Sacajawea

ON JULY.4,1803,THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,THOMAS JEFFERSON,BOUGHT 820,000 SQUARE MILES,AT 3 CENTS AN ACRE,FROM FRANCE ,THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY MORE THAN DOUBLING THE SIZE OF THE U.S.THE COST,15 MILLION DOLLARS.
THUS THE NEED FOR EXPLORERS TO MAP THE AREA FROM ST.LOUIS TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.........THUS HIRING LEWIS AND CLARK WITH 13 OTHER MEN AND PREGNANT, SACAGAWEA AND TOUSAINT,the man that claimed her as a wife,after she was traded to him.

SACAJAWEA! "THE BIRD LADY"
ON FEBRUARY.11,1805,WHEN SHE WAS AROUND 16 OR 17 YEARS OLD,SHE GAVE BIRTH TO HER SON,RIGHT BEFORE THE EXPEDITION BEGAN,HER LABOR BEGAN WHEN THEY WERE AT FT.MANDAN.ITS BEEN SAID THAT MERIWETHER LEWIS GAVE HER, GROUND UP INTO A POWDER, RATTLESNAKE RATTLE,IT WAS SAID THAT IT SPEEDS UP DELIVERY.
COULD YOU IMAGINE GOING ON A JOURNEY THE WAY THAT SHE DID,WITH A BRAND NEW BABY,TO UNCHARTED TERRITORIES,THE VERY PRIMITIVE WAY THAT SHE HAD TO,STILL BEING SORE FROM CHILD BIRTH,SHE WAS ON HER WAY,BEING A YOUNG GIRL MUST HAVE HELPED.
SHE EVEN GATHERED EDIBLE ROOTS AND BERRIES FOR THE MEN AS A FOOD SOURCE AND ALSO MEDICINE.
ITS BEEN SAID THAT SHE RESCUED SUPPLIES AND IMPORTANT PAPERS AFTER HER BOAT NEARLY CAPSIZED,PUTTING HER OWN LIFE AT RISK.THE GROUP OF EXPLORERS ADMIRED HER CALMNESS.BUT YOU CAN ONLY GUESS THAT AFTER HER ALREADY ABUSED LIFE THIS WAS JUST ANOTHER DAY IN HER TIME,NO BIGGY.

SACAJAWEA,THE REASON I CALL HER A GIRL AND NOT A WOMAN.....IS BECAUSE SHE WAS BARELY 12,YRS OLD WHEN SHE WAS TAKEN FROM HER OWN TRIBE,BY A WAR PARTY OF HIDATSA INDIANS, TO BE A SLAVE,LATER WHEN SHE WAS STILL A YOUNG TEENAGER, SHE WAS SOLD TO A FRENCH TRAPPER,KNOWN AS TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU,HE CLAIMED SACAJAWEA AS A WIFE,AS YOUNG AS SHE WAS,AND ALSO ANOTHER INDIAN GIRL FROM THE SHOSHONE TRIBE,HE BOUGHT THEM BOTH AND MADE THEM HIS "WIVES", SHE WAS SO YOUNG,IT SEEMS TODAY LIKE SUCH A TRAVESTY,USING THESE YOUNG INDIANS AS HIS SLAVES AND ALSO HIS "WIVES".
IF THIS WERE TO HAPPEN TODAY,THE FRENCH TRAPPER,TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU,WOULD BE IN JAIL,BUT THIS HAPPENED DURING THE VERY FIRST PART OF THE 1800S,LITTLE COULD BE DONE FOR THE WOMEN OF AMERICA,THEY WERE BUT SLAVES AND BREEDERS,WITH LITTLE CHANCE OF A DECENT FUTURE.

THE EXPEDITION
HER HUSBAND,TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU,WAS HIRED THROUGH SACAJAWEA BY LEWIS AND CLARK.THEY NEEDED SHE AND HER HUSBAND AS GUIDES AND INTERPRETERS,SINCE SACAJAWEA LIVED WITH THE HIDATSA INDIANS AND SHE WAS,SHOSHONE,SHE WOULD PROVE TO BE VERY USEFUL DURING THE EXPEDITION.
SHE AND THE FRENCH TRAPPER WERE HIRED ON NOV.4,1804,SACAJAWEA WAS ABOUT SIX MONTHS PREGNANT THEN WITH HER SON,JEAN BAPTISTE CHARBONNEAU
THERE WERENT MANY BAD EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER INDIAN TRIBES.MANY OF THEM HAD NEVER SEEN WHITE MEN BEFORE,THEY WERE SHOCKED AT WHAT THEY SAW,BUT THEY ALSO KNEW THAT THESE MEN MUST COME IN PEACE,TRAVELING WITH SACAJAWEA AND HER LITTLE,'POMPY',A NAME GIVEN TO HIM BY CLARK HE ALSO CALLED HIM, "HIS LITTLE DANCING BOY".
DURING THEIR TRAVEL SACAJAWEA MET HER BROTHER AGAIN WHOM SHE HAD NOT SEEN IN FIVE YEARS,SINCE SHE WAS STOLEN BY THE HIDATA INDIANS.HER BROTHER NOW WAS CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT,IT WAS AUG.17,1805,BY THEN HER BABY WAS ONLY 6 MONTHS OLD.IMAGINE TRAVELING WITH A SIX MONTH OLD,WOMEN TODAY WOULD FIND THAT A CHALLENGE.
HERE AT THE SHOSHONE CAMP THEY WERE ABLE TO BUY THE HORSES THEY WOULD NEED TO COMPLETE THE TRIP.
I DONT KNOW IF SACAJAWEA GOT TO SEE HER BROTHER ON THE WAY BACK TO ST.LOUIS BUT I SURE HOPE THEY GOT TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN.

THERE WERENT MANY BAD EXPERIENCES WITH OTHER INDIAN TRIBES.MANY OF THEM HAD NEVER SEEN WHITE MEN BEFORE,THEY WERE SHOCKED AT WHAT THEY SAW,BUT THEY ALSO KNEW THAT THESE MEN MUST COME IN PEACE,TRAVELING WITH SACAJAWEA AND HER LITTLE,'POMPY',A NAME GIVEN TO HIM BY CLARK HE ALSO CALLED HIM, "HIS LITTLE DANCING BOY".
DURING THEIR TRAVEL SACAJAWEA MET HER BROTHER AGAIN WHOM SHE HAD NOT SEEN IN FIVE YEARS,SINCE SHE WAS STOLEN BY THE HIDATA INDIANS.HER BROTHER NOW WAS CHIEF CAMEAHWAIT,IT WAS AUG.17,1805,BY THEN HER BABY WAS ONLY 6 MONTHS OLD.IMAGINE TRAVELING WITH A SIX MONTH OLD,WOMEN TODAY WOULD FIND THAT A CHALLENGE.
HERE AT THE SHOSHONE CAMP THEY WERE ABLE TO BUY THE HORSES THEY WOULD NEED TO COMPLETE THE TRIP.
I DONT KNOW IF SACAJAWEA GOT TO SEE HER BROTHER ON THE WAY BACK TO ST.LOUIS BUT I SURE HOPE THEY GOT TO SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN.
WHEN THE EXPEDITION REACHED THE PLACE WHERE THE COLUMBIA RIVER EMPTIED INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN,THE CAPTAINS HELD A VOTE AS TO WHERE THEY WOULD STAY,SACAJAWEA VOTE COUNTED TOO.THEY THEN BUILT FT.CLATSOP,IN ASTORIA, OREGON.THEY ALL STAYED HERE DURING THE WINTER OF,1805-1806.
WHILE THERE THE LOCAL INDIANS TOLD OF A BEACHED WHALE,SACAJAWEA HAD NEVER SEEN THE OCEAN OR A "BIG FISH",THE PARTY COULD USE THE WHALE BLUBBER AND OIL,CLARK TOOK SACAJAWEA AND CHARBONNEA TO SEE THE BEACHED WHALE.
ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW EXCITED SHE WAS TO SEE ALL OF THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME.
GOING BACK SACAJAWEA,HELPED THE MEN BY REMEMBERING THE TRAILS SHE RAN AS A YOUNGER GIRL.
SHE REMEMBERED A GAP THROUGH A MOUNTAIN,THAT LED TO YELLOW STONE RIVER,BOZEMAN PASS,MONTANA.

SACAJAWEA ARRIVED AT THE HIDATSA-MANDAN VILLAGES ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE EXPLORERS,AND TOUSSAINT CHARBONNEAU.THIS WAS NOT AT ALL FAIR,BUT SACAJAWEA RECEIVED NOTHING FOR ALL THAT SHE DID,AFTER ALL SHE WAS JUST A WOMAN WITH NO RIGHTS,BUT THE MAN SHE HAD TO CALL HUSBAND.......GOT .00 AND ALSO 320 ACRES OF LAND.
LITTLE IS KNOWN OF THE REAL TRUTH BUT AS THE LEGEND GOES,SACAJAWEA,SIX YEARS LATER WAS PREGNANT AGAIN THIS TIME SHE DELIVERED A GIRL,LISETTE,ON DEC.22,1812.LITTLE MORE IS KNOWN, BEING REPORTED IS THAT THE LITTLE SWEETHEART DID NOT MAKE IT THROUGH HER INFANCY?
SACAJAWEA,VERY UNFORTUNATELY DIED AROUND THE AGE OF 25,ITS BELIEVED SHE HAD A DISEASE THAT FOLLOWED HER FROM HER CHILDHOOD.IT TOOK HER LIFE SHORTLY AFTER CHILD BIRTH.
CLARK WENT ON TO LEGALLY ADOPT HER SON AND GAVE HIM A FORMAL EDUCATION,IN ST.LOUIS,MISSOURI,HE EVEN WENT TO EUROPE WITH A GERMAN PRINCE.I AM HOPING AS A COMPANION AND NOT A SLAVE,HE WAS 18 YRS OLD,1823.

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