On April 7, 1805, the Lewis and Clark party set out on their expedition to explore the unknown Northwest. member of the Corps of Discovery was hired for a special skill such as hunting, woodworking, blacksmithing, and sailing. In about 1800, she was kidnapped by members of the Hidatsa tribe and taken to their homeland in the Knife River Valley, near present-day Stanton, North Dakota. He applied for the job of Hidatsa/Mandan interpreter. 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. Sacagawea was either 16 or 17 years old when she joined the Corps of Discovery. Sacagawea was kidnapped and taken to the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement in the south-central part of present-day North Dakota. Jean Babtiste was offered an education by Clark, the explorer who had won the hearts of Charbonneau and Sacagwea. She was skilled at finding edible plants. Sacagawea, with 55 day old, Jean Babtiste in her arms, accompanied the expedition in a journey that would cover 5,000 . Sacagawea, her husband, and her son remained with the expedition on the return trip east until they reached the Mandan villages. It was believed that she was a Lemhi Shoshone who settled in Lemhi County. After the expedition, Sacagawea and Charbonneau spent three years living among the Hidatsa in North Dakota and then accepted Clark's invitation to move where he lived in St. Louis, Missouri. This name is most commonly pronounced with the letter g (/s*k**wi*/), and is usually accompanied by a soft g or j sound. William Clark's journal also . In November 1804, she was invited to join the Lewis and Clark expedition as a Shoshone interpreter. He was a French-Canadian trapper and trader. It is believed that Sacagaweas second child, Lizette, died during childhood as there is no mention of her after her mothers death. 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. There, she was later sold as a slave to Toussaint Charbonneau . 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. Theres a great deal about Sacagawea that we just arent sure about, including how to spell and pronounce her name. Tragically, in 1800, she was kidnapped during a buffalo hunt by the Hidatsa tribe. Her death was a great loss to her husband, Lewis, who always spoke highly of her intelligence and courage. The attention inspired Marshall Crenshaw to record Bens Im Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee) for his Downtown album. With her her baby on her back and her husband by her side, Sacagawea and the men left Fort Mandan on April 7. Since 2009 the design of the reverse of the coin has been changed every year. . Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. When some of these items floated into the water, Clark says they were nearly all caught by [Sacagawea]. Thats pretty impressive, since she was also busy keeping herself and her infant son from drowning. That winter, the Corps of Discovery stayed in Fort Mandan, which they built just north of Bismark, North Dakota. Charbonneau proposed that Lewis and Clark hire him as a guide and interpreter. That is unless youre talking to a historian from North Dakota, where official state policy dictates her name be spelled Sakakawea., Additional Source: Lewis and Clark: An Illustrated History by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns, 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. After Sacagawea's death, Clark looked after her two children, and ultimately took custody of them both. When he was hired as a guide for Lewis and Clarks expedition in 1804, Sacagawea also joined as an interpreter to talk to Native-American people on their 8,000-mile journey. Sacagawea, a young Native American, joined them. Between 2000 and 2008, the U.S. Mint produced a dollar coin in her honor. Toussaint Charbonneau, a trapper from Canada and AstorSIGNORE, a fur trader, led a party of eight men up the Salmon River, trading goods and services. She had given birth to a daughter, Lisette, earlier that year, and its thought that her health declined afterward. Here are nine facts about Sacagawea. Her courage and knowledge of native plants, languages, and terrain all contributed to the success of the expedition. Accessed January 7, 2021.http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/inside/tchar.html. "Sacagawea." When the corps encountered a group of Shoshone Indians, she soon realized that its leader was actually her brother Cameahwait. 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. She was taken from her Rocky Mountain. She aided in the Lewis and Clark Expeditions exploration of the western United States as a guide. Most of what we know from her comes from the Lewis and Clark journals of the Corps of Discovery expedition. 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. Sacagawea was about 11- 13 years old when she was kidnapped by the Hidatsas and taken to present day Washburn, North Dakota. She married a Hidatsa man named Tetanoueta in 1810, and they had a daughter. During the expedition Clark became very fond of Jean Babtiste and offered Charbonneau and Sacagawea to give him an education and raise him as his own child. In other words, you probably have it all wrong. She was held captive at a Hidatsa village near present-day Washburn, North Dakota. When she was only 12 she was kidnapped along with several other girls in her tribe, by an enemy tribe. Toussaint Charbonneau (March 20, 1766 August 12, 1843) was a French-Canadian explorer, trader, and member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. One notable example came during the return trip, when Sacagawea suggested the group travel through Montana's Bozeman Pass, rather than the Flathead Pass, due to Bozeman being a lower, safer trip. She was part of the Native American tribe known as Shoshone and grew up in the Rocky Mountains. 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. Sacagawea may have been born "Boinaiv" about 1784. Her death was a great loss to her husband, Lewis, who always spoke highly of her intelligence and courage. Pompy was about 18 months old at the time. On August 15,1805,the expeditionencounteredthe Shoshone tribe. Furthermore, because Sacagawea is an Indigenous American, it is critical to pronounce her name correctly, paying homage to her culture and heritage. As one of few women and Asian musicians in the jazz world, Akiyoshi infused Japanese culture, sounds, and instruments into her music. Another theory is that her name means boat puller, which would make sense given her role in helping Lewis and Clark navigate the rivers during their expedition. Without these supplies, the expedition would have been in serious trouble. The Agaideka (Lemhi) Shoshone lived in the upper Salmon River Basin of Idaho, where Agnes Sakakawea was born. Cameahwait was the leader of a group of Shoshone Indians, according to Sacagawea. Then, in 1804, when she was only sixteen years old, Sacajawea met Lewis and Clark. Sacagawea with Lewis and Clark at Three Forks. Her skills as a chemist enabled her to identify edible roots, plants, and berries. She communicated with other tribes and, , which proved to be crucial to supplementing their rations, traveling with a woman and her baby appeared less menacing, , which could be mistaken for a war party. After her daring actions saved Lewis and Clarks lives, a branch of the Missouri River was named for her. They were near an area where her people camped. The Sacagawea River is a 30-mile waterway in what is now north-central Montana. She was married to a French trader named Toussaint Charbonneau while living in the Mandan-Hidatsa region. Sacagawea was born in either 1788 or 1789. At the age of twelve (1800) she was kidnapped by a group of Hidatsa and the battle that provoked it caused the death of four women, four men and several boys from the Shoshone tribe. Despite this joyous family reunion, Sacagawea remained with the explorers for the trip west. Remarkably, Sacagawea did it all while caring for the son she bore just two months before departing. 3. As they passed through her homeland, Sacagawea remembered Shoshone trails from her childhood and helped the expedition find their way through. 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. National Women's History Museum, 2021. Sacagawea was only 16 or 17 years old when she joined Lewis and Clark's grueling expedition. The expedition, instruments, books, gunpowder, medicines, and clothing. 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's actual date of birth is not known because specific birth dates were not recorded at that time. Kidnapped by a raiding tribe, whose language she must learn, she is enslaved and groomed for the chief's son. He eventually became Jean-Baptistes godfather and ultimately, after Sacagaweas death, his legal guardian. Whether this medicine was truly the cause or not I shall not undertake to determine, but I was informed that she had not taken it more than ten minutes before she brought forth perhaps this remedy may be worthy of future experiments, but I must confess that I want faith as to its efficacy., Lewis and Clark and his group of Corps of Discovery explorers, Next in Biography Sacagawea joins the Lewis and Clark Expedition >>. Frazier, Neta Lohnes. She was sold to a fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau. She was taken to a Hidatsa village in present-day North Dakota, where she was sold into slavery. A group ofmentraveling with a woman and her baby appeared less menacingthan an all-malegroup, which could be mistaken for a war party. After the expedition, they settled in North Dakota. Sacagawea and her babyhelpedthose they encountered feelit was safe to befriend the newcomers. On February 11,1805, Sacagaweagavebirth to ason, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, whom Clark later nicknamed "Pomp," meaning "first born" in Shoshone. She ran toembrace himand weptfromjoy. Sacagawea was born to the Shoshones, about 1788. She could cross the Rocky Mountains by purchasing horses from the Shoshynes. They made her a slave. Historical documents tell us that Sacagawea died of an unknown illness in the year 1812. In 1804, Charbonneau was hired by Lewis and Clark to serve as an interpreter on their expedition to find a route to the Pacific Ocean. Sacagawea faced the same dangers and difficulties as the rest of the expedition members,in addition tocaring for her infant son. Early life. Others believe that she re-joined the shoshone after the expedition, and died in 1884. Early on Sacagawea was able to help out with the expedition. Sacagawea was regarded as a valuable addition to Lewis and Clarks language skills. Sacagaweas life will be celebrated over the course of three years as part of a national event. READ. There is no doubt in her mind that she is a skilled and determined fighter. Eachmember of the Corps of Discovery was hired for a special skill such as hunting, woodworking, blacksmithing, and sailing. joy. The Sacagawea were members of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, which now resides in Idaho. Sacagawea gets sold Sacagawea gets sold to Toussaint Charbonneau. 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. Meriwether Lewis as her doctor. Spouse(s) of Toussaint Charbonneau, Spouse(s) Sacagawea, Otter Woman, and more children. In other words, why is Sacagawea so important to the American people? There is so much discussion and argument as to the spelling of her name: Her name in the Shoshone language means Bird Woman and in Hidatsa Boat Launcher. 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. Sacagawea soon became a respected member of the group. According to funtrivia.com, in Hidatsa (the language of the tribe that kidnapped Sacagawea) Sacaga means bird, and wea means woman so Sacagawea means bird woman. The diaries of Lewis and Clark provide a wealth of information about their journey. The Salmon Eater or Agaidika tribe was who she was born into. The Many Accomplishments of Sacajawea. How Old Was Sacagawea When She Died Sacagawea was only 25 or 26 when she died, most likely of an infection related to childbirth. Sacagawea has also been memorialized in the names of parks, schools, playgrounds, and cultural and interpretive centers all over the country. Postal Service released a Sacagawea stamp in 1994; and the U.S. Mint issued Sacagawea golden dollar coins from 2000 to 2008. 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 suggested that I follow the Rocky Mountains (now known as Bozeman Pass) to get there. Without these supplies, the expedition would have been in serious trouble. She did it all while caring for the son she bore two months before she left, which is unusual. 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. Other sources say that she became part of the tribe. She was kidnapped when she was about four years old.really young ! Interpreters with Lewis And Clark: The Story of Sacagawea And Toussaint Charbonneau. The location of her next stop is unknown, and little is known about her life afterward. At age 6, his uncle gave him a Duane Eddy record and forever changed his life. getting kidnapped and sold into marriage, she ultimately triumphed by leading America to its success: expansionism to the west. She went on to serve as a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with her husband in 1805. She is buried in a dispute over where she is buried and when she died. Which Indian tribe kidnapped Sacagawea when she was born? In 2000, the U.S. Mint commemorated her by issuing a Commemorative Dollar coin. Sacagawea, according to Moulton, who consulted with Lewis and Clark, should be pronounced sah-KAH-gah-wee-ah, as is the phonetic spelling that has consistently been recorded in their writings. Sacagawea was born into the Lemhi Shoshone tribe in present-day Idaho. She was taken from her Rocky Mountain homeland, located in today's Idaho, to the Hidatsa-Mandan villages near modern Bismarck, North Dakota. In 1800, when she was about 12 years old, Sacagawea and several other children were taken captive by a group of . Sacagaweas familiarity with the landscape was also helpful throughout the expedition. went back to the Upper Missouri River area and worked for Manuel Lisa, a Missouri Fur Company trader. 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. As a result, she could communicate with the Shohanies (both tribes spoke two completely different languages). Sacagawea was only 17 years old when he joined Lewis and Clarks Corps of Discovery. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Wiki User. She died at Fort Manuel, now Kenel, South Dakota, after leaving the expedition. (Charbonneau had adopted several aspects of Hidatsa culture, including polygamy.) Sacagawea married Jean Baptiste in 1897 after the Expedition returned to Fort Mandan, after being allowed to stay with the Expedition members. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States.