Sacajawea

Shoshone oral tradition has it that Sacajawea lived into old age. It is that woman who died in 1884 and is buried on the Wind River Reservation.

Written records, however, conflict with the oral history. They reveal Charbonneau’s wife died at age 25, soon after delivering her daughter Lisette. While Charbonneau clearly had more than one “wife,” he did not have two daughters named Lisette. Recent scholarship, therefore, holds to the belief that Sacajawea died in 1812.

Whether she lived a short or long life, the Shoshone teenager has become an American legend. The U.S. Mint has created a gold dollar coin in her honor. More schools in the States are named after her than after any other woman. She is a subject of best-selling novels, children’s books and historical scholarship.

When Lewis and Clark are discussed, so is Sacajawea and the part she played in their mission. Ken Burns and his excellent PBS documentary have also raised Sacajawea’s profile in recent years. Even an elliptical caldera on the planet Venus has been named after her (Sacajawea Patera).

At the end of all the uncertainty, however, perhaps the exact details of her life matter less than the importance of her contribution to America’s heritage.