Things I didn't know about Sacajawea.

[BlueIris]

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 12:50 AM - Edit history (1)

(For starters, we have different ways of spelling her name; Sacagawea is also common.)

This is taken from the broadcast of Garrison Keillor's show, A Writer's Almanac, for April 6 of this year.

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2012/04/06

"It's the birthday of the Shoshone woman Sacajawea, born in Idaho (sometime around 1789). She was kidnapped at age 10 by the Hidatsa tribe, sold into slavery, and bought by a French-Canadian trapper who made her one of his two wives. When Lewis and Clark hired the trapper to guide them to the Pacific, Sacajawea — a teenager with her two-month-old baby on her back — was part of the package. She accompanied the party to the Pacific Ocean and back, acting as their interpreter. She could speak half a dozen Indian languages, she told them which plants were edible, and, William Clark said, tribes were inclined to believe that their party was friendly when they saw Sacajawea because a war party would never travel with a woman, especially one with a baby.

When the trip was over, Sacajawea's husband got $500 and 320 acres of land. She died on December 1812, of a "fever," at the age of 23. Clark legally adopted her two children — the boy who had been a baby on the expedition, Jean Baptiste, and an infant daughter, Lisette."

Here's some more info from Native American Encyclopedia:

http://nativeamericanencyclopedia.com/sacagawea/

"...Her main duties were as a translator, and this worked in a very circuitous way. For example, with the Shoshone, she would translate into Hidatsa to her husband Charbonneau, who would then translate into French (he knew little English, but several others in the party knew French). The value of having Sacagawea as a Shoshone translator was proved when they reached her old village, and she was reunited with her brother, Cameahwait, who had by that time become a tribal leader. This smoothed the way in the negotiation to obtain much-needed horses from the Shoshone."

I think part of the great purpose of this group is to study the under-recognized or misrepresented aspects of the lives of notable women. I can't believe Sacajawea died so young! None of this was covered in any of my history books. You learn something new every day.

[NYC_SKP]

1. What an impressive body of work and experiences in so few years.

thanks!

[iemitsu]

2. and why did clark adopt the children?

was their father also dead?
perhaps the links answer these questions but i have to read essays tonight before going to bed and shouldn't be reading this at all.
interesting though.

[BlueIris]

3. Yeah, I get the feeling that this forum is going to be good for

"distracting" us from other things we need to be doing.

ETA: One website I found, lewisandclarktravel.com, claims that the children's biological father was "believed" to be dead at the time Clark adopted the kids. I guess that doesn't really tell us anything about why Clark volunteered, though.

http://www.lewisandclarktravel.com/index.php/site/what_happened_to_sacagaweas_children/

"The earliest probate court records of St. Louis were discovered in an old safe at the courthouse last fall, (Fall, 2007) containing guardianship proceedings regarding Sacagawea’s children.The story made the Fox News broadcast in St Louis on January 21, 2008. The record, shown here, is of an Orphans Court hearing held on August 11, 1813. William Clark’s name is added to the document, substituted for the name of the original guardian, John Luttig, who was the company clerk of the Missouri Fur Company.

What’s the story behind this? Lewis and Clark fans know that Toussaint, also known by his nickname “Pompey,” or as Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, was born on February 11, 1805 at Fort Mandan near Bismarck, North Dakota. This would make him 8 ½ years old. However, William Clark was not in St Louis at the time the hearing was held. He would have known the precise age of his adopted son, who was already living in St Louis and attending a boarding school. The father, Toussaint Charbonneau, Sr. was also not “deceased” though he was believed to be so at the time. He lived until about 1840."

[iemitsu]

7. thanks for adding these tidbits.

i am allowing this thread to distract me now and plan to come back later.
good stuff you found.
thanks

[AnneD]

14. Don't know if husband was dead but.....

trappers life was hard and lonely. They could be gone for months on end and they could have died on a trip. The news might never get back to family.

A wife with 2 kids in tow would have been a drag. The kids with out a wife to care for them would have been nigh on to impossible to care for and trap too. I am sure the adoption provided a better life for the children. And I am sure it was a debt gladly paid. Some Indian tribes have a very different outlook on adoption-even adopting grown adults.

One of my great uncles was given the name of my great grandfather's good friend and business partner, a Scottish bachelor that died without some one to carry on his name. It was done in friendship with no thought of gain. This is how we have a Scottish name woven into our family names-in honor of this very dear friend. It was different back then.

[snappyturtle]

4. So interesting. Thank you. Hope everyone will read

the full article.

[Brother Buzz]

5. I've always theought Pomp, Sacagawea’s son, was the real story

Sacagawea’s son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, or “Pompy,” was three months old when the Corps of Discovery left Fort Mandan. His parents accepted William Clark’s offer to educate him, and he moved into Clark’s St. Louis home when he was six. At age 18, he went to Europe for six years with Duke Paul of Wuerttemburg, an enthusiastic early tourist of the American West. Returning to the U.S., Jean Baptiste became a mountain man and fur trader, and a guide whose clients included John C. Frémont. Appointed alcalde (mayor) at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. He later settled in Northern California and was a Forty-Eighter, Hotel manager, and died in Oregon, en route to Montana, in 1866.

[iemitsu]

8. you got the real scoop.

thanks.

[villager]

6. She's one of the lead figures in the "Lewis & Clark" installment of my time travel series

...for young readers! Featuring another undersung historical heroine in the counter-story: Sally Hemings!

But yeah -- they wouldn't have made without that particular teenage mother in tow. Her son, nicknamed "Bomp," became a celebrity after, and -- of course -- was the last living "survivor" of the L&C expedition for many decades...

[iemitsu]

9. he would have been the last survivor all right.

but how much of the trip did he remember?

[Brother Buzz]

12. Two members of the expedition outlived Pompy

WILLARD, Pvt. Alexander: B 1777 Charlestown, NH; gunsmith & blacksmith; m Eleanor MACDONALD, 7 sons & 5 daughters. Emigrated to CA by covered wagon. D 6 Mar 1865 near Sacramento, CA.

GASS, Sgt. Patrick: B 12 Jun 1771, Falling Springs, PA m (age 60) to "daughter of a judge"; had 7 children. D 1 Apr 1870--99 years of age. Last survivor of the expedition.

Gass maintained a journal:

When the expedition returned in 1806, Gass's friends encouraged him to publish his journal. Understanding that he lacked the skill to edit and make the composition comprehensible for the general reading public, Gass approached a schoolteacher, David McKeehan, to prepare the record for printing. McKeehan agreed, and the pair decided that Gass would receive 100 copies of the final work, and own the copyright. The balance of the printed editions would belong to McKeehan. Zadok Cramer published the book. Markets and timing proved kind to Mr. McKeehan, as the country was excited to read about the newly returned expedition and the discoveries and knowledge the explorers brought back. The Gass edition of the Lewis and Clark Journals enjoyed several printings within the United States as well as translations into German and French, and printings in England. The editions printed from Clark and Lewis's papers would not be published for another seven years

[villager]

15. Putting aside the other version/theory that Pomp lived until 1885, you're right!

Been a few years since I was immersed in the research, and possible I transposed my memory of Gass' age-span -- the 99 years -- with Pomp.

Thanks for the reminders!

I used Gass' journal as one of the research sources. Willard is still an enigma to me -- but thanks to the journals, there's a lot of Gass and Lewis on the trail with my time-travelers.

Pomp had quite a life of his own, afterwards!

[Little Star]

13. How can I find the time travel series for young readers you've got villager? n/t

[villager]

16. I will PM you right now!

Thanks for asking!

[frogmarch]

10. Thanks for this.

Most of what I "knew" about her was from a movie about Lewis and Clark starring Fred McMurray as one of the explorers, and Donna Reed as Sacajawea. and

Is it true that in Lewis's journal he sometimes referred to her by the nickname "Jawie"? In the movie, Fred McMurray sometimes called her "Janie," and I kept thinking that in the actual journal she may have been referred to as "Jawie" at times, but that Hollywood screwed up and thought the w was an n.

[byronius]

11. Great Post.