=Sacagawea was born in 1788 or 1789 in the western =RockyMountains. She was a Native American,
a =Shoshone.
The =Shoshones lived in tepees. They moved to gather food as the seasons changed. They ate
seeds, berries, roots and insects. In the spring and summer they fished, and in the fall
they hunted bison. They =Shoshone hunted jackrabbits, antelope, and other animals, too.
They used branches to make beautiful baskets, bowls, hats and traps.

The =Shoshone were a peaceful people. But they were surrounded by enemy tribes.
When =Sacagawea was ten or eleven, a large =Hidatsa war party attacked.
They stole =Shoshone horses and killed many men, women, and children, including
=Sacagawea's mother.
=Sacagawea ran.
She was caught by a =Hidatsa warrior and taken prisoner. The =Hidatsa took her
hundreds of miles away to their village near where the =Knife and =Missouri Rivers
cross.

The =Hidatsa were taller and lighter skinned than the =Shoshone. They spoke a different
language, too. The =Hidatsa didn't move around to gather food. Instead, they planted
corn, beans, squash, sunflowers, and tobacco. They lived in large, round, earthen
houses, made pottery, and built boats for travel on the =MissouriRiver.
=Sacagawea worked in the fields. She also helped dry the vegetables and store them
for the winter. =Sacagawea lived and worked among the =Hidatsa, but she was still their captive.

After a few years, the =Hidatsa sold =Sacagawea to =ToussaintCharbonneau, a white trader
and trapper.
=Charbonneau was in his forties. He was a rough, load man.
He had a wife and son.
He bought =Sacagawea to be his second wife.

In 1804 two white explorers, Captains =MeriwetherLewis and =WilliamClark, and the
Corps of Discovery of some forty soldiers, frontiersmen, and boatmen, were sent
by President =ThomasJefferson to explore the =MissouriRiver and find a route
to the =PacificOcean.
They were to draw maps, discover new plants and animals, and learn about the Native
Americans who lived in the West, telling them about the =UnitedStates.
On their way up the river the Corps encountered several Native American tribes,
including the =YanktonSioux, the =TetonSioux, and the =Arikaras.
Soon after =Sacagawea was sold, the Corps arrived at the =Hidatsa village where she lived.

=Lewis and =Clark's arrival stirred quite a bit of attention.
The =Hidatsa had never seen a flat bottomed keelboat like the one the explorers
traveled in, nor heard violin music. But =York, Captain =Clark's slave, was their
greatest surprise. He was the first black man they had ever seen.
=Lewis and =Clark met with the local chiefs. Then they and their men prepared for the
winter. They cut down trees and built a fort, Fort =Mandan, with eight small log
cabins inside.

=Charbonneau went with =Sacagawea to meet with =Lewis and =Clark. He gave them bison
skin robes and he said he could help them. While he couldn't speak all the
languages of the different tribes =Lewis and =Clark would meet, he could talk to them
using sign language.
=Charbonneau was hired as an interpreter. Because the group would pass through =Shoshone
territory, =Sacagawea would accompany them.
=Charbonneau and =Sacagawea stayed in Fort =Mandan with the explorers through the very cold
winter.
=Sacagawea was pregnant. In February 1805 her son, =JeanBaptiste, was born.

By early April, the frozen =MissouriRiver began to melt. The explorers saw geese flying
north. They sent the keelboat and some men back to =StLouis with reports for
President =Jefferson and nine boxes of animal skins, plants, stuffed birds and snakes.
They also sent a pair of elk horns, and cages carrying a live squirrel, a hen,
and four magpies. =Lewis and =Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" began their trip west.
=Sacagawea was the only woman along. She traveled with her baby in a cradleboard tied to her back.
At two months old, =JeanBaptiste was the youngest member of the group.

From the beginning, =Sacagawea was an important member of the =Lewis and =Clark
Expedition. On the second day out, she collected edible roots for the men.
Later she gathered wild strawberries, plums, gooseberries, and currants.
On May 14 a gust of wind pushed one of the explorers' boats onto its side.
=Charbonneau panicked and dropped the rudder. The boat filled with water.
While the men struggled to save the boat, =Sacagawea saved the instruments
and medicines that had fallen overboard.

On August 12 the group crossed the =ContinentalDivide, the line of high land that
separates the rivers flowing east to the =Atlantic from those flowing west to
the =Pacific. The next day, they met =Sacagawea's people, the =Shoshone. Captain
=Clark wrote in his journal that on seeing them, =Sacagawea "danced for the
joyful sight."
Captains =Lewis and =Clark met in a tent with the =Shoshone leader, Chief
=Cameahwait. They smoked a peace pipe together and then sent for =Sacagawea,
who spoke =Shoshone.
=Sacagawea began to interpret. They she looked at the chief and jumped up.
She ran to the chief, hugged him, and cried.
Chief =Cameahwait was =Sacagawea's brother.
With =Sacagawea's help, the =Shoshone traded a number of horses to the
explorers. They also gave them a guide, who helped them west through the
=BitterrootRange of the =RockyMountains.

The explorers continued west, down the =Columbia, =Clearwater, and =Snake Rivers.
It was a difficult journey. They encountered grizzly bears and rattlesnakes.
At times they were so cold, one of the men wrote in his journal, that
"our moccasins froze." Other men wrote of "fatigue beyond description" and of
hunger. "The men are growing weak and losing their flesh very fast we are
obliged to kill a second colt for our supper."
Along the way, the explorers met many other tribes.
=Clark wrote in his journal that seeing =Sacagawea convinced "these people
of our friendly intentions," because among them "no woman ever accompanied
a war party." And surely not a woman with her baby.

In early November the Corps saw sea otters swimming in the river and knew they
were getting close to the =PacificOcean. Then they heard the roar of the waves,
and Captain =Clark wrote in his journal, "Ocean in view! O! The joy!"
For =Sacagawea, seeing what she called, "the great waters," and the remains of a
beached whale, which she called "a monstrous fish," were highlights of the trip.

It was late in the year. Snow and ice blocked their way back, so, at the edge
of the =PacificOcean, they built Fort =Clatsop. They stayed there through a
difficult winter of almost constant rain and cold, until =Marsh 23, 1806,
when they began their journey home.

In August the explorers reached Fort =Mandan. This was the end of the journey
for =Sacagawea, =Charbonneau, and =JeanBaptiste.
In =September Captains =Lewis and =Clark reached =StLouis. They brought back
maps and information about the geography, animals, and resources of the region.
They also had made peaceful contact with many Native American tribes.

In a December 1806 message to Congress, President =Jefferson wrote that
the =Lewis and =Clark Expedition "has had all the success which could have
been expected. =Lewis and =Clark, and their brave companions, have by this
arduous service deserved well of their country."
Little is known of =Sacagawea after the Expedition.
Some historians believe that she died of a "putrid fever" some years later,
on December 20, 1812. Others say she returned to the =Shoshone people and
died among them more than seventy years later, on April 9, 1884.
But whatever her later history, during her seventeen months as part of the
=Lewis and =Clark Expedition, she helped assure the success of the journey
and open up the continent to the people of the =UnitedStates.
A river in =Montana, lakes in =Washingtn and =NorthDakota, and mountains
in =Montana, =Wyoming, =Oregon, and =Idaho have been named for her.
There are numerous statues and markers across the =UnitedStates and now
a dollar coin to honor her.