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Born - May 1788 in Lemhi County, Idaho
Born - May 1788 in Lemhi County, Idaho
Died - December 20, 1812 in North Dakota
Died - December 20, 1812 in North Dakota
Early Life
Early Life
Sacajawea was born into the Native American Shoshone tribe surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. She was kidnapped during a buffalo hunt in 1800 by the Hidatsa tribe. Then in 1803 or 1804, through a trade, gambling payoff or purchase, Sacagawea became the property of French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau. She later became his wife.
Missouri Connection
Missouri Connection
In August 1806, Captain Clark wrote to Charbonneau and invited him to come to St. Louis and bring his family, or to send Jean Baptiste, their son, to Clark for schooling. Charbonneau and Sacajawea accepted the offer and lived near St. Louis for a time. In March 1811, however, Charbonneau sold his land back to Clark and returned to the Dakotas with Sacajawea. Their son remained in St. Louis in the care of Cpt. Clark.
Claim to Fame
Claim to Fame
Sacajawea was the only woman to accompany the expedition by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark into Missouri and other territories of the Louisiana Purchase. Her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, was hired as an interpreter and took Sacajawea along. Pregnant, she was allowed to join the party as an unofficial member because the captains thought she would be useful to help in communicating with some of the Indian tribes they met and also in obtaining horses from her native tribe, the Shoshone. Her skills as a translator were invaluable, as was her intimate knowledge of some difficult terrain. Perhaps most significant was her calming presence on both the expeditioners and the Native Americans they encountered, who might have otherwise been hostile to the strangers. Remarkably, Sacagawea did it all while caring for the son she bore just two months before departing.
Later Life
Later Life
In 1811, Sacajawea and Charbonneau returned to the Dakotas to join a fur-trading expedition. In August of 1812 she gave birth to a daughter, Lisette. Her health quickly declined, possibly from typhoid fever, and she died in December of 1812.
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