Sacagawea, a native Lemhi Shoshone woman born in 1788, is well known as a fundamental figure in Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition of the western United States, specifically the Louisiana Territory.1 She was useful in their exploration because she was able to guide them through unfamiliar, complicated and unforgiving terrain with ease. She also acted as a liaison and interpreted for Lewis and Clark when they encountered various other Native Americans during their travels. Sacagawea is remembered fondly in American history- she is the face of the dollar coin and more statues of her have been put up in the United States than any other woman.4 Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the little boy carried by Sacagawea on the dollar coin, also left his own impact on U.S. History as well.…show more content… His story began before he was born, in the early 1800’s when his mother, Sacagawea, was kidnapped by the Hidatsa, an enemy tribe, and subsequently sold as a slave to a French Canadian fur trader, Toussaint Charbonneau. Charbonneau eventually took Sacagawea as his wife.2 Further down the road, he would become Jean Baptiste’s father. Both Sacagawea and her husband could speak various native languages, which proved as a very profitable asset for them as explorers came through their area. One harsh winter, Charbonneau met explorers Lewis and Clark as they waited out a storm in his home village. Charbonneau got to know the two explorers and eventually applied to be an interpreter for Lewis and Clark’s expedition of the western United States. The men hired him as well as his six-month pregnant wife, Sacagawea, to be their native language interpreters together and accompany them on their westward travels. In total, the couple worked with Lewis and Clark for a year and a
