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n– 1805
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nWhennshe was about 12 years old, she was kidnapped from her own ShoshonenIndian tribe by Hidatsa Indians.
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nWhennshe was around 13 years old, she was purchased by (and married off to) anFrench fur trapper.
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nWhennshe was 14 years old, she became pregnant.
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nNow,njust 15 years old, she was living in a fort with her husband and anwhole lot of English-speaking white men who were part of the Corps ofnDiscovery (which we call the Lewis and Clark Expedition). Her husbandnhad been hired as interpreter—even though it was she whonknew the Shoshone language the group desired!
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nAndnher baby was ready to be born…
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| This Sacagawea dollar honors the brave teenage mom/ interpreter/explorer! |
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nSacagaweangave birth to little Jean Baptiste Charbonneau on this date in 1805.nOne of the other Indian interpreters helped out by “administering”ncrushed rattlesnake rattles to speed the delivery. (I have no ideanhow or where he “administered the crushed rattles – did he makenthem into a paste and smear it somewhere? Did he make the rattlesninto a drink? Or did he just lay the crushed rattles on Sacagawea’snhand?) n
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nWilliamnClark nicknamed the baby “Pompy.” And when the expedition leftnthe fort and went up the Missouri in their canoes, Sacagawea heldnlittle Pompy the whole way!
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nBynthe way…
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WhennPompy was just three months old, one of the expedition’s boatsncapsized. Sacagawea was able to stay calm and rescue several itemsnthat fell out of the boat, including Lewis and Clark’s journals andnrecords. The corps commanders commended her for her quick action andnnamed the river Sacagawea in her honor. n
WhennPompy was just three months old, one of the expedition’s boatsncapsized. Sacagawea was able to stay calm and rescue several itemsnthat fell out of the boat, including Lewis and Clark’s journals andnrecords. The corps commanders commended her for her quick action andnnamed the river Sacagawea in her honor. nn
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nSacagaweanand Little Pompy had many other adventures on the expedition,ntraveling from what is now North Dakota to Oregon and then backnagain. Read about some of them here.n (Click the various words “interpreter,” “her return home,”nand so forth.) The story of Sacagawea is also told herenand, in a briefer version, here.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nNational Inventors’ Day
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nNational Foundation Day in Japan
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