Sacagawea's Life and Time

In 1788, a woman named Sacagawea was born and little did we know she would have such a great impact in the world. She was a strong woman figure in the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s and because of her actions she gave women a greater respect. Sacagawea could do many things that most people would think impossible or uncanny for a woman to do and because of that she is a great woman figure in lives today.

There isn’t much known information about Sacagawea. All we have to rely on is the books and journals left behind from Lewis and Clark. This is because Sacagawea and her tribe didn’t have a written language so there wasn’t anything to find or know about her in her younger years, such as ten and younger. Sacagawea grew up in the Salmon River region and was surrounded by the Rocky Mountains which is now known as Idaho. Her father was Chief of the Shoshone Since their tribe didn’t have a written language she was never given a proper education; therefore, she mostly learned how to survive and do work for her tribe. At age 11 or 12, Sacagawea was captured by Hidatsa Indians and was sold to a French-Canadian trapper and fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau. Charbonneau made Sacagawea his wife along with another girl his tribe captured. In November of 1804 her husband was invited to join The Corps of Discovery (also known as the Lewis and Clark expedition) as a Shoshone interpreter. Lewis and Clark were also impressed with Sacagawea’s interpreting skills and so they let her come on the expedition as well. They not only let her come along because of her interpreting skills but because a group traveling with a woman was seen as less suspicious than a group travelling with all men. She was also the only woman on the expedition which made her seem like a strong woman figure considering at the time she was pregnant and travelling such long distances. Sacagawea gave birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, in 1805 during the expedition. She would then carry her child on her back throughout the rest of the journey without complaining. Lewis and Clark would call her Bird Woman because ‘Sacaga’ means bird and ‘wea’ means woman in Hidatsa. At the end of the expedition, Charbonneau was paid five-hundred dollars for his services to the Corps of Discovery and Sacagawea was paid nothing. Sacagawea was a very important woman and history; therefore, there are many statues representing her and the U.S. dollar coin shows her face.

This two year journey faced many problems but despite all of the issues Sacagawea turned it around nonetheless. Sacagawea was a guide for The Lewis and Clark Expedition and she knew the waters and land like the back of her hand. She also acted as an interpreter for the men and could speak Hidatsa, Shoshone and some French. A ways into the trek, Sacagawea and the others needed horses to cross the Rocky Mountains. They then needed Charbonneau’s and Sacagawea’s interpreting skills to make a settlement with another tribe. Little did they know that Sacagawea and the Corps of Discovery would run across her brothers tribe. Cameahwait, Sacagawea’s brother, was easy to convince into giving them horses for their expedition. This was one big way in how Sacagawea’s actions helped them in their journey. Along the way, when they were travelling by boat, their boat capsized and everything in the boat fell out. Sacagawea was the only person who went into the water and saved Lewis and Clark’s valuable items such as their journals and important records. She was highly praised for her action because if she hadn’t of saved some of these things, Lewis and Clark’s mission would have been pointless up until that point. Later, the men were running out of food and they soon had nothing to eat. They kept walking and trying to look for food until one of the men spotted a beached whale. As you probably already know, they ate the blubber from the whale. Afterwards all the men were getting very sick and Sacagawea happened to know why. The men were so hungry that they were overeating so much and it caused them to get deathly ill. Sacagawea knew just the thing to nurse them back to health. She grew and cultivated fennel roots in which she nursed them back to health. If she didn’t do this they would surely all be dead. All the men were very grateful that she was on the expedition with them.

Sacagawea left behind a legacy that not many women could have left. She was a very important part in the Lewis and Clark expedition and was a woman who had a lot of knowledge that most other people didn’t at the time. Sacagawea was the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition and she was the most important native individual to travel with them. She helped them in so many ways and made her mark with them throughout her journey. She was very educated with the land she lived on and could lead the Lewis and Clark expedition through great lengths and periods of time. She was a very strong woman who carried her son on her back the entire time the expedition was happening and would never complain about a single thing.

Overall, Sacagawea played a major role in the time period that she lived. She was a strong willed woman and a very knowledgeable woman who knew a lot about her land and her tribe. Sacagawea was a great guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition and an even better interpreter for them. Even though she didn’t have a proper education she still knew a lot about how to survive and the things necessary to survive and live a proper life. Sacagawea will always be remembered for the role she played in the Lewis and Clark Expedition and how she did so many things that a lot of woman wouldn’t be able to do back in the late 1700’s to early 1800’s.

Works Cited

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