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Q. What was the most interesting adventure of Lewis and Clark?A2A. HISTORY STORIES10 Little-Known Facts About the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionSacagawea (video)In 1804, Jefferson sends a team to explore lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery will travel nearly 8,000 miles over three years, reaching the Pacific Ocean and clearing the path for westward expansion.In May 1804, President Thomas Jefferson dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery on an expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase and hunt for an all-water route across the North American continent. The two-and-a-half-year trek saw the men travel some 8,000 miles from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back, mostly by boat and on horseback. By the time they finally emerged from the wilderness in September 1806, they had made contact with dozens of Indian tribes, survived repeated brushes with death and become the first U.S. citizens to lay eyes on the wonders of the uncharted West. Explore 10 surprising facts about one of America’s first and greatest expeditions of discovery.Lewis first met Clark after being court-martialed by the Army.Lewis (L) and Clark (R). (Credit: Jean-Erick PASQUIER/Getty Images)While serving as a frontier army officer in 1795, a young Meriwether Lewis was court-martialed for allegedly challenging a lieutenant to a duel during a drunken dispute. The 21-year-old was found not guilty of the charges, but his superiors decided to transfer him to a different rifle company to avoid any future incidents. His new commander turned out to be William Clark—the man who would later join him on his journey to the West.Thomas Jefferson believed the expedition might encounter wooly mammoths.Woolly Mammoth. (Credit: Royal BC Museum, Victoria, British Columbia)Before Lewis and Clark completed their expedition, Americans could only speculate on what lurked in the uncharted territories beyond the Rocky Mountains. Even Thomas Jefferson, who’d amassed a small library of books on the frontier, was convinced the explorers might have run-ins with mountains of salt, a race of Welsh-speaking Indians and even herds of wooly mammoths and giant ground sloths. The expedition failed to sight any of the long-extinct creatures, but Lewis did describe 178 previously unknown species of plants and 122 new animals including coyotes, mountain beavers and grizzly bears.The Spanish sent soldiers to arrest the expedition.Jefferson often described Lewis and Clark’s expedition as a scientific mission to study the lands acquired in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, but the explorers’ central goal was to find a water route to the Pacific, which would increase trade opportunities and help solidify an American claim on the far Northwest. That was distressing news for the Spanish, who feared the expedition might lead to the seizure of their gold-rich territories in the Southwest. On the suggestions of U.S. Army General James Wilkinson—a Spanish spy—the governor of New Mexico dispatched four different groups of Spanish soldiers and Comanche Indians to intercept the explorers and bring them back in chains. Luckily for Lewis and Clark, the hostile search parties failed to locate them in the vastness of the frontier.Lewis and Clark’s arsenal included 200 pounds of gunpowder and an experimental air rifle.The Corps of Discovery carried one of the largest arsenals ever taken west of the Mississippi. It included an assortment of pikes, tomahawks and knives as well as several rifles and muskets, 200 pounds of gunpowder and over 400 pounds of lead for bullets. Lewis also had a state-of-the-art pneumatic rifle he used to impress Indian tribes on the frontier. After pumping compressed air into the gun’s stock, he could fire some 20 shots—each of them almost completely silent. Despite being armed to the teeth, most of the explorers never had to use their weapons in combat. The lone exception came during the return journey, when Lewis and three of his soldiers engaged in a gun battle with Blackfeet Indians that left two natives dead.Sacagawea reunited with her long lost brother during the journey.“Lewis & Clark at Three Forks,” mural in lobby of Montana House of Representatives. (Credit: Edgar Samuel Paxson)One of the most legendary members of the Lewis and Clark expedition was Sacagawea, a teenaged Shoshone Indian who had been kidnapped from her tribe as an adolescent. Sacagawea, her husband and her newborn son first joined up with the explorers as they wintered at a Hidatsa-Mandan settlement in 1804, and she later served as an interpreter and occasional guide on their journey to the Pacific. During a run-in with a band of Shoshone in the summer of 1805, she famously discovered the tribe’s chief was none other than her long lost brother, whom she had not seen since her abduction five years earlier. The tearful reunion helped facilitate peaceful relations between the explorers and the Shoshone, allowing Lewis to procure much-needed horses for his trek over the Rockies.Sacajawea as a little girl at sunset, by Allan BurchOnly one member of the expedition died during the trip.The Lewis and Clark expedition suffered its first fatality in August 1804, when Sergeant Charles Floyd died near modern day Sioux City, Iowa. Lewis diagnosed him as having “bilious colic,” but historians now believe he suffered from a burst appendix. Over the next two years, the expedition endured everything from dysentery and snakebites to dislocated shoulders and even venereal disease, but amazingly, no one else perished before the explorers returned to St. Louis in September 1806. One of the worst injuries came during the trip home, when an enlisted man accidentally shot Lewis in the buttocks after mistaking him for an elk. Though not seriously wounded, the explorer was forced to spend a few miserable weeks lying on his belly in a canoe while the expedition floated down the Missouri River.Clark adopted Sacagawea’s children.During her time with the Corps of Discovery, Sacagawea was accompanied by her newborn son, Jean Baptiste, whom the explorers nicknamed “Pomp.” William Clark took a shine to the boy, and when Sacagawea left the expedition in August 1806, he offered to adopt him and “raise him as my own child.” Sacagawea initially turned down the offer, but she later allowed Clark to provide for her son’s education in St. Louis. Following Sacagawea’s death in 1812, Clark became the legal guardian of both Jean Baptiste and her other child, a daughter named Lisette. Little is known about what became of Lisette, but Jean-Baptiste later traveled to Europe before returning to the American frontier to work as a trapper and wilderness guide.LEWIS & CLARKLEWIS AND CLARKLOUISIANA PURCHASECurrent government flags of some of the 60 tribes whose homelands were crossed by the Lewis & ClarkLewis and Clark Fun Facts (siuw.edu)April 30, 1803: Louisiana Purchase.Announced July 4, 1804. U.S. purchases 868,000 square miles, eventually 13 states, from Napoleon for $15 million dollars. Best real estate deal in history, only $ .03 an acre. Doubled size of the United States.Why did Napoleon sell? “I have given England a rival, who sooner or later, will humble her pride.”May 14, 1804—September 23, 1806: Expedition took 863 days, 7,689 miles the distance traveled by the expedition, through unmapped, unsettled wilderness.Costs of expedition: initial approved by congress $2,500. Grew to $38,722.25, 15x original amount. When you add in price of land each member received upon return as a reward, the total tops $136,000. In today’s dollars that is $126,000,000. It cost $25 billion to put a man on the moon.Permanent party: consisted of 33 to 35, including One woman, one baby and one dog.Expedition discovered 122 new animals and 178 new plants. Biggest tormentor expedition—mosquitoes!!Lewis designed a collapsible canoe with iron frame for journey. It could be covered with animal skins and could carry one ton. It weighed only 44 lbs and was named experiment.Used keelboat at beginning of journey—55’ long, 8’ wide with a 32’ tall, hinged mast. Held over eight tons of equipment & food.Doctor Benjamin Rush, the country’s most famous physician, provided 600 of rush’s thunderbolts his famous homemade laxative for the expedition.Each man consumed 9 pounds of meat per day when available.Tally of game killed on the expedition:Dear -- 1001Bear -- 56Turkey -- 9Elk -- 375Beaver -- 113Plovers -- 48Bison -- 227Otter -- 16Wolves -- 18 (only 1 eaten)Antelope -- 62Geese -- 104Indian Dogs -- 190 (purchased)Big Horned Sheep -- 35Grouse -- 46Horses -- 12This list does not include countless smaller game or more exotic animals such as hawk, coyote, fox, crow, eagle, gopher, muskrat, seal, turtle, crab, salmon and trout.April 13, 1806 “The dog now constitutes a considerable part of our subsistence and with most of the party has become a favorite food; certain I am… and from habit it has become by no means disagreeable to me, I preferred to venison or elk, and it is very far superior to the horse in any state.” --LewisAugust 20, 1804 (Day 99) Sgt. Floyd dies at age of 22. He was only member to die during expedition. Cause of death guessed as ruptured appendix.August 21, 1804 First election west of Mississippi. All men including York, a slave, elect Patrick Gass as new sergeant.February 11, 1805 “About five o’clock this evening one of the wives of Charbono (sacagawea) was delivered of a fine boy.” --LewisApril 1805 Lewis buys teepee from Sioux. Sacagawea takes down and puts up daily. Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, pomp, Drouillard and Charbonneau sleep in nightlyAugust 17,1805 Sacagawea recognizes Cameahwait, chief of Shoshone as her long, lost brother. Guarantees cooperation by Shoshone with expedition.November 24, 1805 free vote on where to build winter fort. Unheard of in its day to vote on such matters.July 26, 1806 Only Native American fatalities caused by expedition members. Two Blackfeet killed.August 12, 1806 Lewis shot in buttocks by one eyed expedition member Cruzatte, who mistook him for an elk.The US Expands West | VOA Learning Englishhttps://projects.voanews.com/lewis-clark/out1/montana.mp4?v1231The Myths and Myopia of Lewis and ClarkLewis and Clark - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.comMeriwether Lewis was an American explorer, who with William Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the uncharted American interior to the Pacific Northwest in 1804–06. He later served as governor of Upper Louisiana Territory. The Lewis and Clark Expedition spanned 8,000 mi (13,000 km) and three years, taking the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition party was known, down the Ohio River, up the Missouri River, across the Continental Divide, and to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis served as the field scientist, chronicling botanical, zoological, meteorological, geographic and ethnographic information.Missouri CompromiseAmerican BuffaloNative American CulturesWORK FOR JEFFERSONAs a member of the state militia, Meriwether Lewis helped to quell the Whiskey Rebellion, a Pennsylvania uprising led by farmers against taxes, in 1794. The next year he served with William Clark, a man who would later help him on one of the greatest expeditions of all time. Lewis joined the regular army and achieved the rank of captain. In 1801, Lewis left the army and accepted an invitation to serve as Thomas Jefferson’s presidential secretary.Lewis had known Jefferson since he was a boy—he’d grown up on a Virginia plantation only a few miles from Monticello—and the pair went on to forge a mentor-protégé relationship while working together in the White House. When Jefferson conceived of his grand expedition into the lands west of the Mississippi in 1802, he named the rugged, intellectually gifted Lewis as its commander. Already eager to know more about these lands, Jefferson’s interest in the area increased with purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803. Jefferson asked Lewis to gather information about the plants, animals, and peoples of the region. Lewis jumped at the chance and selected old friend William Clark to join him as co-commander of the expedition. To help the young secretary prepare, Jefferson gave him a crash course in the natural sciences and sent him to Philadelphia to study medicine, botany and celestial navigation.Lewis's Monkey Flower (Mimulus lewisii) Collected: 1805 Aug 12 - Lemhi Pass, Montana and IdahoDid You Know?Congress allocated $2,500 for Lewis and Clark's expedition.THE EXPEDITION BEGINSLewis, Clark, and the rest of their expedition began their journey near St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1804. This group – often called the Corps of Discovery by historians – faced nearly every obstacle and hardship imaginable on their trip. They braved dangerous waters and harsh weather and endured hunger, illness, injury, and fatigue. Along the way, Lewis kept a detailed journal and collected samples of plants and animals he encountered. Lewis and his expedition received assistance in their mission from many of the native peoples they met during their journey westward. The Mandans provided them with supplies during their first winter. It was during this time that expedition picked up two new members, Sacagawea and Touissant Charbonneau. The two acted as interpreters for the expedition and Sacagawea, Charbonneau’s wife and a Shoshone Indian, was able to help get horses for the group later in the journey.Clarkston, Sacajawea State Park, The Dalles, Stevenson, Astoria, PortlandREACHING THE PACIFICThe Corps of Discovery reached the Pacific Ocean in November of 1805. They built Fort Clatsop and spent the winter in present-day Oregon. On the way back in 1806, Lewis and Clark split up to explore more territory and look for faster route home. Lewis and his men faced great danger when a group of Blackfeet Indians sought to steal from the corps in late July. Two Blackfeet were killed in the ensuing conflict. The next month, Lewis was shot in the thigh by one of his own men during a hunt. Lewis and Clark and their two groups joined up again at the Missouri River and made the rest of the trek to St. Louis together. In total, the expedition traveled roughly 8,000 miles by boat, on foot, and on horseback.RETURNING HOMETraveling home, Lewis and the other members of the expedition received a warm welcome from nearly place they went. Many towns held special events to herald the explorers’ return as they passed through. Once reaching the nation’s capital, Lewis received payment for his courageous efforts. Along with his salary and 1,600 acres of land, he was named governor of the Louisiana Territory. Lewis also tried to publish the journals that he and Clark wrote during their great adventure. Always prone to dark moods, he began to have a drinking problem and neglected his duties as governor.Famous Biographies (BIO.com)LEWIS & CLARKWESTWARD EXPANSIONWhat Was the Lewis & Clark Expedition? (all the illustrations)Legendary Lewis and Clark Expedition Characters (ndtourism.com)These characters organized and led the Corps of Discovery on the famous Lewis & Clark Expedition.Meriwether LewisThe Lewis and Jefferson families were long-time neighbors and family friends. Meriwether Lewis served as Thomas Jefferson’s personal aide prior to the expedition. Lewis had a lifetime’s experience as an outdoors man, hunter and herbal medicine expert, facts that influenced Jefferson’s decision to choose him as Corps leader.Lewis later died under mysterious circumstances.Meriwether Lewis. (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)Lewis battled depression and mood swings for most of his life, and his condition only worsened after he returned from the transcontinental expedition in 1806. He reportedly suffered from money troubles, and drinking too much.In September 1809, Lewis set out for Washington, D.C.. to answer complaints about his actions as governor of Louisiana. On the way, he stopped at an inn called Grinder's Stand, about 70 miles (110 km) from Nashville, Tennessee on the Natchez Trace on October 10, 1809. The next morning, servants found Lewis badly injured from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. He died shortly after sunrise.While modern historians generally accept his death as a suicide, Some have since speculated he was murdered. Mrs. Grinder, the tavern-keeper's wife, claimed Lewis acted strangely the night before his death. She said that during dinner Lewis stood and paced about the room talking to himself in the way one would speak to a lawyer. She observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit. After he retired for the evening, Mrs. Grinder continued to hear him talking to himself. At some point in the night she heard multiple gunshots, and what she believed was someone asking for help. She claimed to be able to see Lewis through the slit in the door crawling back to his room. She never explained why, at the time, she didn't investigate further concerning Lewis's condition or the source of the gunshots.When Clark and Jefferson were informed of Lewis' death, both accepted it as suicide, but his family contended it was murder. In later years a court of inquiry explored whether they could charge the tavern-keeper with Lewis' death. They dropped the inquiry for lack of evidence or motive.Four years after Lewis' death, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Of courage undaunted, possessing a firmness and perseverance of purpose which nothing but impossibilities could divert from its direction, ... honest, disinterested, liberal, of sound understanding and a fidelity to truth so scrupulous that whatever he should report would be as certain as if seen by ourselves, with all these qualifications as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him.”Lewis was buried not far from where he died, honored today by a memorial along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Despite his tragic end, Lewis helped change the face of the United States by exploring uncharted territory – the American West. His work inspired many others to follow in his footsteps and created great interest in the region. Lewis also advanced scientific knowledge. Through his careful work numerous discoveries of previously unknown plants and animals were made.William ClarkWilliam Clark was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on August 1, 1770, the ninth of the 10 children of John and Ann Rogers Clark. Clark was an adjutant and quartermaster while in the militia. He resigned his commission on July 1, 1796 due to poor health, returning to Mulberry Hill, his family plantation near Louisville.Prior to his resignation, Meriwether Lewis was assigned to Clark's unit as an ensign under Clark's command. In 1803, Clark was asked by Lewis to share command of the newly-formed Corps of Discovery. Clark spent three years on the expedition, and although technically subordinate to Lewis in rank, he exercised equal authority at Lewis' insistence. He concentrated chiefly on drawing of maps, management of the expedition's supplies and leading hunts.After the Expedition, he served in a militia and as governor of the Missouri Territory. From 1822 until his death he held the position of Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Clark married Julia Hancock on January 5, 1808, at Fincastle, Virginia, and they had five children. Julia died in 1820 and William Clark then married her first cousin Harriet Kennerly Radford, and they had three children. His second wife died in 1831.Clark died in St. Louis on September 1, 1838, and was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery, where a 35-foot gray granite obelisk was erected to mark his grave. Although his family had established endowments to maintain his grave site, by the late 20th century the grave site had fallen into disrepair. His descendants raised $100,000 to rehabilitate the obelisk and celebrated the re-dedication with a ceremony May 21, 2004, on the bicentennial of the start of his famous expedition. The ceremony was attended by a large gathering of his descendants, re-enactors in period dress, and leaders from the Osage Nation, and the Lemhi band of the Shoshone Native American people.Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principle author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States. Major events during his presidency include the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806).As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. A man of many talents, Jefferson achieved distinction as, among other things, a horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, inventor and founder of the University of Virginia. When President John F. Kennedy welcomed 49 Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962 he said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." To date, Jefferson is the only president to serve two full terms in office and to veto no bill of Congress. Jefferson has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. presidents.York (Clark brought his slave on the journey)York statue by Ed Hamilton. (Credit: Dennis Macdonald/Getty Images)York was born in Caroline County near Ladysmith, Virginia. He was William Clark's servant from boyhood, and was left to William in his father's will. He had a wife, and possibly a family, before the Lewis and Clark Expedition.In 1804, York joined more than two-dozen enlisted men and officers, the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The expedition's journals present York as a large, strong man who shared the duties and risks of the expedition in full. He was the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and in the wilderness served as an equal member, with freedoms and responsibilities unlike back East. The tall manservant was a hit with frontier tribes, many of whom had never seen a person with dark skin. The Arikara people of North Dakota even referred to York as “Big Medicine” and speculated that he had spiritual powers. Though not an official member of the Corps of Discovery, York made the entire journey from St. Louis to the Pacific and back, and became a valued member of the expedition for his skills in scouting, hunting and field medicine.When the expedition reached the Pacific Ocean, York and the Shoshone interpreter Sacagawea voted along with the rest as to where the Expedition would build winter quarters. As historian Stephen E. Ambrose later noted, this simple show of hands may have marked the first time in American history a black man and a woman were given the vote. Most significantly, at a time in which slaves were forbidden to carry weapons, York not only carried a firearm but also frequently shot game such as buffalo. York was never granted his freedom.Fort Clatsop, where Lewis and Clark expedition settled from 1805-1806Recruitment at Fort Massac, 1803, by Michael HaynesSergeant Charles Floyd (pbs.org)Sergeant Floyd was born in Kentucky, and was among the first to volunteer for service in the Corps, joining on August 1, 1803. Among those included as one of the "Nine young men from Kentucky," Floyd was a cousin of the expedition's Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor. Considered a "man of much merit" by Captain Clark, he kept an uninterrupted daily record from May 14, 1804, until August 18, two days prior to his untimely death on August 20. Floyd's death was the only fatality among expedition members during the two years, four months and nine days of their transcontinental odyssey.In the spirit of President Jefferson's instructions and perhaps drawing from an agrarian background, Floyd judged land quality, including soil conditions, en-route up the Missouri. Unfortunately, Floyd's contributions to the journey, together with his journal, ended with his premature death. As "Diagnosed" by the captains, Floyd's illness was considered to be a "bilious cholic."Today, Floyd enjoys the honor of having had erected at his gravesite in present Sioux City, Iowa, the most prestigious memorial of the explorers. A 100-foot-high sandstone masonry obelisk, second in size only to that of the Washington Monument, was dedicated in fitting ceremonies on Memorial Day 1901.Toussaint Charbonneau - WikipediaCharbonneau was born in Boucherville, Quebec (near Montréal), a community with strong links to exploration and the fur trade.It was likely that while working with the North West Company that Charbonneau encountered the established settlement of Mandan and Hidatsa tribes on the upper Missouri River, near present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. He settled amongst these tribes, according to his own report around 1797. The area would remain his home for the rest of his life. Charbonneau became a free agent, working on his own and for several different fur companies operating in the area, as a trapper, laborer and an interpreter of the Hidatsa language.Soon after his arrival, Charbonneau purchased two captive Shoshone women: Sacagawea (Bird Woman) and "Otter Woman," from the Hidatsa, The Hidatsa had captured these two young women on one of their annual raiding and hunting parties to the west. Charbonneau eventually considered these women to be his wives, though whether they were bound through Native American custom or simply through common-law marriage is indeterminate.Charbonneau was a particular individual, the least liked of all the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Lewis referred to him as “a man of no peculiar merit”. Historians have portrayed him as a coward who hit his wife and had a particular attraction to young Native American girls. He is referred to as Mr. Sacagawea.In 1804, Sacagawea became pregnant with their first child. It was during this year that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came to the area, built Fort Mandan, and recruited members to the Corps of Discovery. Charbonneau was interviewed to interpret Hidatsa. Lewis and Clark, however, were not overly impressed with him; Charbonneau spoke no English. Although several in the expedition party could translate from French, Charbonneau did not appear to know Hidatsa all that well. (By his own admission, over thirty years later, he still could not speak the language well although he had lived with the Hidatsa nearly continuously.) However, when Lewis and Clark learned that his wives were Shoshone, they were eager to have them interpret this language as well. Sacagawea spoke Shoshone and Hidatsa, and Charbonneau Hidatsa and French. They hired Charbonneau on November 4, and he and Sacagawea moved into Fort Mandan a week later.In the winter, as the expedition was preparing to get underway, Charbonneau had second thoughts about his role. He quit the expedition, having said he was dissatisfied that he would be required to stand guard, perform manual labor, etc. But, on March 17 he returned and apologized, saying he would like to re-join the company; he was re-hired the following day. At age 47, Charbonneau was the oldest member of the expedition. His performance during the journey was mixed: Meriwether Lewis called him "a man of no peculiar merit," and many historians painted Charbonneau in a distinctly unfavorable light.Charbonneau, however, did make several contributions to the success of the expedition. He was helpful when the expedition encountered French trappers from Canada. He served as a cook; his recipe for boudin blanc (a sausage made from bison meat) was praised by several members of the party. Additionally, his skill in striking a bargain came in handy when the expedition acquired much-needed horses at the Shoshone encampment.Sakakawea (Sacagawea)Sacagawea was born into the Lemhi Shoshone tribe in Idaho. In 1800, when she was about twelve, she and several other girls were kidnapped by a group of Hidatsa (also known as Minnetarees) in a battle that resulted in the death of four Shoshone men, four women and several boys. She was then taken to a Hidatsa village near present-day Washburn, North Dakota.At about 13 years of age, Sacagawea was taken as a wife by Toussaint Charbonneau, a French trapper living in the village, who had also taken another young Shoshone wife named Otter Woman. Charbonneau is said to have won both wives from the Hidatsa while gambling. Sacagawea was pregnant with her first child when the Corps of Discovery arrived near the Hidatsa villages to spend the winter of 1805-1806. Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark built Fort Mandan and interviewed several trappers who might be able to translate or guide the expedition further up the Missouri River in the springtime. They agreed to hire Charbonneau as an interpreter when they discovered his wife spoke the Shoshone language, as they knew they would need the help of the Shoshone tribes at the headwaters of the Missouri.Lewis recorded the birth of Jean Baptiste Charbonneau on February 11, 1805, noting that another of the party's interpreters administered crushed rattlesnake rattles from Lewis' specimen collection to speed the delivery. The boy was called "Little Pomp" or "Pompy" by Clark and others in the expedition.In April, the expedition left Fort Mandan and headed up the Missouri River in pirogues, which had to be poled and sometimes pulled from the riverbanks. On May 14, 1805, Sacagawea rescued items that had fallen out of a capsized boat, including the journals and records of Lewis and Clark. The corps commanders, who praised her quick action on this occasion, would name the Sacagawea River in her honor on May 20.When the corps reached the Pacific Ocean at last, all members of the expedition—including Sacagawea and Clark's black manservant York—were allowed to participate in a November 24 vote on the location where they would build their fort for the winter.On the return trip, they approached the Rocky Mountains in July 1806. On July 6, Clark recorded "The Indian woman informed me that she had been in this plain frequently and knew it well.... She said we would discover a gap in the mountains in our direction..." which is now Gibbons Pass. A week later, on July 13, Sacagawea advised Clark to cross into the Yellowstone River basin at what is now known as Bozeman Pass, later chosen as the optimal route for the Northern Pacific Railway to cross the continental divide. While Sacagawea often appears in romantic depictions as a guide for the expedition, she provided direction in only a few instances. Her translation efforts also helped the party to negotiate with the Shoshone. However, her greatest value to the mission may have been simply her presence, which indicated their peaceful intent. While traveling through what is now Franklin County, Washington, Clark noted "The Indian woman confirmed those people of our friendly intentions, as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians in this quarter" and "the wife of Shabono our interpreter we find reconciles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions a woman with a party of men is a token of peace."After the expedition, Charbonneau and Sacagawea spent three years among the Hidatsa before accepting William Clark's invitation to settle in St. Louis, Missouri in 1809. They entrusted Jean-Baptiste's education to Clark, who enrolled the young man in the Saint Louis Academy boarding school.Sacagawea carrying PompeyJean Baptiste Charbonneau (Pompey)Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born at Fort Mandan in North Dakota, the encampment at which the Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered in 1804-1805. His father, French Canadian trapper Toussaint Charbonneau, had been hired by the expedition as an interpreter. Captains Lewis and Clark agreed to bring along his then-pregnant Native American wife Sacagawea when they learned she was of the Shoshone people, as they knew they would need to negotiate with the Shoshone for horses and guides at the headwaters of the Missouri River. Meriwether Lewis noted the boy's birth in his journal:“The party that were ordered last evening set out early this morning. the weather was fair and could wind N. W. about five oclock this evening one of the wives of Charbono was delivered of a fine boy. it is worthy of remark that this was the first child which this woman had boarn and as is common in such cases her labour was tedious and the pain violent; Mr. Jessome informed me that he had frequently administered a small portion of the rattle of the rattle-snake, which he assured me had never failed to produce the desired effect, that of hastening the birth of the child; having the rattle of a snake by me I gave it to him and he administered two rings of it to the woman broken in small pieces with the fingers and added to a small quantity of water. Whether this medicine was truly the cause or not I shall not undertake to determine, but I was informed that she had not taken it more than ten minutes before she brought forth perhaps this remedy may be worthy of future experiments, but I must confess that I want faith as to it's [sic] efficacy.”Charbonneau traveled from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean and back as an infant, carried along in the expedition's boats or upon his mother's back. His presence is often credited with reassuring the native tribes the expedition encountered, as it is said they believed that no war party would travel with a woman and child.Clark paid for young Jean Baptiste to attend school there at St. Louis Academy, now known as St. Louis University High School, and continued to oversee his care and schooling. Sakakawea returned up the Missouri River with the elder Charbonneau. In May 1866, while en route from California to the new gold fields around Virginia City, Montana, Charbonneau died of pneumonia near Danner, Oregon, at age 61.Seaman, the dogSeaman, a black Newfoundland dog, became famous for being a member of the first American overland expedition from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast and back. He was purchased for $20 by Captain Meriwether Lewis for his famed Lewis and Clark expedition. During the expedition, around May 14, 1805, both Captains performed surgery on one of Seaman's arteries in his hind leg, as it had been severed by a beaver bite. In early 1806, as the expedition was beginning the return journey, Seaman was stolen by Indians and Lewis threatened to send three armed men to kill the Indian tribe.Smithsonian Magazine Lewis and Clark Astoria Column25 Facts About Sacagawea and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (owlcation.com)MarieU.S. Sacagawea Golden Dollar | Source25 fascinating and insightful facts , true story of a young Native American girl who was kidnapped as a young teenager by a rival tribe and passed on to be the wife of a French-Canadian fur trapper.Sacagawea was employed, along with her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, to go with the great Lewis and Clark Expedition, or the Corps of Discovery, on a 3,700-mile trek. She aided the expedition with her skill in interpreting for trades with Native Americans on the journey.She also helped to guide the way on the long trek. She cooked, cleaned and mended clothes —all while caring for her tiny baby son. She was a remarkable symbol of independence and endurance. Her spirit lives on to this day.3 Facts About Sacagawea's NameSacagawea statue at Lewis & Clark College | Source1. The name is often pronounced sack-uh-guh-wee-a. There are many variants of her name but this is the spelling used most by modern historians andappeared on the year 2000 Dollar coin which features her.2. She is also known as Sakakawea, an anglicized form, which is said to be derived from tsakaka wia from the Hidatsa (Minnetarees) language. This spelling means bird woman - sakaka meaning bird and wea meaning woman. Her husband told other people that her name had this meaning which seems to corroborate it.3. The Lemhi Shoshone, the Northern Shoshone tribe that she was born into, refer to her as Sacajawea which comes from the Shoshone word for her name, Saca tzah we yaa. This variant of her name means boat puller or boat launcher.4 Facts About Her Early Life4. Not a great deal is known or recorded on her early years. She was born around 1788 as the daughter of a Lemhi Shoshone chief and was of the Akaitikka, Agaideka or Eaters of Salmon tribe. They were traditionally based near the Idaho upper Salmon River, hence the 'Eaters of Salmon' name.5. Sacagawea was kidnapped along with several other girls in 1800. At that point, she would have been about 12 years old. The kidnappers were an enemy tribe called the Hidatsa Indians (Minnetarees) who took the girls to what is the present-day North Dakota.6. At the tender age of 13, she was either bought or won in gambling by a man called Toussaint Charbonneau. He took her and another woman to be his wives.7. Her husband, Charbonneau, was a French-Canadian Trapper, originally from Quebec. He worked as a fur trapper and also an interpreter of the Hidatsa tribes when he settled among them. He is not written about in a particularly favorable light.8 Facts About the Lewis and Clark ExpeditionLewis & Clark The Journey Begins | Source8. Sacagawea and Charbonneau were invited to join an expedition by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The trip which started on the 14th May 1804, is often referred to as the Corps of Discovery. It was a 3,700-mile journey from the Mississippi River to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. She was the only woman on the trip and was there as a Shoshone interpreter.9. During the expedition, Sacagawea and Charbonneau worked as translators or language interpreters. Sacagawea didn't speak English so she conversed with the Shoshone and then translated to Hidatsa to her husband. Charbonneau, who also didn't speak English, translated this into French to another expedition member, Francois Labiche, who then translated this into English for the expedition leaders.10. She gave birth to her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, on February 11, 1805. The boy was given the nickname Little Pomp or Pompey from the expedition leader, Clark and other members.11. The Sacagawea River in Montana was named in her honor on the 20th May 1805 after she rescued journals and records by Lewis and Clark after a canoe boat almost capsized in a storm.Surprise Reunion (wrighthotel.com)12. During the expedition, she had an emotional reunion with her brother, Cameahwait, who was now a chief in a band of the Shoshone Indians. Their meeting, in August 1805, was one of happy chance. The expedition party needed to trade with the Shoshone for horses so they could cross the Rocky Mountains.13. The Lewis and Clark expedition had a difficult time traveling over the Rocky Mountains, so bad that they might have had to survive by eating beef fat tallow candles. Sacagawea helped the group regain strength when they got to the other side of the mountains by cooking camas roots.14. Sacagawea's blue beaded belt was used to barter for a beautiful fur robe made of sea otter skins that Lewis and Clark wanted for a gift for the then president Thomas Jefferson.15. Sacagawea was useful to the expedition which ended in September 1806 in a variety of roles. She was an interpreter but also as an occasional guide, a symbol of peace to Indian tribes who they encountered along the way which discouraged their party from being attacked. She was also a food gatherer and cook, a cleaner and someone who could repair clothes.6 Facts About the Expedition's Aftermath16. Sacagawea was never actually paid for her part in the expedition. Because she was a woman, it was her husband who was paid with money and land for his and his wife's help and assistance on the trip.17. After the expedition, Charbonneau and Sacagawea spent 3 years among the Hidatsa before settling down in 1809 in St. Louis, Missouri.18. A daughter, Lizette or Lisette, was born sometime after 1810. Not much is known about Lizette and may have died in childhood.19. Sacagawea is reported to have become sick in 1811 and died in 1812.20. Jean Baptiste, along with his younger sister, Lizette, was adopted by the expedition leader, Clark, after she died. Clark was very fond of Jean Baptiste and had stated his desire to raise him as his own son at the end of the expedition. In fact, Jean Baptiste had been entrusted into Clark's care before the death of his mother and given a boarding school education.21. Jean Baptiste, held a kind of celebrity status as the only child who went on the Lewis and Clark expedition. He spent 6 years living with German royalty after he was befriended by a prince.4 Final FactsSacajawea of the Shoshonis | Source22. During the expedition, she had been given certain rights such as the permission to vote for where a fort would be built that the expedition party could stay in during the winter months. Sacagawea became a bit of a role model for suffragists, such as The National American Woman Suffrage Association of the early 20th century. She was adopted as a symbol of independence.23. Many tributes to her and her contribution to the Corps of Discovery have been created such as place names, statues, lakes, and buildings.24. The picture on the year 2000 dollar coin is not actually Sacagawea because no-one knows what she looked like and no picture exists. The face on the coin was that of a modern Shoshone-Bannock woman called Randy'L He-dow Teton.25. She was featured in the 2006 comedy movie, Night at the Museum. The night guard, played by Ben Stiller, had real trouble pronouncing her name. She has been in many books, documentaries, movies and even songs. Her spirit really does live on.© 2011 MarieLewis and Clark Expedition - WikipediaA Journey into the UnknownThe Corps of Discovery entered North Dakota in mid-October, 1804, wintered here and ventured west in April 1805, stepping off the map of the known world. Some of the most important and dramatic events of their journey happened here, particularly meeting a young Indian woman named Sakakawea (Sacagawea). She lived in a settlement of 4,500 people now known as the Knife River Indian Villages. The populations of the villages was greater than the cities of Washington D. C. and St. Louis at the that time.Lewis and Clark spent the winter among five Mandan and Hidatsa earthlodge villages, located at or just below the mouth of the Knife River where they constructed Fort Mandan, named in honor of their new friends on the plains. During their time at Fort Mandan, Captain Lewis hired Sakakawea’s husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, “with his wife, as an interpreter” and later helped deliver her son, Jean Baptiste.Sakakawea’s mere presence on the expedition, with a baby in tow, announced in a universal language that theirs was a peaceful mission.www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/journey.htmTimeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition - WikipediaLewis And Clark Expedition (history.net)