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By the fall of 1804, Sacagawea was expecting her first child. But Charbonneau was a wanderer by nature. He asked Lewis and Clark if they would hire him as a translator.
He knew Hidatsa and the sign language used by the river tribes. Lewis and Clark hired him right away. When they found out he was married to a Shoshone, they asked him to bring her along. They had heard that the Shoshone had fine horses, which they would need later. They thought that seeing Sacagawea with them would make the Shoshone more willing to trade. They also believed that any Indians they met would view them as peaceful. This was because war parties never included women.
◀ Sacagawea and Charbonneau moved into Fort Mandan with the rest of the Corps. On February 11, 1805, Sacagawea went into labor. It was hard on her. A local translator gave Lewis a remedy that used a rattlesnake’s rattle to help make the birth easier. Lewis tore off two rings from the rattle. He pounded them into a powder. Then he mixed this powder with water. Minutes after drinking it, Sacagawea gave birth to a boy. Charbonneau named him Jean Baptiste. But Sacagawea called him Pomp, which means “first born” in Shoshone.
The Corps of Discovery now numbered 33 people. On April 7, they left Fort Mandan. Most people think Sacagawea guided the Corps west. That’s not true. It wasn’t until they got near her home that Sacagawea saw places she knew. But she helped the group a lot. Within a few days, she had gathered wild artichokes for food. During the whole trip, she played a big part in finding food for the group. ▶
▲ A little over a month into the journey, Sacagawea showed her courage and clear thinking. On May 14, Charbonneau was steering one of the boats. Sacagawea and Pomp were passengers. A sudden storm came up. The boat tipped over on its side. It began to fill with water. Charbonneau froze. He wasn’t good under pressure. One of the men threatened to shoot him if he didn’t fix the boat. Meanwhile, Sacagawea grabbed some of the expedition’s valuable supplies (instruments, books, clothing) that were wrapped in waterproof packets. She pulled them out of the water. Without her quick thinking, the expedition could have been in real trouble.
Check It Out!
Sacagawea faced the same dangers and hardships as everyone else on the trip. But she did it while taking care of a baby! How did she carry her son on the journey?
This is a trick question. If she did it like the Hidatsa, she carried him on her back, held close in a shawl or blanket. If she did it like the Shoshone, she carried him in a cradleboard. That was a piece of wood strapped to her back. No one knows for sure how she did it.
◀ What did Clark and Lewis think of Sacagawea? Clark’s journal entries show he liked her a lot. He called her Janey. That might have come from jane, which was army slang for “girl." He said she was “uncomplaining.” Mostly, the two captains wrote about how useful, alert, and hardworking she was. They never wrote a word of complaint about her.
Lewis and Clark never said what Sacagawea looked like. Lewis did write some general remarks about how the Shoshone looked. This modern-day drawing by Michael Haynes is based on Lewis’s remarks. It’s also based on what is known about Plains tribes of the time. ▼
The part in Sacagawea’s hair is colored with red vermilion. It comes from a chemical known as mercuric sulfide. Plains women of the time saw this as a mark of beauty.
Her belt is covered with blue beads. They were a popular trade item. It is also decorated with porcupine quills. The quill pattern pictured here was copied from a Hidatsa robe. Native North Americans are the only people in the world that created an art form using porcupine quills. The quills are washed and dyed. They are softened in the mouth. Then they are pulled between the teeth to flatten them.
An awl case hangs from Sacagawea’s belt. An awl is a small pointed tool. It is used for making holes or marking surfaces. The case is decorated with porcupine quillwork. It is fringed with dyed horsehair, shells, and leather wrapped in quills.
By Sacagawea’s side is a cradleboard. Shoshone women used them to carry babies. Hidatsa women usually carried their babies in shawls wrapped around them, but sometimes they used a cradleboard.
Sacagawea is holding a rake. It is made from wood and a deer’s antler. She would have learned farming skills from the Hidatsa women she lived with. They were experienced farmers who used rakes like this.
Her garment is made of two deerskins. The yoke, or top part, is painted gold. It is outlined with deer fur and decorated with a deer’s tail. Back then, this was a typical work garment.
