sacajawea after the expedition

     Upon the end of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1806, Sacajawea, her husband Charbonneau, and their son Jean Baptiste went to St. Louis, Missouri.  Although being a small town at the time Charbonneau could not stand civilization. Charbonneau left his family to go on frequent tracking trips. Sacajawea felt that it was alright for him to do what felt right.
     Sacajawea and Charbonneau did make an effort to dwell in the country side. On October 30 1810 Clark was kind enough to sell the some land on the Missouri river. Sacajawea was prepared for the worst, but only after a year Charbonneau decided that the life of a farmer was not fit for them. They ended up selling back the property.  Sacajawea and Charbonneau ventured into the frontier region to hunt, trade, and sell.  It was reported that Sacajawea died 25 years old on December 20, 1819.  The Shoshone tribe say that Sacajawea lived on their land until she died in 1884.  Her death is still very controversial.

      

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Myths

There is not much reliable historical information on Sacagawea, for example there is no portrait on her.  One myth is that she was romantically involved with Lewis or Clark; the journals often shown that she was very friendly with Clark and would often do favors for him, the idea of them being romantically involved is possible.

Another myth that includes Sacagawea involves a Shoshone woman who claimed to be her, and who died at the Wind River Band reservation in Wyoming on April 9, 1884. The Wyoming DAR in 1963 went so far as to create a Sacagawea monument near Lander just because of this claim. There is no proof of it being true, most serious explores don’t believe it either. 

Sacagawea was reported to have died of a fever at Fort Manuel. She would have been around 25 years old. In 1813, The Shoshoni claim that Sacagawea did not die at Fort Manuel. They say that she traveled to Shoshoni land to live with her tribe, dying only in 1884. In this version, even Jean Baptiste came to live with them, dying a year after his mother.

Sacagawea's role along the Route

Sacagawea was deemed the interpreter of the Lewis & Clark expedition but she was also able to assist them in navigation. She helped a little in navigating when she was far away from areas that she knew. When she got closer to her home town she was able to assist more in navigation. She also had a husband who could also interpret and spoke many languages. He was a very valuable asset to Lewis and Clark.

    

Early life

Before Sacajawea was part of the Lewis and Clark expedition she had a very hectic life.  Sacajawea was originally from the Shoshone Native American tribe.  As a teenager Sacajawea was kidnapped from her tribe by a Hidasta raiding tribe.  After she was kidnapped her named was changed to Sacajawea, which means “bird woman”.  Her name before she was kidnapped his unknown. Before she was kidnapped she was married to a Shoshone man around the age of 13 or 14. Later on a French-Canadian traitor named Toussaint Charbonneau married Sacajawea.  Sacajawea is estimated to have met Lewis and Clark around the age 17 to 19.