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Table of Contents
Sacagawea is one of the famous women in history. She joined the expedition of Corps of Discovery led by Lewis and Clark in May 1804 to September 1806.
Sacagawea accompanied the group, showed them edible plants and helped them keep the peace. The National American Woman Suffrage Association adopted her as a symbol of women’s worth and independence during the early part of the twentieth century.
See the fact file below for more information on Sacagawea or alternatively, you can download our 27-page Sacagawea worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
Early Life
- Sacagawea was born into an Agaidika (Salmon Eater) of Lemhi Shoshone tribe near Salmon, Idaho, in Lemhi County in 1788. She grew up surrounded by the Rocky Mountains in the Salmon River region of what is now Idaho.
- Sacagawea’s father was the chief of the Shoshone tribe. They were sometimes called the Snake Indians by the neighboring tribes and early American explorers.
- In 1880, when Sacagawea was 12 years old, their tribe was attacked by a group of Hidatsa, a gun-wielding tribe, who kidnapped several girls including Sacagawea and held them captive. Sacagawea was taken as a slave to the Hidatsa’s village near present-day Washburn, North Dakota.
- When Sacagawea was 13 years old, she was sold into a non-consensual marriage to Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian explorer and trader living in the village. Some historians believe that Charbonneau won Sacagawea through gambling. She soon became pregnant with their first child.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
- With the Louisiana Purchase executed in 1803 by President Thomas Jefferson, the United States acquired a large area of land from the French.
- In 1804, President Jefferson asked his private secretary Captain Meriwether Lewis to explore and map the newly purchased western part of North America. Lewis gathered equipment and supplies needed for the expedition and he asked his friend Lieutenant William Clark to help by hiring and training men to accompany them.
- Their team was called the Corps of Discovery. Located near the Missouri River, twelve miles from the site of present-day Washburn, North Dakota, they built Fort Mandan as their camp.
- The unit interviewed several men, including Charbonneau, to hire a guide who could interpret or speak the Shoshone language.
- Charbonneau was hired because Sacagawea could speak Shoshone. Lewis and Clark knew they would need the help of the Shoshone tribes at the headwaters of the Missouri.
- Lewis recorded that Sacagawea gave birth to her son on February 11, 1805, and named him Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Clark called Sacagawea “Janey” while the boy was nicknamed “Pompy”.
- In April of 1805, the expedition commenced and Sacagawea brought her baby along, carrying him in a cradleboard tied to her back.
- While traveling, one of their boats nearly capsized, Sacagawea was quick enough to save items such as crucial documents and journals of Lewis and Clark, navigational instruments and medicines. The men were impressed with her quick action and named the river after her.
- By August 1805, the corps had located the Shoshone tribe where they met with the local chief to trade for horses to cross the Rocky Mountains. They brought in Sacagawea to translate for them and learned that the tribe’s chief, Cameahwait, was her brother.
- Cameahwait agreed to trade horses to the group and even provided them with a guide who helped them through the Rocky Mountains.
- Their journey wasn’t easy but Sacagawea helped to find and cook camas roots to help them regain their strength. Her knowledge helped her identify roots and plants that were either edible or medicinal. The presence of herself and her baby also made the whole corps seem less fearsome and more amiable to the Native Americans the Corps encountered.
- When the corps reached the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Coast, Sacagawea gave up her beaded belt so that Lewis and Clark could trade for a fur coat for President Jefferson.
- The expedition finally reached the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805. All members of the expedition voted on November 24 on the location to build their winter fort, they called it Fort Clatsop. They stayed near the ocean and started home again in March of 1806.
- On the return trip, they approached the Rocky Mountains in July 1806. Sacagawea informed Clark that they would discover a gap in the mountains, which is now known as Gibbons Pass. She also advised Clark to cross into the Yellowstone River, now known as Bozeman Pass. Later, it was chosen as the ideal route for the Northern Pacific Railway in crossing the continental divide.
- It took them around six months to return home. At the end of the journey, Clark wrote to Charbonneau expressing his appreciation of their friendship and his fondness of Sacagawea’s son. He indicated his intention of taking the boy and raising him as his own child.
Life After the Expedition
- Sacagawea and Charbonneau spent three years among the Hidatsa tribe after the expedition. Then they accepted William Clark’s invitation to settle in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1809.
- They entrusted Jean-Baptiste’s education to Clark, who enrolled the young man in the Saint Louis Academy boarding school. Sacagawea gave birth to a daughter, Lizette, sometime after 1810.
Death
- Not much is known of Sacagawea’s life after this. Some historians suggest that she died at 25 of a fever on December 20, 1812, at Fort Manuel. Others argue that it was another wife of Charbonneau who died at Fort Manuel.
- Others suggest that Sacagawea lived another seventy years and died on April 9, 1884.
- In 1925, Dr. Charles Eastman, a Dakota Sioux physician, was hired to locate Sacagawea’s remains. Dr. Eastman interviewed different elderly individuals in the tribe and they spoke of a woman, named Porivo who had mentioned a long journey wherein she had helped white men.
- He also found a woman named Tacutine who said that Porivo was her grandmother. According to them, Porivo went back to Lemhi Shoshone at the Wind River Indian Reservation. There was a record that Porivo had a son named Bazil. Porivo is believed to have died on April 9, 1884. It was Eastman’s conclusion that Porivo was Sacagawea.
- A monument was built at Sacagawea’s Wyoming gravesite in 1963.
In Popular Culture
- Several movies, documentaries and novels have featured Sacagawea.
- In 1902, American suffragist Eva Emery Dye wrote and published The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark where she presented Sacagawea as a model of female bravery and intelligence.
- In 1933, Grace Raymond Hebard published Sacajawea: Guide and Interpreter of Lewis and Clark to even greater success.
- Another novel was published by Anna Lee Waldo in 1984 entitled Sacajawea.
- Sacagawea was featured in the Night at the Museum movie series. The role of Sacagawea was played by Mizuo Peck.
- In 2002, Alex Rice played Sacagawea in the film Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West.
- In 2000, the Sacagawea dollar was minted, which portrays the Shoshone princess that has been part of the expedition.
Sacagawea Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Sacagawea across 27 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Sacagawea worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Sacagawea who is one of the famous women in history. She joined the expedition of Corps of Discovery led by Lewis and Clark in May 1804 to September 1806.
Sacagawea accompanied the group, showed them edible plants and helped them keep the peace. The National American Woman Suffrage Association adopted her as a symbol of women’s worth and independence during the early part of the twentieth century.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Sacagawea Facts
- The Shoshone Princess
- Shoshone Nation
- Heroism
- The Corps of Discovery
- Fill in the Facts
- Best Choice
- Sacagawea vs. Pocahontas
- Turn of Events
- Corps’ Crossword
- Fact or Fiction
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Link will appear as Sacagawea Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 24, 2021
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