Sacagawea's death in was not accepted by White or Native American peoples until historical documents were unearthed by historians and publicized in the middle of the 20th century. When writer Henry Brackenridge met Charbonneau and Sacagawea in , he described her as a "good creature, of a mild and gentle disposition, greatly attached to the whites, whose manners and dress she tries to imitate, but she had become sickly, and longed to revisit her native country.
On December 20, , at the frontier trading post on the Missouri River in present Corson County, South Dakota, trapper John Luttig recorded a historic journal entry: "this Evening the Wife of Charbonneau a Snake Squaw [the common term used to denote Shoshone Indians], died of a putrid fever she was a good and the best Women in the fort, aged abt 25 years she left a fine infant girl.
In a book published in , Grace Hebard theorized that Sacagawea lived a long life and did return to her Shoshone people in Wyoming, where she died at years of age in Researchers needed to dig deeper. They theorized that William Clark, who remained close to Sacagawea, was certainly in a position to know what became of her. Checking Clark's records they found a list of the expedition members which he compiled between and In it, Clark noted: "Se-car-ja-we-au Dead. In February , two months after Luttig's journal entry, Fort Manual Lisa, located along the Missouri River where many tribes made their home, was attacked by hostile Indians killing 15 men Anderson, The survivors included John Luttig and Sacagawea's infant daughter.
Charbonneau was presumed dead Drumm, However, Sacagawea is not mentioned. An adoption document made in the Orphans Court Records in St. Louis, Missouri states that "On August 11, , William Clark became the guardian of "Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, a boy about ten years, and Lizette Charbonneau, a girl about one year old. Orphans Court Records, St. Louis, Missouri. August 11, 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 citing Sacagawea's existence appears in William Clark's original notes written between For Sacagawea he writes: "Se car ja we au- Dead" Jackson, Therefore, she could not have died with the Shoshone as an old woman in This document, the adoption record, and the three independent journal entries verify the historical belief that Sacagawea died of disease while still young, having been left unappreciated and in obscurity at the South Dakota trading post called Fort Manuel Lisa.
Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Meriwether Lewis teamed up with William Clark to form the historic expedition pairing Lewis and Clark, who together explored the lands west of the Mississippi.
William Clark was half of the famous exploration team Lewis and Clark, who explored and mapped the unknown lands west of the Mississippi River. Susan B. Anthony was a suffragist, abolitionist, author and speaker who was the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Red Cloud was a chief of the Oglala Lakota tribe. He is best known for his success in confrontations with the U. Pocahontas, later known as Rebecca Rolfe, was a Native American who assisted English colonists during their first years in Virginia.
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Abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth is best known for her speech on racial inequalities, "Ain't I a Woman?
Sacagawea was a Shoshone interpreter best known for being the only woman on the Lewis and Clark Expedition into the American West. Olivia Rodrigo —. Megan Thee Stallion —. Bowen Yang —. Saca g awea and her baby helped those they encountered feel it was safe to befriend the newcomers. Sacagawea faced the same dangers and difficulties as the rest of the expedition members, in addition to caring for her infant son. Charbonneau was steering a boat through choppy waters when a sudden gust of wind caused the boat to tip sideways and fill with water.
Sacagawea stayed calm and rescued instruments, books, gunpowder, medicines, and clothing from the water. Without these supplies, the expedition would have been in serious trouble. They were near an area where her people camped. On August 15, , the expedition encountered the Shoshone tribe.
Lewis and Clark arranged for a meeting with the chief, Cameahwait, and Sacagawea served as the translator. As she began interpre ting, she realized that the chief was in fact her brother. She ran to embrace him and wept from joy. Though she was moved to tears, she resumed her duty as interpreter. She convinced the Shoshone to provide additional guides and horses to the expedition members. Sacagawea continued with the Corps of Discover y and the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean on November 15, Soon after, they needed to determine where they would establish their winter quarters.
For the return journey, the Corps divided into two groups , one led by Lewis and the other by Clark. Traveling with Clark, Sacagawea guided his group south of the Yellowstone River by recommending a route through the Rocky M ountains known today as Bozeman Pass. Clark wrote in his journal on July 13 , The two groups reunited on August 12, They arrived at the Hidatsa villages two days later, where Sacagawea and her family departed the expedition.
Sacagawea was living in Fort Manuel when she died on December 20, The cause of her death was putrid fever or typhus, a parasite bacterium spread by fleas. This disease is deadly unless treated with antibiotics. At her death both her children, Lizette and Jean Babtiste, were entrusted to Clark who formally took their guardianship by a St.
Jean Babtiste was already under the care of Clark, who enrolled him in boarding school, when his mother died. It is believed that Lizette did not survive infancy as there are no further accounts her life. Toussaint Charbonneau was presumed death. By not specifying her name he left doubt for those who did not want to see Sacagawea dead and her legend started growing immediately.
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