Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 57 SACAGAWEA, POMPEY AND PATRICK GASS'S LIVES AFTER MAKING HISTORY WHEN THE JOURNEY WAS OVER by RENEE CARLSON • illustrations by ROBERT RATH S ACAGAWEA JOINED THE CORPS OF DISCOVERY in late 1804 and quickly proved to be nearly the most important person on the expe- dition. She was a crucial part of the interpretation process on many occasions, saved many essential supplies (including now-price- less journals and specimens) after a boat had tipped, and ex- ercised a historical democratic vote concerning where to winter in the autumn of 1805. William Clark's insistence on housing and educating her son Jean Baptiste brought Sacagawea and her husband Toussaint Char- bonneau to St. Louis in 1807 until the couple decided to return to the Mandan villages in 1809. Sacagawea made one more move back to St. Louis as she and Char- bonneau tried to farm outside of the city, but departed for the final time in 1811 to find work at Fort Manuel Lisa. While at the fort, Sacagawea gave birth to a daughter named Lizette Char- bonneau, who would later be adopted by William Clark. It is doubtful that Clark's affection for Sacagawea and Char- bonneau's children was due to Toussaint. Both Lewis and Clark disliked Charbonneau, particularly his treatment of Sacagawea, and cataloged many such offenses in their jour- nals. Sadly, poor Lizette may have died early in her child- hood, going unmentioned thereafter in Clark's journals. Multiple accounts place Sacagawea and Charbonneau at Fort Manuel Lisa, and it is historically very likely that Sa- cagawea died there as well, as a travel- er's journal had noted that the young woman died after having recently giv- en birth to a baby girl. The public was aware of her iconic stature, and many could not accept that she had passed away—Wyoming historian and suf- fragist Grace Hebard published her theory in 1933, suggesting that a dif- ferent wife of Charbonneau had died; Sacagawea could have returned to her Shoshone people, and lived to be 100 years old. This seems unlikely, given the traveler's journal mentioned above. Shoshone oral legend main- tains that Sacagawea did not die in 1812 but returned to her people to live until age 78, a possibility reinforced by the account of one Reverend John Roberts. He reported that he had buried an old Native woman and "people" claimed that she was, in fact, Sacagawea. It turns out the "people" he mentioned were specifically one person: Grace Hebard. In 1945, the reverend had confided to historian Blanche Shroer, "All I know is I buried an old Indian woman. The historian [Grace Hebard] told me she was Sacagawea." Although the whereabouts of her final resting place are now lost to time, nothing can diminish the incredible achievements, intelligence, and endurance of the only fe- male member of the Corps of Discovery. S A C A G A W E A 1 7 88 - 1 812

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