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After more than a year of planning and initial travel, Lewis and Clark and their men reached the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement—about 60 miles northwest of present-day Bismarck, South Dakota–on November 2, 1804, when Sacagawea was about six months pregnant. They recognized the potential value of Sacagawea and Charbonneau’s combined language skills. Most of the Corps members spoke only English, but one, Francois Labiche, spoke French as well. Charbonneau spoke French and Hidatsa; Sacagawea spoke Hidatsa and Shoshone (two very different languages). Through this translation chain, communications with the Shoshone would be possible, and Lewis and Clark recognized that as crucial: the Shoshone had horses they would need to purchase. Without horses, they wouldn’t be able to transport their supplies over the Bitterroot Mountains (a section of the Rockies) and continue toward the Pacific. And they couldn’t procure horses earlier, because they’d be traveling by water until they reached the Rockies’ edge.
Sacagawea delivered her son Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau (known as Baptiste) on February 11, 1805. On April 7, Sacagawea, the baby and Charbonneau headed west with the 31 other Corps members.
Sacagawea and the Corps of Discovery
Within a month, a near-tragedy earned Sacagawea particular respect. The boat in which she was sailing nearly capsized when a squall hit and Charbonneau, the navigator, panicked. Sacagawea had the presence of mind to gather crucial papers, books, navigational instruments, medicines and other provisions that might have otherwise disappeared—all while simultaneously ensuring her baby’s safety. In appreciation, Lewis and Clark named a branch of the Missouri for Sacagawea several days later. Clark, in particular, developed a close bond with Sacagawea as she and Baptiste would often accompany him as he took his turn walking the shore, checking for obstacles in the river that could damage the boats.
Five days after the first members of the Corps crossed the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass, Sacagawea did, as planned, translate the captains’ desire to purchase horses to the Shoshone they encountered. Sacagawea was surprised and happy to recognize the Shoshone’s leader, Chief Cameahwait, as her brother, and they had an emotional reunion.
Sacagawea also put her naturalist’s knowledge to use for the Corps. She could identify roots, plants and berries that were either edible or medicinal. Sacagawea’s memories of Shoshone trails led to Clark’s characterization of her as his “pilot.” She helped navigate the Corps through a mountain pass—today’s Bozeman Pass in Montana—to the Yellowstone River. And although it couldn’t be quantified, the presence of a woman—a Native American, to boot—and baby made the whole corps seem less fearsome and more amiable to the Native Americans the Corps encountered, some of whom had never seen white faces before. This eased tensions that might otherwise have resulted in uncooperativeness at best, violence at worst.
After reaching the Pacific, Sacagawea returned with the rest of the Corps and her husband and son—having survived illness, flash floods, temperature extremes, food shortages, mosquito swarms and so much more—to their starting point, the Hidatsa-Mandan settlement, on August 14, 1806. For his service Charbonneau received 320 acres of land and $500.33; Sacagawea received no compensation.
Sacagawea’s Final Years and Legacy
Three years later, in fall 1809, Sacagawea, Charbonneau and Baptiste ventured to St. Louis, where Charbonneau was taking the kind-hearted Clark up on an offer: Clark would provide the Charbonneau family with land to farm if the parents would agree to let Clark educate Baptiste. The farming didn’t work out, however, and Sacagawea and Charbonneau left Baptiste in St. Louis with Clark—now his godfather—in April 1811 so that they could join a fur-trading expedition.
In August 1812, after giving birth to a daughter, Lisette (or Lizette), Sacagawea’s health declined. By December, she was extremely ill with “putrid fever” (possibly typhoid fever).
She died at 25, on December 22, 1812, in lonely, cold Fort Manuel on a bluff 70 miles south of present-day Bismarck. Within a year, Clark became legal guardian to both Lisette and Baptiste. While little is known of Lisette’s life, Baptiste traveled in Europe and held a variety of jobs in the American West before he died in 1866. Charbonneau died in 1843.
Sacagawea’s fictionalized image as a “genuine Indian princess” was promulgated most widely in the early 20th century by a popular 1902 novel by Eva Emery Dye that took liberties in recounting the travails of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
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