On this date in 1789 - invaluable member of Lewis & Clark Expedition that opened the American West

from Writer's Almanac (Garrison Keillor) - Today (April 6) is the birthday of the Shoshone woman Sacajawea, born in Idaho (sometime around 1789). She was kidnapped at age 10 by the Hidatsa tribe, sold into slavery, and bought by a French-Canadian trapper who made her one of his two wives. When Lewis and Clark hired the trapper to guide them to the Pacific, Sacajawea -- a teenager with her two-month-old baby on her back -- was part of the package. She was the only woman to accompany the permanent party to the Pacific Ocean and back.


Officially she acted as interpreter, since she could speak half a dozen Indian languages. But she also knew which plants were edible, and she saved the explorers' records when their boat overturned. In his notes, William Clark pointed out that tribes were inclined to believe that their party was friendly when they saw Sacajawea because a war party would never travel with a woman, especially one with a baby.

When the trip was over, Sacajawea received nothing. Her trapper husband got $500.33 and 320 acres of land. She died on December 22, 1812, of a 'putrid fever,' according to Clark's records. She was 23. Eight months later, Clark legally adopted her two children -- the boy who had been a baby on the expedition, Jean Baptiste, and an infant daughter, Lisette.