North Dakota- Sacagawea
The 12-foot tall statue of Sacagawea that was donated to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol by North Dakota in 2003, is a bronze casting of a statue sculpted by Leonard Crunelle and presented to North Dakota in 1910.
The model for the statue Crunelle created was Mink Woman, from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, who was Sacagawea’s granddaughter! (I must add there are some that dispute the claim that the model was a descendant of Sacagawea.)
The original statue of Sacagawea carrying her baby, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (fancy name for a baby), on her back stands on a large rock on the North Dakota Capitol grounds. The inscription for that statue reads in part…
SAKAKAWEA / THE SHOSHONE INDIAN “BIRDWOMAN” WHO IN 1805 GUIDED THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION / FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE YELLOWSTONE /
As you see, the name of the woman who was part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, has been recorded with various spellings. The Lewis and Clark journals contained different spellings also. I will use Sacagawea, because that is the spelling I saw when I first read about her. William Clark nicknamed her, Janey.
Lewis and Clark first met Sacagawea at Fort Mandan, located on the Missouri River in North Dakota, where The Expedition wintered over in 1804-1805. The Expedition would be encountering members of the Shoshone when it continued west, so there would be a need for interpreters.
According to the journals kept by Lewis and Clark, the Hidatsa Tribe that had villages near the fort had been warring with other tribes, among them the Snake Indians, also known as the Shoshone. A French man, Toussaint Charbonneau, who Lewis and Clark wished to hire as an interpreter had two wives, one was Sacagawea. Sacagawea spoke Shoshoni, because she was Shoshone and had been taken hostage by the Hidatsa, years earlier, when she was 12 years old.
Sacagawea was 6 months pregnant when they first met her. She and her husband moved to Fort Mandan and wintered there. On February 11, 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to a boy, that was named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. In the months to come, he would be called by many on the expedition “Little Pomp” or “Pompy”.
Written in the passage from the Lewis and Clark Journal about “Pompy’s” birth, was that a small portion of the rattle of the rattle-snake was administered to Sacagawea. According to Mr. Jessome (another interpreter on the expedition) it had been found to hasten the birth of a child. “Two rings of it were broken with the fingers and added to a small quantity of water and given to the woman.” Ten minutes later, little Pompy was born.
Less than two months later, on April 8, 1805, Sacagawea and her baby boy would join the expedition west. In addition to Sacagawea’s needed language skills, she also knew which plants could be safely eaten and which could be used for medicinal purposes. Another benefit to The Expedition, was that a woman and child gave an indication that The Expedition had friendly intentions. Sacagawea and Pompy, were in a sense tokens of peace.
Sacagawea proved to be a valuable member of The Expedition during May of 1805, when the current nearly capsized the boat she was travelling in and despite also having her baby in tow, she was able to save some important papers and supplies. It was decided that the river be named the Sacagawea River, to honor her actions.
In August of 1805, when they located a Shoshone tribe and wished to trade for horses to cross the Rocky Mountains, the tribe’s chief, turned out to be Sacagawea’s brother Cameahwait. It was a joyous reunion, that definitely had a positive impact on the barter for horses!
After a difficult journey The Expedition did reach the Pacific Coast. Sacagawea was intent on seeing the Pacific ocean and insisted on seeing a beached whale. This passage from the Lewis and Clark Journal describes her plea… Captain Lewis wrote this on January 6, 1806…
“The Indian woman was very importunate to be permitted to go, and was therefore indulged; she observed that she had traveled a long way with us to see the great waters, and that now that monstrous fish was also to be seen, she thought it very hard she could not be permitted to see either.”
So happy that Sacagawea was granted her request! On the return journey, Sacagawea was helpful as a guide, because when they passed through her homeland, among the Shoshone, she remembered certain trails from her childhood. The most important trail she recalled, which Clark described as “a large road passing through a gap in the mountain,” led to the Yellowstone River. (Today, it is known as Bozeman Pass, Montana.) The Expedition returned to the Hidatsa-Mandan villages on August 14, 1806, marking the end of the trip for Sacagawea, Charbonneau and Pompy.
William Clark extended an offer to Sacagawea and Charbonneau to take in the child when he was older and pay for his education. In a few years, Sacagawea and Charbonneau accepted Clark’s offer and brought Pompy to live with William Clark. Sacagawea gave birth to a daughter, Lisette, on December 22, 1812, but died soon after at age 25 due to what later medical researchers believed was a serious illness she had suffered most of her adult life.
William Clark is said to have adopted both children.
Today, Sacagawea and Little Pomp, stand in the US Capitol. North Dakota is the only state that has three people representing their state in the National Statuary Hall Collection!
Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute visit The Table of Contents and the Facebook Page. (I’ll be adding to the Substack Table of Contents as I transfer the Blog Posts. Please subscribe to this Substack 😊🇺🇸🤓)
Interesting. Please note that Bozeman Pass was encountered on Clark’s return to meet Lewis at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers.
Interesting account! Well done Diana!