Sacagawea was the daughter of a Shoshone chief. Sacagawea was born in 1788 (unknown date of birth) in Lemhi County, Idaho. At around age 12, she was captured by an enemy tribe and sold to a French-Canadian trapper who made her his wife. She and Touissiant Charbonneau had a baby boy. They named him Jean Baptiste Charbonneau and later on they had a daughter. They named her Lizette Charbonneau In November of 1804, she was invited to join the Lewis and Clark expedition as a Shoshone interpreter. Also she was skilled at finding edible plants. The expedition planned to explore newly acquired western land and to find a route to the Pacific Ocean. She was the only woman on the expedition. When a boat she was riding on capsized, she was able to save some of its cargo, including important …show more content…
She served as a symbol of peace because a group traveling with a woman and a child were treated with less suspicion than a group of men alone. Sacagawea chose to stay on the expedition when she was reunited with her brother Cameahwait; the new chief of the Shoshone Indians. It was through her that the expedition was able to buy horses from the Shoshone to cross the Rocky Mountains. After reaching the Pacific coast in November 1805, Sacagawea was allowed to cast her vote along with the other members of the expedition for where they would build a fort to stay for the winter. They built Fort Clatsop near present-day Astoria, Oregon, and they remained there until March of the following year. Sacagawea, her husband, and her son remained with the expedition on the return trip east until they reached the Mandan villages. During the journey, Clark had become fond of her son Jean Baptiste, nicknaming him "Pomp" or "Pompey." And he even offered to help him get an education. Once Sacagawea left the expedition, the details of her life