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Sacagawea ( or ; also spelled Sakakawea or Sacajawea; May – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884)Sacagawea
" ''National Cowgirl Hall of Fame''. 2017.
Sacagawea / Sacajawea / Sakakawea , Women of the Hall
" '' National Women's Hall of Fame''. 2003. Seneca Falls, NY.
was a
Lemhi Shoshone The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon".Murphy and Murphy, 306 The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi Ri ...
woman who, in her teens, helped the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
in achieving their chartered mission objectives by exploring the
Louisiana Territory The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1805, until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory. The territory was formed out of the ...
. Sacagawea traveled with the expedition thousands of miles from
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, helping to establish cultural contacts with Native American people and contributing to the expedition's knowledge of natural history in different regions. The
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
of the early 20th century adopted her as a symbol of women's worth and independence, erecting several statues and plaques in her memory, and doing much to recount her accomplishments.


Early life

Reliable historical information about Sacagawea is very limited. She was born into the ''Agaidika'' ('Salmon Eater', aka
Lemhi Shoshone The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon".Murphy and Murphy, 306 The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi Ri ...
) tribe near present-day
Salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
,
Lemhi County, Idaho Lemhi County is a county located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,974. The largest city and county seat is Salmon. The county was established in 1869, named after Fort Lemhi (or Limhi), a remote Mormon mis ...
. This is near the
continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
at the present-day Idaho-
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
border. In 1800, when she was about 12 years old, Sacagawea and several other children were taken captive by a group of
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...
in a raid that resulted in the deaths of several Shoshone: four men, four women, and several boys. She was held captive at a Hidatsa village near present-day
Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influen ...
,
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
.Anderson, Irving W. 1999.
Sacagawea , Inside the Corps
(film website). '' Lewis & Clark''. DC:
PBS.org The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
.
At about age 13, she was sold into a
non-consensual Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
marriage to
Toussaint Charbonneau Toussaint Charbonneau (March 20, 1767 – August 12, 1843) was a French-Canadian explorer, trader and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is also known as the husband of Sacagawea. Early years Charbonneau was born in Boucherv ...
, a
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
ois
trapper Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...
. He had also bought another young Shoshone girl, known as
Otter Woman Otter Woman (born 1786–1788, died before 1814) was a Shoshone woman who was the wife of Smoked Lodge. Otter Woman was likely kidnapped by the Hidatsa and purchased by Toussaint Charbonneau, who is best known as the husband of Sacagawea. At th ...
, for a wife. Charbonneau was variously reported to have purchased both girls from the Hidatsa, or to have won Sacagawea while gambling.


Lewis and Clark Expedition

In 1804, the
Corps of Discovery The Corps of Discovery was a specially established unit of the United States Army which formed the nucleus of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that took place between May 1804 and September 1806. The Corps was led jointly by Captain Meriwether Lew ...
reached a Mandan village, where Captains Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...
built
Fort Mandan Fort Mandan was the name of the encampment which the Lewis and Clark Expedition built for wintering over in 1804–1805. The encampment was located on the Missouri River approximately from the site of present-day Washburn, North Dakota, which ...
for wintering over in 1804–05. They interviewed several trappers who might be able to interpret or guide the expedition up the Missouri River in the springtime. Knowing they would need to communicate with the tribal nations who lived at the
headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...
of the Missouri, they agreed to hire
Toussaint Charbonneau Toussaint Charbonneau (March 20, 1767 – August 12, 1843) was a French-Canadian explorer, trader and a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He is also known as the husband of Sacagawea. Early years Charbonneau was born in Boucherv ...
, who claimed to speak several Native languages, and one of his wives, who spoke Shoshone. Sacajawea was pregnant with her first child at the time. On November 4, 1804, Clark recorded in his journal: Charbonneau and Sacagawea moved into the expedition's fort a week later. Clark later nicknamed her "Janey." Lewis recorded the birth of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau on February 11, 1805, noting that another of the party's interpreters administered crushed rattlesnake rattles in water to speed the delivery. Clark and other members of the Corps nicknamed the boy "Pomp" or "Pompy." In April, the expedition left Fort Mandan and headed up the Missouri River in ''
pirogue A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and native canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish , which comes from the Carib '. Description The term 'pirogue' does n ...
s''. They had to be poled against the current and sometimes pulled by crew along the riverbanks. On May 14, 1805, Sacagawea rescued items that had fallen out of a capsized boat, including the journals and records of Lewis and Clark. The corps commanders, who praised her quick action, named the Sacagawea River in her honor on May 20, 1805. By August 1805, the corps had located a Shoshone tribe and was attempting to trade for horses to cross the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
. They used Sacagawea to interpret and discovered that the tribe's leader,
Cameahwait Cameahwait was the brother of Sacagawea, and a Shoshone chief. He was the head of the first group of inhabitants of modern-day Idaho who were encountered by Europeans. Cameahwait met Meriwether Lewis and three other members of the Lewis and Cla ...
, was her brother. Lewis recorded their reunion in his journal: And Clark in his: The Shoshone agreed to barter horses to the group and to provide guides to lead them over the rugged Rocky Mountains. The trip was so hard that they ran short of food. When they descended into the more temperate regions on the other side, Sacagawea helped to find and cook camas roots to help the party members regain their strength. As the expedition approached the mouth of the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
on the Pacific Coast, Sacagawea gave up her beaded belt to enable the captains to trade for a fur robe they wished to bring back to give to President
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
. Clark's journal entry for November 20, 1805, reads: When the corps reached the Pacific Ocean, all members of the expedition—including Sacagawea and Clark's black manservant
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
—voted on November 24 on the location for building their winter fort. In January, when a
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...
's carcass washed up onto the beach south of
Fort Clatsop Fort Clatsop was the encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Oregon Country near the mouth of the Columbia River during the winter of 1805–1806. Located along the Lewis and Clark River at the north end of the Clatsop Plains approxi ...
, Sacagawea insisted on her right to go see this "monstrous fish." On the return trip, they approached the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
in July 1806. On July 6, Clark recorded:
The Indian woman informed me that she had been in this plain frequently and knew it well.… She said we would discover a gap in the mountains in our direction .e.,_present-day_Gibbons_Pass.html" ;"title="Gibbons_Pass.html" ;"title=".e., present-day Gibbons Pass">.e., present-day Gibbons Pass">Gibbons_Pass.html" ;"title=".e., present-day Gibbons Pass">.e., present-day Gibbons Pass
A week later, on July 13, Sacagawea advised Clark to cross into the Yellowstone River basin at what is now known as Bozeman Pass. Later, this was chosen as the optimal route for the Northern Pacific Railway to cross the
continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
. While Sacagawea has been depicted as a guide for the expedition, she is recorded as providing direction in only a few instances, primarily in present-day Montana. Her work as an interpreter helped the party to negotiate with the Shoshone. But, she also had significant value to the mission simply by her presence on the journey, as having a woman and infant accompany them demonstrated the peaceful intent of the expedition. While traveling through what is now Franklin County,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, in October 1805, Clark noted that "the wife of Shabono harbonneauour interpreter, we find reconciles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions a woman with a party of men is a token of peace." Further he wrote that she "confirmed those people of our friendly intentions, as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians in this quarter". As Clark traveled downriver from Fort Mandan at the end of the journey, on board the pirogue near the Ricara Village, he wrote to Charbonneau:


Later life and death


Children

Following the expedition, Charbonneau and Sacagawea spent 3 years among the
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...
before accepting William Clark's invitation to settle in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
, in 1809. They entrusted Jean-Baptiste's education to Clark, who enrolled the young man in the Saint Louis Academy boarding school.Jackson, Donald, ed. 1962. ''Letters of the Lewis & Clark Expedition With Related Documents: 1783-1854''. Champaign, IL:
University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic project ...
.
Sacagawea gave birth to a daughter, Lizette Charbonneau, about 1812. Lizette was identified as a year-old girl in adoption papers in 1813 recognizing William Clark, who also adopted her older brother that year."Original Adoption Documents." St. Louis, Missouri: Orphans Court Records. 11 August 1813. Because Clark's papers make no later mention of Lizette, it is believed that she died in childhood.


Death

According to Bonnie "Spirit Wind-Walker" Butterfield (2010), historical documents suggest that Sacagawea died in 1812 of an unknown sickness. For instance, a journal entry from 1811 by
Henry Brackenridge Henry Marie Brackenridge (May 11, 1786 – January 18, 1871) was an American writer, lawyer, judge, superintendent, and U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania. Born in Pittsburgh in 1786, he was educated by his father, the writer and judge Hugh ...
, a fur trader at Fort Lisa Trading Post on the Missouri River, wrote that Sacagawea and Charbonneau were living at the fort. Brackenridge recorded that Sacagawea "had become sickly and longed to revisit her native country."Drumm, Stella M., ed. 1920. ''Journal of a Fur-trading Expedition on the Upper Missouri: John Luttig, 1812–1813''. St. Louis:
Missouri Historical Society The Missouri Historical Society was founded in St. Louis on August 11, 1866. Founding members created the historical society "for the purpose of saving from oblivion the early history of the city and state". Organization The Missouri Historica ...
.
Butterfield notes that in 1812, a Fort-Lisa clerk, John Luttig, recorded in his journal on December 20 that "the wife of Charbonneau, a Snake Squaw Shoshone.html" ;"title=".e. Shoshone">.e. Shoshone died of putrid fever." He said that she was "aged about 25 years. She left a fine infant girl." Documents held by Clark show that Charbonneau had already entrusted their son Baptiste to Clark's care for a boarding school education, at Clark's insistence (Jackson, 1962). In February 1813, a few months after Luttig's journal entry, 15 men were killed in a Native attack on Fort Lisa, which was then located at the mouth of the
Bighorn River The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the states of Wyoming and Montana in the western United States. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the bighorn sheep he saw along its ba ...
. Luttig and Sacagawea's young daughter were among the survivors. Charbonneau was mistakenly thought to have been killed at this time, but he apparently lived to at least age 76. He had signed over formal custody of his son to William Clark in 1813. As further proof that Sacagawea died in 1812, Butterfield writes:
An adoption document made in the Orphans Court Records in St. Louis, Missouri, states, 'On August 11, 1813, William Clark became the guardian of Tousant Charbonneau, a boy about ten years, and Lizette Charbonneau, a girl about one year old.' For a Missouri State Court at the time, to designate a child as orphaned and to allow an adoption, both parents had to be confirmed dead in court papers.
The last recorded document referring to Sacagawea's life appears in William Clark's original notes written between 1825 and 1826. He lists the names of each of the expedition members and their last known whereabouts. For Sacagawea, he writes, "Se car ja we au— Dead." Some oral traditions relate that, rather than dying in 1812, Sacagawea left her husband Charbonneau, crossed the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
, and married into a
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
tribe. She was said to have returned to the Shoshone in 1860 in Wyoming, where she died in 1884. However there is no independent evidence supporting this tale.


Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

Sacagawea's son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, had an adventurous life. Known as the infant who, with his mother, accompanied the explorers to the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
and back, he had lifelong celebrity status. At the age of 18, he was befriended by a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
,
Duke Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg , image =Paul Wilhelm of Württemberg.jpg , caption = , spouse = Princess Maria Sophia of Thurn and Taxis , issue = Duke Maximilian , house =House of Württemberg , father = Duke Eugen of Württemberg , ...
, who took him to
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. There, Jean Baptiste lived for six years among
royalty Royalty may refer to: * Any individual monarch, such as a king, queen, emperor, empress, etc. * Royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen regnant, and sometimes his or her extended family * Royalty payment for use of such things as int ...
, while learning four languages and allegedly fathering a child in Germany named Anton Fries. After his infant son died, Jean Baptiste returned from Europe in 1829 to the United States. He lived after that as a
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
frontiersman A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...
. In 1846, he led a group of Mormons to California for the gold rush. While in California, he was appointed as a
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
for the
Mission San Luis Rey Mission San Luis Rey de Francia ( es, Misión San Luis Rey de Francia) is a former Spanish mission in San Luis Rey, a neighborhood of Oceanside, California. This Mission lent its name to the Luiseño tribe of Mission Indians. At its prime, ...
. He disliked the way Indians were treated in the missions and left to become a hotel clerk in
Auburn, California Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Placer County, California, United States. Its population was 13,776 during the 2020 census. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history and is registered as a California Historical Landmark. Au ...
, once the center of
gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
activity. After working six years in Auburn, Jean Baptiste left in search of riches in the gold mines of
Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
. He was 61 years old, and the trip was too much for him. He became ill with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
and died in a remote area near
Danner, Oregon Danner is an unincorporated community located in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Danner Road off U.S. Route 95 west of Jordan Valley. Jordan Creek flows by Danner. History The old Idaho-Oregon-Nevada highway ran throug ...
, on May 16, 1866.


Burial place

The question of Sacagawea's burial place caught the attention of national
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
s seeking voting rights for women, according to author Raymond Wilson. Wilson argues that Sacagawea became a role model whom suffragists pointed to "with pride". She received even more attention in the 1930s, after publication of a history novel about her. Wilson notes:
Interest in Sacajawea peaked and controversy intensified when Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard, professor of political economy at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and an active supporter of the Nineteenth Amendment, campaigned for federal legislation to erect an edifice honoring Sacajawea's alleged death in 1884.
An account of the expedition published in May 1919 noted that "A sculptor, Mr. Bruno Zimm, seeking a model for a statue of Sacagawea that was later erected at the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...
in St. Louis, discovered a record of the pilot-woman's death in 1884 (when ninety-five years old) on the Shoshone Reservation, Wyoming, and her wind-swept grave." In 1925, Dr.
Charles Eastman Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was the first Native American to be certified in Western medicine and was "one of the most prolific authors and speaker ...
, a
Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, ...
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
physician, was hired by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
to locate Sacagawea's remains. Eastman visited various Native American tribes to interview elders who might have known or heard of Sacagawea. He learned of a Shoshone woman at the
Wind River Reservation The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, ho ...
with the
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
name ''Porivo'' ('chief woman'). Some of those he interviewed said that she spoke of a long journey wherein she had helped white men, and that she had a silver Jefferson peace medal of the type carried by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He found a Comanche woman named Tacutine who said that Porivo was her grandmother. According to Tacutine, Porivo had married into a Comanche tribe and had a number of children, including Tacutine's father, Ticannaf. Porivo left the tribe after her husband, Jerk-Meat, was killed. According to these narratives, Porivo lived for some time at
Fort Bridger Fort Bridger was originally a 19th-century fur trading outpost established in 1842, on Blacks Fork of the Green River, in what is now Uinta County, Wyoming, United States. It became a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, C ...
in Wyoming with her sons Bazil and Baptiste, who each knew several languages, including English and French. Eventually, she returned to the
Lemhi Shoshone The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon".Murphy and Murphy, 306 The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi Ri ...
at the Wind River Reservation, where she was recorded as "Bazil's mother." This woman, Porivo, is believed to have died on April 9, 1884. Eastman concluded that Porivo was Sacagawea. In 1963, a monument to "Sacajawea of the Shoshonis" was erected at
Fort Washakie Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte. In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp ...
on the Wind River reservation near
Lander, Wyoming Lander is a city in Wyoming, United States, and the county seat of Fremont County. It is in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River, just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation. It is a tourism center with several nea ...
, on the basis of this claim. The belief that Sacagawea lived to old age and died in Wyoming was widely disseminated in the United States through ''Sacajawea'' (1933), a biography written by historian
Grace Raymond Hebard Grace Raymond Hebard (July 2, 1861 – October 1936) gained prominence as a Wyoming historian, suffragist, pioneering scholar, prolific writer, political economist and noted University of Wyoming educator. Hebard's standing as a historian in pa ...
, a
University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...
professor, based on her 30 years of research.Mickelson, Sandy. "Sacajawea legend may not be correct." ''The Messenger'' (Fort Dodge, IA) Mickelson recounts the findings of Thomas H. Johnson, who argues in his ''Also Called Sacajawea: Chief Woman's Stolen Identity'' (2007) that Hebard identified the wrong woman when she relied upon oral history that an old woman who died and is buried on the Wyoming Wind River Reservation was Sacajawea. Critics have also questioned Hebard's work because she portrayed Sacajawea in a manner described as "undeniably long on romance and short on hard evidence, suffering from a sentimentalization of Indian culture."


Name

A long-running controversy has related to the correct spelling, pronunciation, and
etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the Shoshone woman's name. Linguists working on
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...
since the 1870s have always considered the name's Hidatsa etymology essentially indisputable. The name is a
compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...
of two common Hidatsa
noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...
s: ''cagáàga'' (, 'bird') and ''míà'' (, 'woman'). The compound is written as ''Cagáàgawia'' ('Bird Woman') in modern Hidatsa
orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
, and pronounced ( is pronounced between vowels in Hidatsa). The double in the name indicates a long
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
, while the
diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...
s suggest a falling pitch pattern. Hidatsa is a pitch-accent language that does not have
stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
; therefore, in the Hidatsa pronunciation all syllables in are pronounced with roughly the same relative emphasis. However, most English speakers perceive the accented syllable (the long ) as stressed. In faithful rendering of ''Cagáàgawia'' to other languages, it is advisable to emphasize the second, long syllable, rather than the last, as is common in English. The name has several spelling traditions in English. The origin of each tradition is described in the following sections.


Sacajawea

The spelling ''Sacajawea'' () is said to have derived from Shoshone ''Saca-tzaw-meah,'' meaning 'boat puller' or 'boat launcher'. In contrast to the Hidatsa etymology more popular among academics, Sacajawea is the preferred spelling used by her own tribe, the
Lemhi Shoshone The Lemhi Shoshone are a tribe of Northern Shoshone, also called the Akaitikka, Agaidika, or "Eaters of Salmon".Murphy and Murphy, 306 The name "Lemhi" comes from Fort Lemhi, a Mormon mission to this group. They traditionally lived in the Lemhi Ri ...
people, some of whom claim that her Hidatsa captors transliterated her Shoshone name in their own language and pronounced it according to their own dialect.Rees, John E. . 1920s1970.
Madame Charbonneau
(excerpt). The Lemhi County Historical Society. Archived from th

on 2007-02-08. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
That is, they heard a name that approximated ''tsakaka'' and ''wia'', and interpreted it as 'bird woman', substituting their hard "g/k" pronunciation for the softer "tz/j" sound that did not exist in the Hidatsa language. The use of this spelling almost certainly originated with
Nicholas Biddle Nicholas Biddle (January 8, 1786February 27, 1844) was an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States (chartered 1816–1836). Throughout his life Biddle worked as an editor, diplomat, au ...
, who used the "j" when he annotated the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition for publication in 1814. This use became more widespread with the publication in 1902 of
Eva Emery Dye Eva Emery Dye (1855 – February 25, 1947) was an American writer, historian, and prominent member of the women's suffrage movement. As the author of several historical novels, fictional yet thoroughly researched, she is credited with "romant ...
's novel '' The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark''. It is likely that Dye used Biddle's secondary source for the spelling, and her highly popular book made this version ubiquitous throughout the United States (previously most non-scholars had never even heard of Sacagawea). Rozina George, great-great-great-great-granddaughter of
Cameahwait Cameahwait was the brother of Sacagawea, and a Shoshone chief. He was the head of the first group of inhabitants of modern-day Idaho who were encountered by Europeans. Cameahwait met Meriwether Lewis and three other members of the Lewis and Cla ...
, says the Agaidika tribe of Lemhi Shoshone do not recognize the spelling or pronunciation ''Sacagawea''. Schools named in the interpreter's honor and other memorials erected in the area surrounding her birthplace use the spelling ''Sacajawea'':George, Rozina
"Agaidika Perspective on Sacajawea
, ''Life Long Learning: The Lewis and Clark Rediscovery Project''.
The Lemhi Shoshone call her Sacajawea. It is derived from the Shoshone word for her name, Saca tzah we yaa. In his Cash Book, William Clark spells Sacajawea with a "J". Also, William Clark and Private George Shannon explained to Nicholas Biddle (Published the first Lewis and Clark Journals in 1814) about the pronunciation of her name and how the tz sounds more like a "j". What better authority on the pronunciation of her name than Clark and Shannon who traveled with her and constantly heard the pronunciation of her name? We do not believe it is a Minnetaree (Hidatsa) word for her name. Sacajawea was a Lemhi Shoshone not a Hidatsa.
Idaho native John Rees explored the 'boat launcher' etymology in a long letter to the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs written in the 1920s. It was republished in 1970 by the Lemhi County Historical Society as a pamphlet entitled "Madame Charbonneau" and contains many of the arguments in favor of the Shoshone derivation of the name. The spelling ''Sacajawea'', although widely taught until the late 20th century, is considered incorrect by modern academia.
Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
professor Dr. Sven Liljeblad from the
Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...
in
Pocatello Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the P ...
argues that "it is unlikely that Sacajawea is a Shoshoni word.… The term for 'boat' in Shoshoni is saiki, but the rest of the alleged compound would be incomprehensible to a native speaker of Shoshoni." The spelling with a “j” has subsided from general use, although the corresponding "soft j" pronunciation persists.


Sacagawea

''Sacagawea'' is the most widely used spelling of her name, usually pronounced with a hard "g" sound (), occasionally with a soft "g" or "j" sound (). Lewis and Clark's original journals mention Sacagawea by name seventeen times, spelled eight different ways, all with a "g". Clark used ''Sahkahgarwea, Sahcahgagwea, Sarcargahwea'', and ''Sahcahgahweah'', while Lewis used ''Sahcahgahwea, Sahcahgarweah, Sahcargarweah'', and ''Sahcahgar Wea''. The spelling ''Sacagawea'' was established in 1910 by the
Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior D ...
as the proper usage in government documents. It would be the spelling adopted by the U.S. Mint for use with the dollar coin, as well as the
U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...
and the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
. The spelling is also used by numerous historical scholars.


Sakakawea

''Sakakawea'' () is the next most widely-adopted spelling, and is the most-often accepted among specialists. Proponents say the name comes from the
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...
''tsakáka wía'' ('bird woman'). Charbonneau told expedition members that his wife's name meant "Bird Woman," and in May 1805 Lewis used the Hidatsa meaning in his journal:
handsome river of about fifty yards in width discharged itself into the shell river… is stream we called Sah-ca-gah-we-ah or bird woman's River, after our interpreter the Snake woman.
''Sakakawea'' is the official spelling of her name according to the
Three Affiliated Tribes The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes ( Mandan: ''Miiti Naamni''; Hidatsa: ''Awadi Aguraawi''; Arikara: ''ačitaanu' táWIt''), is a Native American Nation resulting from the alliance of ...
, which include the
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent ...
. This spelling is widely used throughout
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
(where she is considered a state heroine), notably in the naming of
Lake Sakakawea Lake Sakakawea is a large reservoir in the north central United States, impounded in 1953 by Garrison Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam located in the Missouri River basin in central North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Sa ...
, the extensive reservoir of
Garrison Dam Garrison Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Missouri River in central North Dakota, U.S. Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1947 to 1953, at over in length, the dam is the fifth-largest earthen dam in the world. The re ...
on the Missouri River. The
North Dakota State Historical Society The State Historical Society of North Dakota is an agency that preserves and presents history through museums and historic sites in the state of North Dakota. The agency operates the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck, which serves as a his ...
quotes Russell Reid's 1986 book ''Sakakawea: The Bird Woman'':
Her Hidatsa name, which Charbonneau stated meant "Bird Woman," should be spelled "Tsakakawias" according to the foremost Hidatsa language authority, Dr.
Washington Matthews Washington Matthews (June 17, 1843 – March 2, 1905) was a surgeon in the United States Army, ethnographer, and linguist known for his studies of Native American peoples, especially the Navajo. Early life and education Matthews was born in Ki ...
. When this name is anglicized for easy pronunciation, it becomes Sakakawea, "Sakaka" meaning "bird" and "wea" meaning "woman." This is the spelling adopted by North Dakota. The spelling authorized for the use of federal agencies by the United States Geographic Board is Sacagawea. Although not closely following Hidatsa spelling, the pronunciation is quite similar and the Geographic Board acknowledged the name to be a Hidatsa word meaning "Bird Woman.
Irving W. Anderson, president of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, says:
e Sakakawea spelling similarly is not found in the Lewis and Clark journals. To the contrary, this spelling traces its origin neither through a personal connection with her nor in any primary literature of the expedition. It has been independently constructed from two Hidatsa Indian words found in the dictionary ''Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa Indians'' (1877), published by the
Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...
. Compiled by a United States Army surgeon, Dr.
Washington Matthews Washington Matthews (June 17, 1843 – March 2, 1905) was a surgeon in the United States Army, ethnographer, and linguist known for his studies of Native American peoples, especially the Navajo. Early life and education Matthews was born in Ki ...
, 65 years following Sacagawea's death, the words appear verbatim in the dictionary as "tsa-ka-ka, noun; a bird," and "mia ia, bia noun; a woman.


In popular culture

Some fictional accounts speculate that Sacagawea was romantically involved with Lewis or Clark during their expedition. But, while the journals show that she was friendly with Clark and would often do favors for him, the idea of a romantic liaison was created by novelists who wrote much later about the expedition. This fiction was perpetuated in the
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
film '' The Far Horizons'' (1955).


Film and television

Several movies, both documentaries and fiction, have been made about, or featuring, Sacagawea: * '' The Far Horizons'' (1955) – played by
Donna Reed Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in ...
* '' Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West'' (2002) – played by
Alex Rice Alexandrea Kawisenhawe Rice (born September 16, 1972) is an Aboriginal Canadian actress. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Early life Rice was born September 16, 1972, into a Kanien'kehaka ( Mohawk) family on the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec, ...
* ''Jefferson's West'' (2003) – played by Cedar Henry * ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'', Season 15, Episode 11: ''
Margical History Tour "Margical History Tour" is the eleventh episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 8, 2004. This is one of several Simpsons episo ...
'' (2004) – played by
Lisa Simpson Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. She is the middle child and most accomplished of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in '' The Tracey Ullman ...
* ''Journey of Sacagawea'' (2004) * ''Bill and Meriwether's Excellent Adventure'' (2006) – played by Crystal Lysne * ''
Night at the Museum ''Night at the Museum'' is a 2006 fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. It is based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by Croatian illustrator Milan Trenc. The film had an ense ...
'' (2006) – played by
Mizuo Peck Mizuo Peck (born August 18, 1977) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Sacagawea in the ''Night at the Museum'' film series. Life and career Peck was born and raised in New York. Her father was from Hamden, Connecticut. As a ...
* ''The Spirit of Sacajawea'' (2007) * '' Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian'' (2009) – played by Mizuo Peck * '' Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb'' (2014) – played by Mizuo Peck In 1967, the actress Victoria Vetri, under the name Angela Dorian, played Sacajawea in the episode "The Girl Who Walked the West" of the syndicated television series, ''
Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...
''. The sketch comedy show
Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Br ...
features a skit about Sacagawea.


Literature

Two early twentieth-century novels shaped much of the public perception of Sacagawea. ''The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark'' (1902), was written by American
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
Eva Emery Dye Eva Emery Dye (1855 – February 25, 1947) was an American writer, historian, and prominent member of the women's suffrage movement. As the author of several historical novels, fictional yet thoroughly researched, she is credited with "romant ...
and published in anticipation of the expedition's centennial. The
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
embraced her as a female hero, and numerous stories and essays about her were published in ladies' journals. A few decades later,
Grace Raymond Hebard Grace Raymond Hebard (July 2, 1861 – October 1936) gained prominence as a Wyoming historian, suffragist, pioneering scholar, prolific writer, political economist and noted University of Wyoming educator. Hebard's standing as a historian in pa ...
published ''Sacajawea: Guide and Interpreter of Lewis and Clark'' (1933) to even greater success. Sacagawea has since become a popular figure in historical and young adult novels. In her novel '' Sacajawea'' (1984), Anna Lee Waldo explored the story of Sacajawea's returning to Wyoming 50 years after her departure. The author was well aware of the historical research supporting an 1812 death, but she chose to explore the oral tradition.


Music and theatre

* In Philip Glass's "Piano Concerto No. 2 after Lewis & Clark", the second movement is entitled "Sacagawea". * Sacagawea is mentioned in the ''
Schoolhouse Rock ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ABC. The th ...
'' song "Elbow Room" as the guide for Lewis and Clark. * Sacagewea is referenced in
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
's song " Black Man" from the album ''
Songs in the Key of Life ''Songs in the Key of Life'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder. A double album, it was released on September 28, 1976, by Tamla Records, a division of Motown. It was recorded primarily at Crys ...
'' (1976). * Tingstad & Rumbel's 1988 album ''Legends'' includes a piece entitled "Sacajawea". *''Sacagawea'' is the name of a musical by
Craig Bohmler Craig Bohmler (born April 7, 1956)Hansen, Niels-Henning."En tilgang til den klassiske Musik" NielsHenning.dk. p. 145. Retrieved August 12, 2019. is an American composer who specializes in opera and musical theater. His musicals include ''Gunmetal B ...
and Mary Bracken Phillips. It was commissioned by the Willows Theatre Company in northern California and premiered at the annual John Muir Festival in the summer of 2008 at the Alhambra Performing Arts Center in Martinez.Craig, Pat. 3 August 2008.
Willows Theatre presents ''Sacagawea'', another theatrical chapter in Western history
" ''
East Bay Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa and Al ...
''.
* In 2010, Italian pianist and composer
Alessandra Celletti Alessandra Celletti (born 6 June 1966) is an Italian pianist, vocalist, songwriter and composer, best known as an interpreter of Erik Satie. Biography Alessandra Celletti comes from a purely classical background, graduating at the Conserva ...
released ''Sketches of Sacagawea'', a
limited-edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
tribute box set with an album and accompanying book, on Al-Kemi Lab.


Other media

''
The Dinner Party ''The Dinner Party'' is an installation artwork by feminist artist Judy Chicago. Widely regarded as the first epic feminist artwork, it functions as a symbolic history of women in civilization. There are 39 elaborate place settings on a triang ...
'', an artwork installation by
feminist art Feminist art is a category of art associated with the late 1960s and 1970s feminist movement. Feminist art highlights the societal and political differences women experience within their lives. The hopeful gain from this form of art is to bri ...
ist
Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...
, features a place setting for Sacagawea in Wing Three, part of ''American Revolution to the Women's Revolution''. The first episode of the history
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
, ''The Broadsides'', includes discussion of Sacagawea and her accomplishments during the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
.


Memorials and honors

The Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural, and Educational Center, located in
Salmon, Idaho Salmon is a city in Lemhi County, Idaho. The population was 3,112 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Lemhi County. Located in the Lemhi River valley, Salmon is home to the Sacajawea Interpretive, Cultural and Education Center, wh ...
, by the rivers and mountains of Sacajawea's homeland. It contains a small museum and gift shop, in a park. It is "owned and operated by the City of Salmon, in partnership with the
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
, Idaho Governor's Lewis & Clark Trail Committee, Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho Department of Fish & Game, and numerous non-profit and volunteer organizations." Sacagawea was an important member of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
. The
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
of the early 20th century adopted her as a symbol of women's worth and independence, erecting several statues and plaques in her memory, and doing much to spread the story of her accomplishments. In 1959, Sacagawea was inducted into the
Hall of Great Westerners The Hall of Great Westerners was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1958. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of more than 200 men and women of the American ...
of the
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native Americans in the United States, American Indian art works and Artifact (archaeology), ar ...
. In 1976, she was inducted into the
National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...
in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
. In 2001, she was given the title of Honorary Sergeant,
Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...
, by President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. In 2003, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. The USS ''Sacagawea'' is one of several United States ships named in her honor.


Coinage

In 2000, the
United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...
issued the
Sacagawea dollar The Sacagawea dollar (also known as the "golden dollar") is a United States dollar coin introduced in 2000, although not minted for general circulation between 2002 to 2008 and again from 2012 onward because of its general unpopularity with th ...
coin in her honor, depicting Sacagawea and her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Because no contemporary image of Sacagawea exists, the face on the coin was modeled on a modern Shoshone-
Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...
woman, Randy'L He-dow Teton. The portrait design is unusual, as the copyrights have been assigned to and are owned by the U.S. Mint. The portrait is not in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
, as most US coin designs are.


Geography and parks

*
Lake Sakakawea Lake Sakakawea is a large reservoir in the north central United States, impounded in 1953 by Garrison Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam located in the Missouri River basin in central North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Sa ...
in North Dakota * Sacajawea Memorial Area, at
Lemhi Pass Lemhi Pass is a high mountain pass in the Beaverhead Mountains, part of the Bitterroot Range in the Rocky Mountains and within Salmon-Challis National Forest. The pass lies on the Montana-Idaho border on the continental divide, at an elevation ...
, a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
managed by the
National Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
and located on the boundary of Montana and Idaho, where visitors can hike the
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail is a route across the United States commemorating the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 to 1806. It is part of the National Trails System of the United States. It extends for some from Pittsburgh, Pe ...
. The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) created the memorial area in 1932 to honor Sacajawea for her role in the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. *
Mount Sacagawea Mount Sacagawea () is the eighth-highest peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming and the seventh-highest in the Wind River Range. It was named after Sacagawea, the young Lemhi Shoshone woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition as an interpre ...
, Fremont County,
Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
, and the associated Sacagawea Glacier *
Sacagawea Heritage Trail The Sacagawea Heritage Trail is a relatively flat multi-use recreational trail in the Tri-Cities, Washington. It travels along the Columbia River for its entire length, forming a loop that connects Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. The entire trail ...
, a bike trail in
Tri-Cities, Washington The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities ( Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. The cities border one another, making the Tri-Cities se ...
* Sacajawea Patera, a
caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...
on the planet
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
* Sacajawea Peak **
Wallowa County, Oregon Wallowa County () is the northeastern most county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,391, making it Oregon's fifth-least populous county. Its county seat is Enterprise. According to '' Oregon Geographic Nam ...
** Sacagawea Park,
Gallatin County, Montana Gallatin County is located in the U.S. state of Montana. With its county seat in Bozeman, it is the second-most populous county in Montana, with a population of 118,960 in the 2020 Census. The county's prominent geographical features are the ...
**
Custer County, Idaho Custer County is a rural mountain county in the center of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,275. The county seat is Challis. Established in 1881, the county was named for the General Custer Mine, where gold ...
* Sacagawea River in Montana *
Sacajawea State Park Sacajawea State Park is a public recreation area and historical preserve in the city of Pasco, Washington, covering at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers where the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped on October 16, 1805. The stat ...
in
Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 59,781 at the 2010 census, and 75,432 as of the July 1, 2019 Census Bureau estimate. Pasco is one of three cities (the others b ...


Sculpture

* Astoria, Oregon — ''Sacagawea and Baby'' by Jim Demetro: a life-size bronze statue of Sacagawea and Jean-Baptiste, located at the Clatsop National Memorial, Netul Landing in
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (including the former Fort Clatsop National Memorial), located in the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia River, commemorates the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Administration of the park, which include ...
, outside the visitor center. *
Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...
— by
Leonard Crunelle Leonard Crunelle (July 8, 1872 in Lens, Pas-de-Calais – 1944) was a French-born American sculptor especially known for his sculptures of children. Crunelle immigrated with his family to the United States and worked as a coal miner in Decatur, ...
(1910): depicted with baby Pomp, located on the grounds of the
North Dakota State Capitol The North Dakota State Capitol is the house of government of the U.S. state of North Dakota. The capitol, a 21-story Art Deco tower, is located in Bismarck at 600 East Boulevard Avenue, and is the tallest habitable building in the state. On  ...
. In 2003, the state gave a replica to the
National Statuary Hall Collection The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...
in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. *
Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...
: installed in front of the Idaho History Museum in July 2003. * Charlottesville, Virginia — monument was removed by the city on July 10, 2021; titled ''Their First View of the Pacific'' by
Charles Keck Charles Keck (September 9, 1875 – April 23, 1951) was an American sculptor from New York City, New York. Early life and education Keck studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League of New York with Philip Martiny ...
(1919). It was a statue of Meriwether Lewis,
William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...
, and Sacagawea. The Charlottesville City Council voted in November 2019 to remove the statue from its location, a decision "cheered by the local Native American tribe, the
Monacan Indian Nation The Monacan Indian Nation is one of eleven Native American tribes recognized since the late 20th century by the U.S. state of Virginia. In January 2018, the United States Congress passed an act to provide federal recognition as tribes to the Mo ...
, and descendants of Sacagawea’s family in Idaho. They said the statue presented a weak and servile image of Sacagawea, who was rather an essential guide and interpreter for Lewis and Clark." * Cheney, Washington — by Harold Balazs (1960): a statue of Sacagawea is displayed in the rose garden in front of the President's House at Eastern Washington University. *
Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick " Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,066 at ...
— by Harry Jackson (1980): painted bronze, 114 inches, the statue is located in the Greever Cashman Garden at the
Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the ...
* Cody, Wyoming — by Richard V. Greeves (2005): Bronze, 72 inches, the sculpture is in the Robbie Powwow Garden at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. *
Fort Benton, Montana Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. Established in 1846, Fort Benton is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in Montana. The city's waterfront area, the most important aspect of its 19 ...
— by Robert Scriver: a sculpture of Sacagawea and her baby, and Captains Lewis and Clark, in the riverside sculpture park. *
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
— by
Glenna Goodacre Glenna Maxey Goodacre (August 28, 1939 – April 13, 2020) was an American sculptor, best known for having designed the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar that entered circulation in the US in 2000, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, ...
(2001): Sacajawea statue outside the
National Cowgirl Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an educ ...
. *
Godfrey, Illinois Godfrey is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,982 at the 2010 census. Godfrey is located within the Riverbend portion of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Geography Godfrey is located at (38.94809 ...
— by
Glenna Goodacre Glenna Maxey Goodacre (August 28, 1939 – April 13, 2020) was an American sculptor, best known for having designed the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar that entered circulation in the US in 2000, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, ...
: at
Lewis and Clark Community College Lewis and Clark Community College is a public community college in Godfrey, Illinois. It serves approximately 15,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The college has nine locations throughout the St. Louis Metro East, including a campu ...
; by the same artist who designed the image on the
Sacagawea dollar The Sacagawea dollar (also known as the "golden dollar") is a United States dollar coin introduced in 2000, although not minted for general circulation between 2002 to 2008 and again from 2012 onward because of its general unpopularity with th ...
*
Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...
— "Explorers at the Portage", by Robert Scriver, contains a bronze 3/4 scale statue of Sacagawea, her baby Jean-Baptiste, Lewis, Clark, African American
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, and the
Newfoundland dog The Newfoundland is a large working dog. They can be black, brown, or black and white. However, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, before it became part of the confederation of Canada, only black and Landseer (white-and-black) coloured dogs wer ...
Seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...
, at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretative Center. An earlier cersion of this piece, in Overlook Park in Great Falls, omits Sacajawea. *
Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
— ''Corps of Discovery Monument'' by Eugene L. Daub (2000): includes life-size figures of Sacagawea and Jean-Baptiste, York, and Seaman on the bluff at Clark's Point overlook (Case Park, Quality Hill) *
Lander, Wyoming Lander is a city in Wyoming, United States, and the county seat of Fremont County. It is in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River, just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation. It is a tourism center with several nea ...
: in local cemetery, 14 miles West on U.S. 287, and then 2 miles West (after a turn); turnoff about three miles South of Fort Washakie; there is a tall statue of Sacagawea (6 ft) with tombstones downhill of her, husband, and two children; there also is a monument on site. * Lewiston, Idaho: multiple statues, including one along the main approach to the city. *
Longview, Washington Longview is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is the principal city of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cowlitz County. Longview's population was 37,818 at the time of the 2 ...
, a statue of Sacagawea and Jean-Baptiste was placed in Lake Sacajawea Park near the Hemlock St. footbridge in 2005. *
Mobridge, South Dakota Mobridge also Kȟowákataŋ Otȟúŋwahe ( Lakota: ''Kȟowákataŋ Otȟúŋwahe''; lit. "Over-the-River Town") is a city in Walworth County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,261 according to the 2020 census. History Located i ...
— ''The Sacagawea Monument'': an
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
erected at the supposed site of her death, which honors Sacagawea as a member of the Shoshone tribe and for her contribution to the
Corps of Discovery expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
; the associated marker "dates her death as December 20, 1812 and states that her body must be buried somewhere near the site of old Fort Manuel located 30 miles north of the marker." *
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
— by
Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...
(1905): '' Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste'' was unveiled July 6, 1905 and moved to Washington Park, April 6, 1906. * Portland, Oregon — by
Glenna Goodacre Glenna Maxey Goodacre (August 28, 1939 – April 13, 2020) was an American sculptor, best known for having designed the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar that entered circulation in the US in 2000, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, ...
: located at
Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & C ...
, permanently installed on September 5, 2004/ *
Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby c ...
— by Tom McClelland (2008) *
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
— by Harry Weber (2002): a statue of Sacagawea with her baby in a cradle board is included in the diorama of the Lewis & Clark expedition that is on display in the lobby of the St. Louis Drury Plaza Hotel, located in the historical International Fur Exchange building. *
Three Forks, Montana Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the M ...
, in Sacajawea Park — ''Coming Home'' by Mary Michael: statue honoring Sacagawea, built in the area where she was abducted as a young girl and taken to
Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still re ...
lands. *
Wind River Indian Reservation The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, ...
, Wyoming: According to oral tradition, Sacagawea left her husband Toussaint Charbonneau and fled to Wyoming in the 1860s; her alleged burial site is located in the reservation's cemetery, with a gravestone inscription dating her death as April 9, 1884, however, oral tradition also indicates a woman named Porivo (recorded as "Bazil's mother") occupies that grave.


See also

* '' Sacagawea's Nickname''


Notes


References


External links


"Profile: Sacagawea"
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

''Museum of Human Beings''
a book by
Colin Sargent Colin W. Sargent, Ph.D., is an American author, magazine publisher, and playwright. His best-known works include his debut novel ''Museum of Human Beings'', included in the National American Indian Heritage Month Booklist, which delves into the hear ...

Sacagawea – A Pioneer Interpreter
at teck-translations.com * Lewis and Clark Expedition Maps and Receipt. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{Authority control 1788 births 1812 deaths 19th-century Native Americans American folklore Captives of Native Americans Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees Explorers of Oregon Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Lewis and Clark Expedition people People from Lander, Wyoming People from Lemhi County, Idaho Shoshone people Slavery of Native Americans