Sacagawea

Around May 16, 1788, in the Lemhi River Valley of present-day Idaho, Sacagawea was born among the Lemhi Shoshone. As a girl she was taken by Hidatsa raiders to the northern plains and later lived in the village where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark hired Toussaint Charbonneau as an interpreter. Her knowledge of language, terrain, and regional diplomacy became immediately valuable once the expedition moved west.

Sacagawea traveled with the Corps of Discovery from 1804 to 1806, carrying her infant son Jean Baptiste and serving as a visible sign that the party came in peace. She helped recover crucial supplies after a Missouri River accident, recognized Shoshone country, and facilitated the negotiations that secured horses for the crossing of the Rocky Mountains in 1805. Although not a formal officer, her presence changed how the expedition could move through contested spaces.

Sacagawea later became one of the best-known figures connected to the Lewis and Clark expedition and to the national story of western exploration. Her memory influenced public monuments, the 2000 Sacagawea dollar, and continuing debates about Native women, empire, and the meaning of the Louisiana Purchase.