"Sacagawea Travels Through Library"

Undoubtedly, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are the major heroes in the saga of the “Voyage of Discovery.” But, as we celebrate the bicentennial of this historical event, many of the minor characters in the journey such as Patrick Gass, black servant York, Gorge Drouillard, Toussiant Charbonneau, and Sacagawea are also being thrown into the limelight where their character and contributions are being examined.

One of the most fascinating of the “minor” characters of this drama is Sacagawea, the young Shoshoni-speaking Indian woman, who, with a newborn baby on her back, lead the Lewis and Clark party to the west coast of the United States.

Sacagawea was born to a Shoshoni tribe that lived in the Montana area of the Rocky Mountains. As a young girl she was captured by raiding Hidatsa warriors and taken to their lodges on the banks of the upper Missouri River, near present day Bismarck, North Dakota. She married, or was otherwise acquired, by a French fur trader, Toussaint Charbonneau, who became a guide and interpreter for Lewis and Clark.

It is widely accepted that had it not been for Sacagawea, the men of the Voyage of Discovery would not have survived. The Indians along the route refrained from attacking this motley band of intruders as no foreign invaders would have brought along a woman and her baby. Through fortuitous circumstances, she was reunited with her brother when the expedition was about to give up and make winter camp on the east side of the Rocky Mountains. This reunion and the negotiations that followed resulted in the horses they needed to traverse the mountains before the snow made the passage impossible.

Her life and exploits are detailed in ”On the Trail of Sacagawea” by Peter Lourie, “Sacagawea: A Native American Heroine” by Martha F. Bryant and “Winged Moccasins” by Frances Joyce Farnsworth. Each tells a slightly different story. Little is know about Sacagawea after she left Lewis and Clark. Some have her dying at a very young age in South Dakota and others place her death in Wyoming in 1884. While you ponder which story to believe you can also read some excellent fictional accounts of this remarkable woman. “Sacagawea” by Anna Lee Waldo is probably the most famous fictional account of her life. “Streams to the River, River to the Sea” by Scott O’Dell and “Naya, Nuki, Girl Who Ran Away” by Kenneth Thomasma are well-written fictional accounts for young adults. “Sacagawea” by Joseph Bruchac and “Stone Heart” by Diane Glancy include excerpts from the journals of Lewis and Clark. “Stone Heart” is written in the second person, with the narrator addressing Sacagawea as “you”—a very effective technique.

If you can’t be among the thousands who will be following the Lewis and Clark trail during the next couple of summers, you can vicariously experience the journey through the eyes of Sacagawea, The Bird Woman, by checking out one of the many library books on her life.