More than 200 years ago, a young American Indian woman, Sacagawea (sah-KAHguh-WEE-uh), helped a team of explorers make their way across the American West.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, with about 50 men, began their journey near St. Louis and passed through what is now Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The 8,000-mile trip took more than 2 1/2 years. They returned to St. Louis on Sept. 23, 1806.

This week, The Mini Page learns more about this historic trip and the woman who helped make it a success.

A young guide

Sacagawea was a member of the Lemhi Shoshone (LEM-high show-SHOW-knee) tribe that lived in an area that is now western Montana. When she was about 11, Sacagawea was captured by another tribe, the Hidatsa (hi-DAHT-zah). She was carried more than 600 miles east to what is now North Dakota. She learned the Hidatsa language in addition to the Shoshone language she already spoke.

When Lewis and Clark arrived at the Hidatsa villages, Sacagawea, age 16, was married to a French Canadian fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau (shar-bone- OWE). Lewis and Clark hired the couple as intrepreters. Sacagawea was pregnant and gave birth to her son, Jean Baptiste, soon after she joined the group.

The exploration

You might call Sacagawea our first woman ambassador. On the trail, she represented the Lewis and Clark group as a symbol of peace. Without her along, suspicious Indians might have attacked this band of unfamiliar white men. When they saw Sacagawea and her baby, they knew the group was peaceful.

She was a great help finding plants to eat or use as medicines, and she helped Lewis and Clark make trades for things they needed, such as horses.

Her own coin

There are no pictures of Sacagawea drawn from life. In 2001, the United States issued a gold dollar coin with her image. The art was based on a modern Shoshone woman.

Historians believe Sacagawea died in 1812 at about 25 years old. Her son and a daughter, Lizette, were adopted by William Clark. 

A presidential project

At the time of the expedition, our country was made up of an area east of the Mississippi River. There were 17 states and several territories that would later become states.

In 1798, the port of New Orleans was closed to American shipping, but shipping goods down the Mississippi and through the port of New Orleans was important to Americans.

President Thomas Jefferson wanted to buy the port of New Orleans from the French. The French wanted to sell not only New Or1eans, but also all of the Louisiana Territory for $15 million, or about 3 cents an acre. The Louisiana Purchase almost doubled the size of our country.

Jefferson wanted to find out more about the lands, plants and animals in the Louisiana Territory and beyond. He wanted to establish peaceful relations with the American Indian tribes, and he hoped to find a good way to reach the Pacific Ocean. He selected Lewis to lead the expedition, and Lewis asked Clark to join him.

Resources

On the Web:

• nps.gov/lecl/learn/ historyculture/sacagawea.htm

At the library:

• “Sacagawea for Kids: A Trailblazer’s Biography” by Sarah Michaels

Mini Fact: Sacagawea’s son was born in February 1805. She carried him on her back most of the time