The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped nearby on October 16 and 17, 1805 on its way to the Pacific Ocean. One of the members of the Expedition was a young Northern Shoshone, Sacagawea.
During the winter of 1804-05 at Fort Mandan, in present-day North Dakota , Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark hired Sacagawea's French-Canadian husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, as an interpreter. Sacagawea would accompany him as the Expedition's "interpretess," as termed in the captains' journals.
Sacagawea has been celebrated as a guide who bravely led the Expedition up the Missouri River, over the Rocky Mountains, and down the Snake and Columbia rivers to the Pacific Ocean, while caring for her infant son and husband. Expedition journals, however, reveal Sacagawea as an interpreter and food gatherer, symbol of friendship, and link to her own tribe. Although not a guide for the entire journey, she did recognize landmarks in the lands of her own people in the Rocky Mountains.
In 1931, the nearby state park was named in her honor.
Comments 0 comments