The Importance Of Sacagawea To The Lewis And Clark Expedition

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In order to understand how important Sacagawea was to the Lewis and Clark's expedition for Western expansion, her history and the history of her people must be told. An explorer known as Captain Clarke wrote that in order to pronounce the Indian words correctly, every letter sound must be made. There has been much debate on the spelling of the young explorer's name, since the letters do not match the sound (ex. "Sacajawea" does not match "Sah-cah' gah-we-ah). In fact, in finding her name written on multiple documents from various explorers, there have been seventeen different spellings with only the "g" matching in all of them. When her name is divided in two, the Hidatsas translation is "Bird (Sacaga) Woman (Wea)" In 1788, Sacagawea…show more content…
On August 13, the four were about 75 miles head when they came upon a Shoshone tribe. The tribe was living in the mountains, off of mostly berries and roots. At various times they might have a few fish, but the tribe was in the process of planning a small group trip to the plains in order to hunt buffalo. A woman was gathering food away from the village when she spotted the men. She called to other women and they gathered together as the strangers came closer. The men, led by Lewis put down their guns to try and show they were friendly. Lewis actually painted the face of the women with vermilion, which he had learned was a mark of peace. Once the women had convinced their people that Lewis and his three men were friendly, the Shoshone chief Cameahwait had the village share their food and make a tepee for the "white visitors" to sleep in. The Shoshone's had never seen white people before this…show more content…
The main reason for Lewis and Clark's worry was the Bitterroot Mountains. Lewis knew that if the Shoshone would not trade with his group; the expedition would fail. He decided that Clark and the others needed to know the situation, so Lewis, Cameahwait, and their men journeyed to where Clark and the others had made camp. While the captains and the chiefs began exchanging words through the communication line, Sacagawea realized that not only were these men from her home tribe; but Chief Cameahwait was her brother! The reunion of the two Shoshone people was very heart warming. After the reunion and the communications were over, the expedition was able trade some gifts for the horses they

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