Sacagawea
1788?-1812?
After President
Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France, he sent two of
his trusted military aides, Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark, to lead an
expedition to scope out the new
property and report back to him (1804-06). Traveling up the Missouri
River, they
found a French Canadian fur trapper living among the Mandan
people with a couple of native wives that he had purchased from the
Shoshone tribe out west. Lewis
and Clark hired him as an interpeter but soon found
him to be a major disappointment. Fortunately they were more impressed
by his wife Sacagawea. She made
up for all her husband's shortcomings. She was quick-witted,
resourceful, friendly and knowledgible. She safely guided the
expedition out to the Pacific and back, carrying her infant son the
whole time.
Note on the Illustration: No one knows what she looked like, so this picture is based on her one-dollar coin.