe and sold to a French Canadian trapper who made her his wife around age 12. Her horse management skills were particularly useful, as were her interpretive skills in interpreting complex Indian sign languages used by the expedition members. Reenactment Sacagawea became an invaluable member of the expedition. President Thomas Jeffersons Louisiana Purchase of western territory from France nearly doubled the size of the United States. Since it was technically Charbonneau who had been hired by the Corps, it was he who received payment for the work: 320 acres of land and about $500. It's an area she recognized from her childhood, and Clark had learned to listen to her advice, writing, The indian woman who has been of great Service to me as a pilot through this Country recommends a gap in the mountain more South which I shall cross., Just as important as her knowledge of the terrain, Sacagawea was also a skilled forager who could find and identify plants that were edible or medicinal. Though she was moved to tears, she resumed her duty as interpreter. Here is where they met Toussaint Charbonneau,who lived among the Mandans. The truth is that we don't have as much concrete information about Sacagawea as you might think, and much of what has seeped into the popular consciousness is more fiction than fact. Sacagawea and Jean Baptiste died within a few months of each other in 1812. And while the 1884 theory has its supporters, most sources, including U.S. government websites, agree with the evidence that Sacagawea died in 1812. Clark even praised her as his pilot.. Best Answer. At about 17 years of age, she was the only woman among 31 older men on this portion of the expedition. When word of a washed-up whale carcass reached the Corps in 1806, Sacagawea insisted on accompanying the men to investigate. Traveling with Clark,Sacagawea guided his group south of the Yellowstone River by recommending aroutethrough theRockyMountains (known today as Bozeman Pass). Sacagawea was borncirca 1788in what is now the state of Idaho. Kidnapped by a raiding tribe, whose language she must learn, she is enslaved and groomed for the chief's son. He acquired Sacagawea Bird Woman and another Shoshone girl Otter Woman, and made them his wives. In addition to being the husband of Sacagawea, he is also known as the father of her three children. The above image is a Creative Commons, 2.0/mountainamoeba image. Date accessed. . According to the tourism official, Lady Bird Johnson was the most celebrated woman in American history. She was the only female among a group of 33 members that set out on a journey through a wilderness area that had never been explored before. Sacagawea appears seventeen times in the original Lewis and Clark journals, spelled in eight different ways with an g.. Spouse(s) of Toussaint Charbonneau, Spouse(s) Sacagawea, Otter Woman, and more children. Sacagawea is commemorated by two grave markers: one in Mobridge, South Dakota, and the other in Fort Washakie, Wyoming, on the Wind River Indian Reservation. . . There is some ambiguity around, . The first born in Shoshone, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, was born to Sacagawea on February 11, 1805, and he was later known as Jock, which meant first born in the community. Charbonneau knew Hidatsa and the sign languages common among the river tribes, , where they would likely encounter and need to trade with the Shoshone, is and Clark hired Charbonneau as a member of, The Americans stayed in their relatively safe and warm camp through the winter of 1804-05 and waited. Sacagawea was only 25 or 26 when she died, most likely of an infection related to childbirth. The attention inspired Marshall Crenshaw to record Bens Im Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee) for his Downtown album. Sacagawea has also been memorialized in the names of parks, schools, playgrounds, and cultural and interpretive centers all over the country. 5. She had traveled a long way with us to see the great waters, and that now that monstrous fish was also to be seen, she thought it very hard she could not be permitted to see either (she had never yet been to the ocean). When she was only 12 she was kidnapped along with several other girls in her tribe, by an enemy tribe. The daughter of a Shoshone chief, Sacagawea's name means "boat puller" or "bird woman" (if spelled as Sakakawea). Around 1800 when Sacagawea was between 11 or 13 years old, the Hidatsas raided her camp and kidnapped her and other young Shoshone women making them their prisoners. She was sold to a trapper from France after being captured by an enemy tribe. Sacagawea gets kidnapped When Sacagawea was 12 years old, Hidatsa warriors raided her tribe and captured many young people, including herself. In 1800, the twelve year old Sacagawea was kidnapped from her Shoshone Tribe in the Rocky Mountains by the Hidata Indians. Howard, Harold P.Sacajawea. As a result, she could communicate with the Shohanies (both tribes spoke two completely different languages). . 2021. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sacagawea. Sacagawea returns to Three Forksan area where three rivers come together in what is now Missouriwhere she was captured as a child. In 1800, when she was about 12 years old, Sacagawea was kidnapped by a war party of Hidatsa Indians -- enemies of her people, the Shoshones. In 1800, when Sacagawea was around 12 years old, a group of Hidatsa Indians kidnapped her, along with several other girls in her Shoshone tribe. Her death was a great loss to her husband, Lewis, who always spoke highly of her intelligence and courage. The Hidatsa tribe kidnapped her in 1800 when she was about 18 years old, and she was taken to their homeland in the Knife River Valley near Stanton, North Dakota, where she is still known today. Though it was her husband who was formally employed by the Corps of Discovery in November 1804, Sacagawea was a big part of Toussaint Charbonneaus pitch to the explorers. She would travel with them for two years, from October 1804 to August 1806, from North. She was married to a French trader named Toussaint Charbonneau while living in the Mandan-Hidatsa region. 3. She married a Hidatsa man named Tetanoueta in 1810, and they had a daughter. During the winter months,Lewis and Clark made the decision tobuild their encampment, Fort Mandan,near the Hidatsa-Mandan villages where Charbonneau and Sacagawea were living. One of his wives was pregnant, her name was Sacagawea. (There were stories that it was another wife of Charbonneau who died at Fort Manuel, but historians don't give much credence to this.) With the acquisition of so much land, , it was necessary to determine the actual boundaries of, . T. hough spelled numerous ways in the journals of expedition members, is generally believed to be a Hidatsa name (, means woman). Without these supplies, the expedition would have been in serious trouble. 1800-1803 In 1800 Sacagawea was kidnapped by the Hidatsa tribe during a buffalo hunt.When she got to their camp,she was the only one there who spoke Shoshone,she must have been very lonely, but while she was at the Hidatsa tribe for three years she learned to speak the Hidatsa language. Soon after, they neededto determine where they wouldestablishtheir winter quarters. She was an interpreter for the expedition and traveled with them on their journey for more than a thousand miles. joy. Sacagawea faced the same dangers and difficulties as the rest of the expedition members, Sacagawea showed bravery and clear thinking, and Clarks praise and gratitude. Sacagawea spent the next year with the Lewis and Clark expedition, before returning to her homeland in present-day Montana. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, with his wife, Marie Dorion, founded Fort Laramie in Wyoming in 1805. Born circa 1788 (some sources say 1786 and 1787) in Lemhi County, Idaho. She had given birth to a daughter, Lisette, earlier that year, and its thought that her health declined afterward. She later married a man named Cameahwait, with whom she had several children. and left him with Clark to oversee his education. The Shoshones were constantly attacked by the Hidatsa Indians also known as Minitaree Sioux or Gros Ventre, allies with the Mandans, and by the Blackfeet. Most of the times the Shoshones were defeated, had their possessions raided or destroyed and their members killed or kidnapped. But she stayed on with the Corps and eventually, they made it to the coast in Oregon Territory in 1805, having traveled across the vast Louisiana Purchase. Charbonneau was a French Canadian trapper. She wanted to see the natural wonder with her own eyes. On April 7, 1805, the Lewis and Clark party set out on their expedition to explore the unknown Northwest. Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. In July of 1805, the Corps wastraveling up the MissouriRiverwhenSacagawea recognized thethree forksofthe MissouriRiver. Her knowledge of the native languages made her an invaluable resource for the expedition. In April of 1805 the expedition headed out. Accessed January 7, 2021.https://www.nps.gov/lecl/learn/historyculture/sacagawea.htm, Sacagawea. PBS. When the corps encountered a group of Shoshone Indians, she soon realized that its leader was actually her brother Cameahwait. Toussaint Charbonneau (March 20, 1766 August 12, 1843) was a French-Canadian explorer, trader, and member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Sacagawea soon became a respected member of the group. When he was hired as a guide for Lewis and. When she was approximately 12 years old, Sacagawea was captured by an enemy tribe, the Hidatsa, and taken from her Lemhi Shoshone people to the Hidatsa villages near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. "Sacagawea (c. 1786/1788?20 December 1812? She had given birth to at least three children, the last one just a few months before her death. it is worthy of remark that this was the first child which this woman had boarn, and as is common in such cases her labour was tedious and the pain violent; Mr. Jessome informed me that he had freequently admininstered a small portion of the rattle of the rattle-snake, which he assured me had never failed to produce the desired effect, that of hastening the birth of the child; having the rattle of a snake by me I gave it to him and he administered two rings of it to the woman broken in small pieces with the fingers and added to a small quantity of water. Most of what we know from her comes from the Lewis and Clark journals of the Corps of Discovery expedition. When Sacagawea joined the expedition, she was only about 16 years old and had a 2-month-old son. The Sacagawea were members of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, which now resides in Idaho. Did Sacagawea disappear? She . Postal Service released a Sacagawea stamp in 1994; and the U.S. Mint issued Sacagawea golden dollar coins from 2000 to 2008. Despite this joyous family reunion, Sacagawea remained with the explorers for the trip west. She died at Fort Manuel, now Kenel, South Dakota, after leaving the expedition. In November 1804, she was invited to join the Lewis and Clark expedition as a Shoshone interpreter. Sacagawea died in 1812, at the age of 24. Sacagawea was not afraid. Lewis wrote in his journal that she was administered small pieces of rattle snake added to a small quantity of water to speed up her delivery. About this time, or shortly thereafter, Sacagawea delivered a daughter, Lisette. An anonymous, premature death is at odds with Sacagawea's modern-day status as an American icon. Clark even offered to help him get an education. As a result of her presence, she helped dispel preconceived notions about their plans to conquer Native American tribes. She was promptly sold into slavery. Sacagawea and her husband lived among the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians in the upper Missouri River area (present-day North Dakota). Most researchers have reached the far less romantic conclusion that Sacagawea died there of typhoid fever in 1812, likely buried in an unmarked grave, dead without a name at 25. Sacagaweas life will be celebrated over the course of three years as part of a national event. Sacagawea would have been about 15 years old at the time; some sources say Charbonneau was born in 1758 while others cite his birth year as 1767, putting him either in his mid-thirties or mid-forties when Sacagawea became his wife. "Sacagawea." For the return journey, the Corps divided into two groups,one led by Lewis and the other by Clark. Around 1800 when Sacagawea was between 11 or 13 years old, the Hidatsas raided her camp and kidnapped her and other young Shoshone women making them their prisoners. In 1803, theLouisiana Purchaseof western territoryfrom Franceby President Thomas Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the United States. Sacagawea was born in 1788 near the Salmon River in what is now Idaho. She traveled thousands of miles from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean between 1804 . consider, but wanted to keep the baby until it nished . Charbonneau was steering a boat through choppy waters when a suddengust of windcaused the boat to tip sideways and fill with water. The band was together five years, releasing two albums and touring the U.S. several times. Sacagawea grew up surrounded by the Rocky Mountains in the Salmon River region of what is now Idaho, a member of the Lemhi tribe of the Native American Shoshone tribe. Kidnapped from her Shoshone tribe when she was just eleven or twelve, Sacagawea . Sacagawea and CharbonneaufeltPompwas too young (he wasnot yet two) but indicated they would bring him to St. Louis when he was older. After leaving the expedition, she died at Fort Manuel in what is now Kenel, South Dakota, circa 1812. Though spelled numerous ways in the journals of expedition members,Sacagaweais generally believed to be a Hidatsa name (Sacagameans bird andweameans woman). Sacagawea was born sometime around 1790. The Lemhi Shoshone woman was born Agnes Sakakawea in the late 1790s in the Lemhi Shoshone village of Tse-Wah-Keen on the Salmon River in Idaho. She was taken from her Rocky Mountain. 1. But while Charbonneau was busy crying to his god for mercy, Sacagawea got to work. At this point, she would have been just 16 or 17 years old. Additionally, his marriage to the Shoshone Sacagawea wouldbe useful as they traveled west, where they would likely encounter and need to trade with the Shoshone. s and Clark hire him as a guide and interpreter. Sacagawea. Lewis and Clark prepared for their journey back to St. Louis, but before they left,Clark offered to takeSacagaweas sonPomp back to St. Louis with him. She was kidnapped from her village by the Hidatsa Indians when she was 12. Sacagawea's actual date of birth is not known because specific birth dates were not recorded at that time. On May 15, 1805, Charbonneau, whom Lewis described in his journals as perhaps the most timid waterman in the world, was piloting one of the expeditions boats when a strong wind nearly capsized the vessel. Sacajawea:TheGirl Nobody Knows. [Sacagawea] recognizes the country and assures us that the three forks are at no great distance. As she beganinterpreting, she realized that the chief wasin facther brother. Three years later, she was bought by Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trapper, and made his wife. Her courage and knowledge of native plants, languages, and terrain all contributed to the success of the expedition. ", According to Washington University history professor Peter Kastor, the spelling Sacajawea, with the accompanying soft g sound on the j, became the prominent one simply because that's the one the Philadelphia-based editor picked when Lewis and Clarks journals were published. They built Fort Clatsop near present-day Astoria, Oregon, and they remained there until March of the following year. Picture of Toussaint Charbonneau introducing one of his wives, Sacagawea, to Lewis and Clark. The Hidasta Tribe. She did it all while caring for the son she bore two months before she left, which is unusual. Idaho is now a state in which she was born around 1788. On May 14, Charbonneau nearly capsized the white pirogue (boat) in which Sacagawea was riding. Records from Fort Manuel(Manuel Lisas trading post)indicate that she diedof typhusin December 1812. His birth was aided by Lewis who described her labor as tedious with violent pain. On February 11,1805, Sacagaweagavebirth to ason, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, whom Clark later nicknamed "Pomp," meaning "first born" in Shoshone. Other evidence that cropped up during the 20th century indicated that Sacagawea, living under the name Porivo, died in 1884 in Wind River, Wyoming, near age 100. In 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, while traveling with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone Indian, accompanied the Corps of Discovery expedition led by Captain William Clark and Merriwether Lewis. Her naturalists knowledge of the Shoshone trails made her appear to be his pilot, and she may have also helped to explain why Clark claimed her to be his sidekick. She belonged to the Lemhi Shoshone tribe. As far as historians know, the first written reference to Sacagawea datesto November 4, 1804,. When Sacagawea was born in 1788, she was given the name Bazilikhe, meaning bird woman in the Hidatsa language. Four years later, Sacagawea had a chance to make history. Jean Baptiste and Sacagawea had a daughter, Marie Dorion, in 1811. She suggested that I follow the Rocky Mountains (now known as Bozeman Pass) to get there. 5 of the Best Finnish Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Bands. In other words, you probably have it all wrong. Photo Credit: Drawing of Sacagawea by Henry Altman, 1906, Oregon Historical Society, By Teresa Potter and Mariana Brandman, NWHM Predoctoral Fellow in Women's History | 2020-2022. 2000; AccessedJanuary7,2021. https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-2000891. 2. contributions, only Sacagaweas husband ever received payment for work on the expedition. The Gros Ventres of Missouri also known as Hidatsa Indians, long time enemies of the Shoshones, captured Sacagawea and other women and took them as prisoners. Every March, people in the United States celebrate the achievements and history of women as part of Womens History Month. She is buried in a dispute over where she is buried and when she died. Wiki User. She was alsoskilledat finding edible plants, which proved to be crucial to supplementing their rationsalong the journey. To explore this new part of the country, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on a two-year journey to report on what they found. The group built Fort Mandan, and elected to stay there for the winter. The bilingual Shoshone woman Sacagawea (c. 1788 - 1812) accompanied the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition in 1805-06 from the northern plains through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and back. . In 1805, during a water crisis, she retrieved instruments, books, medicines, and clothing from the depths of the sea. As they passed through her homeland, Sacagawea remembered Shoshone trails from her childhood and helped the expedition find their way through. There are seven variations of its spelling in the journals: Sah-kah-gar-we-a, Sah-ca-gar-me-ah, Sah-cah-gah-ew-a, Sah-cah-gah-we-a, Sah-cah-gar-we-ah, Sah-car-gar-we-ah and Sah-car-gar-me-ah. That winter, as the members of the expedition camped at Fort Mandan, the 15-year-old Sacagawea gave birth, with Capt. She proved to be an invaluable asset to the expedition, acting as a translator and a guide. Historian: The majority of serious scholars believe she died of complications from childbirth in her mid-twenties. It was only because she was the only woman on the trip that the party reached the Pacific Ocean. Tragically, in 1800, she was kidnapped during a buffalo hunt by the Hidatsa tribe. Following hercapture, French-Canadian traderToussaint Charbonneau,who was living among the Hidatsa, claimed Sacagawea as one of his wives. Despite the fact that we only have a year and a half of her life documented, and because there is so little written or known about American Indian women of her day, she has become a symbol to many Americans. The Lewis and Clark Expedition, which visited the Pacific Northwest from St. Louis in 1804-06, is regarded as Sacagaweas greatest achievement. Clark wrote in his journal on July 13,1806: The Indian woman . They were near an area where her people camped. What happened to Sacagawea after Lewis and Clark? Others believe that she re-joined the shoshone after the expedition, and died in 1884. Sacagawea delivered her son Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (known as Baptiste) on February 11, 1805. The Making of Sacagawea:AEuro-American Legend. Her two children were adopted by Lewis in 1813. the spring so that Sacagawea could accompany them west. In 1800, Sacagawea was kidnapped and taken to North Dakota, where he remained for three years. Sacagawea traveled 5,000 miles (10,000 km) with her infant son. In 1810, Sacagawea gave birth to a daughter. It was presumed that Toussaint Charbonneau had died. Sacagawea was eager to be brought with the Lewis and Clark Expedition because she had long been at odds with the Lemhi Indians, who had long been at odds with the Hidatsa. [Sacagawea], we find, reconciles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentionsa woman with a party of men is a token of peace. The name Sacagawea can be pronounced in a variety of ways, but it is not always the best way to do so. 1. Painting by Split Rock. Thats the account recorded by a clerk at Fort Manuel [PDF], where Sacagawea was living at the time, and the one accepted by Clark and most history texts. Over a decade later, Clark compiled a list of the expedition members and labeled them Se-car-ja-we-au Dead. Toshiko Akiyoshi changed the face of jazz music over her sixty-year career. She gave birth to her first child, a baby boy, on February 1, 1805. 2013-04-12 21:46:43. Sacagawea was forced to marry Toussaint Charbonneau in 1801 without her consent. Scholars think she may have been born around 1788 in Lemhi County, Idaho among the Agaidikas or Salmon-Eater Shoshones of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe. 600 aoo In 1800, an enemy tribe kidnapped Sacagawea. Some scholars argue that romanticized versions of Sacagawas legend are a disservice to the real Sacagawa. National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison Jr. On December 21st, 1804 Lewis and Clark and his group of Corps of Discovery explorersdecided to settle in Fort Mandan for the winter. In November 1804, she. This answer is: Sacagawea with Lewis and Clark at Three Forks. Much of Sacagawea's life is a mystery. It was believed that she was a Lemhi Shoshone who settled in Lemhi County. The group consisted of thirty-one explorers, Charbonneau, sixteen-year-old Sacagawea, and two-month-old Pomp. has been of great service to me as a pilot through this country.. Sacagawea was born circa 1788 in what is now the state of Idaho. In that case, the third syllable, However, many Shoshone Indians maintain that it is a Shoshone name meaning boat launcher, in what is now the state of Idaho. Sacagawea was only 17 years old when he joined Lewis and Clarks Corps of Discovery. Sacagawea was the only woman in the expedition made up of 32 male members. As the daughter of the chief o the Lemhi Shoshone, her birth would not have been. In 1800, when she was about 12 years old, Sacagawea and several other children were taken captive by a group of . Historical documents tell us that Sacagawea died of an unknown illness in the year 1812. When she was, years old, Sacagawea was captured by an enemy tribe, the Hidatsa, and taken from her Lemhi Shoshone people to the Hidatsa villages near present-day, by President Thomas Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the United States.