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Heart of a Nation 

Sacagawea is one of the best-known and most celebrated women in American history. She is the Native American woman who travelled with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which explored the American West from 1804 to 1806. There are lakes, mountains and schools named after Sacagawea. Her image even appears on an American one-dollar coin. Statues and other monuments honour her bravery and big heart. But in spite of her fame, most of her life remains a mystery. Much of what is known about Sacagawea comes from the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the expedition leaders. Sacagawea was the daughter of a chief of the Indigenous Shoshone tribe. Around 1790, when she was just twelve years old, an enemy tribe, the Hidatsa, attacked her tribe and captured her. She was enslaved and taken to live far from her family and home. Later, she was married to Toussaint Charbonneau, a fur trapper who lived among the Hidatsa.

 Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau to join the expedition on the condition that he bring along Sacagawea. She spoke the language of the Shoshone, with whom they would need to barter. So, carrying her newborn baby son on her back, Sacagawea set off on the long journey with the explorers. She was the only woman among thirty-two men.

Sacagawea proved to be even more valuable than expected. She knew how to find roots and berries that were safe to eat. She made moccasins, a kind of Native American shoe, and other clothing for the men. One time, in 1805, her quick thinking saved the day when her boat capsized in bad weather on a river. Sacagawea quickly recovered important supplies and many of Lewis and Clark’s journals that had fallen out of the flipped canoe. Also, because a woman with a child was part of the group, Native Americans they met along the way did not see them as a threat. Her very presence helped keep the peace. 

 Along the journey to the Pacific Ocean, Sacagawea and the expedition unexpectedly ran into her long-lost Shoshone family. Their joyous reunion was more good fortune for the expedition. The tribe’s new chief, Sacagawea’s brother Cameahwait, agreed to provide the expedition team with horses and a guide. Sacagawea continued on with the expedition all the way to the Pacific Ocean. There, many of the men fell ill, and she nursed them back to health.

In their journals, Lewis and Clark wrote of Sacagawea’s courage, kind heart and helpful actions. But little is known about Sacagawea’s life after the end of the expedition. Most history experts believe that she died of an illness in 1812. It is said that Clark then raised and educated her children. However, Native Americans believe Sacagawea lived much longer, into her nineties, reunited with her Shoshone family. The only truth that can be known, though, is how her great spirit earned her a lasting place in the heart of a nation.