ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

What Happened After the Lewis and Clark Expedition? - Sacajawea and the Lost Grave

Updated on April 8, 2012
The difficult to navigate Salmon River contains dangerous rapids...http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
The difficult to navigate Salmon River contains dangerous rapids...http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/ | Source

Shoshone Nation

Not all of the bands in the Shoshone Nation are federally recognized, meaning that not all benefit from political and financial advantages offered by recognition of the US government. This includes college financing, funding for reservations, business partnerships, benefits of the Indian Health Service, and several others Discussions in this matter brought questions to the surface about Sacajawea, which band is her heritage, and the location of her grave. Controversy has roiled, but in interesting ways.

A recent PBS television program put together by researchers of both Caucasian and Native lineage discussed the controversies and what is known about Sacajawea. Within Shoshone Nation, there exist differing opinions.

The Lemhi Shoshone Group

Sacajawea (Sa-cog-a-wee-a) was a member of the Lemhi Shoshone of the Northern Shoshone Nation. The Lemhi are not federally recognized at this writing and seek gain that status. They lived in the Lemhi River Valley and near the Salmon River, salmon being a diet staple.

The Lemhi traded and intermarried with other Shoshone bands and with the Bannock Nation, often traveling back and fort across the Lolo Trail over the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho to trade salmon. The trail was an Indigenous trail and not cut by white explorers.The Lemhi Reservation existed only from 1875 to 1907 and was abolished. Today, the people want to recoup their recognition and assert their independent traditions.

A
Salmon-Challis National Forest:
Challis National Forest, Shoup, ID 83469, USA

get directions

B
Salmon River:
Salmon River, Challis, ID, USA

get directions

C
Lemhi River:
Lemhi River, Leadore, ID, USA

get directions

D
Bitterroot Mountains:
Bitterroot Mountains, Sula, Mt 59871, USA

get directions

E
Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest:
Deerlodge National Forest, Alder, Mt 59710, USA

get directions

F
Lolo Trail:
Lolo Trail, Elk City, ID, USA

get directions

The Northwest Passage

US Army Captain Merriweather Lewis and three others in the Corps of Discovery moving west through North America arrived the Lemhi Pass in Idoho on August 12 1805. At this time, Ohio had been a US State for only about two years. In a bid to plough transportation through the western US Territories and Native American lands to the Pacific Ocean, Lewis and Captain William Clark were assigned by President Thomas Jefferson to find a water route - a sort of quest for the Northwest Passage. OF course, there was none to be found south of Canada. today, enough ice has melted in Canada to reveal to NASA satellite cameras a large waterway through to the Pacific.

A small group of Lemhi went across the Bitterroot Mountain with Lewis and Clark to help them organize their canoe expedition for overland travel. That done the Corps of Discovery crossed again into Idaho and was joined by Sacajawea, aged about 18. She married a French trapper, Charbonneau, and between the two of them and a Frenchman on the discovery team, translated from Shoshone to Blackfoot to French and finally to English for Captains Lewis and Clark.

Commemorative signs and monuments are posted along the Lewis and Clark Trail for visitors to observe as they trace the Corps of Discovery journey to the Pacific (see the link above).

Background

To the best of documentation that has been found by researchers and Lemhi Shoshone individuals, Sacajawea was born circa 1788 near Tendoy, Idaho (named after a Chief). In the Autumn of 1800, the Lemhi were planning on spending the fall and winter the three forks of the Missouri River in today's Montana.

The Lemhi were attacked by a Minnetaree band from a local Hidatsa settlement. Shoshone captives included Sacajawea. Sometime in the years 1800 - 1804, she and another Shoshone captive were purchased by the French Canadian, Charbonneau, who lived among the Hidatsa and Mandan nations that own oil wells today in New Town and surrounding lands in North Dakota.

Sacajawea's Journey

A
Lolo Trail, Idaho:
Lolo Trail, ID, USA

get directions

B
Cape Disappointment, Washington:
Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco, WA 98624, USA

get directions

C
Bozeman Pass:
Bozeman Pass, Bozeman, Mt 59715, USA

get directions

Lolo Trail to Cape Disappointment

Lolo Trail was already used by Native Americans to trade salmon and therefore already cut. The trip took 11 days in winter to cross the Bitterroot Mountains and Sacajawea carried a baby on her back the entire way. The surrounding tribes saw a woman and child with the white explorers and considered this a symbol of a peaceful traveling party that they permitted to pass without interference.

At Cape Disappointment on the Pacific Coast, Sacajawea and all the men were asked their opinions about whether to make camp there or not. She said they should look for a starchy vegetable called potas and it was abundant at Cape Disappointment. She was voted down and the encampment that was settled elsewhere went hungry all winter with little food. A whale washed up on the beach and the party went to look at it in January 1806. Sacajawea insisted upon accompanying the white men to see the body of the great animal, although she was denied permission to so do at first. She insisted, noting that she had been the primary guide for hundreds of miles in harsh weather and deserved to see the ocean and the animal. The men relented. She was the only person in her nation to see either of such sights for many years.

Cape Disappointment.  On top of these bluffs is the proposed location of a Memorial to Thomas Jefferson.
Cape Disappointment. On top of these bluffs is the proposed location of a Memorial to Thomas Jefferson. | Source

Aftermath

The Native Americans do not know for certain what happened with Sacajawea after her return to the Lemhi River Valley. Fort Washake Reservation displays a tombstone in its Sacajawea Cemetery, but we do not believe it is hers. The story attached is that she died an old woman of age 84 or older. Scant written documentation that has been uncovered by the Lemhi says that she died at age 24 of a “putrid fever.” She had born two children, a boy that she took on the Lewis and Clark Expedition and a girl named Lisette. Many of the Lemhi Shosone believe that Sacajawea died at age 24 in South Dakota.

The commemorative coin to the right is called the Sacajewea Dollar, but does not display her name at all. She is modelled on an 18-year-old Shoshone woman, but not of the Lemhi Shoshone. Some of the Lemhi people feel that it is a disservice to the memory of Sacajawea to have used a non-Lemhi Shoshone as her model.

Many historians call Sacajawea the most important woman in American History. She led the discovery team hundreds of miles to the ocean and discovered Bozeman Pass on the return trip home, saving the expedition time and toil. She went many miles on horseback and foot in a snowy far North American winter at age 18, carrying an infant and guiding the whites to the Pacific Coast. There is no documentation that she ever complained on the journey and we do not know for sure what happened to her after she returned home.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)