Monday, August 24, 2009

Sacajawea to the rescue

Sacajawea, the name just seems to flow off the tongue. She was the wife of a French fur trader who was placed in the path of Lewis and Clark as they explored the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. She had been kidnapped from the Shoshone tribe as a child, and they knew she would be valuable as a guide and an interpreter. The exploration party knew that they would need horses to cross the Rocky Mountains, and the Shoshone Indians had plenty of horses. When they arrived at the Indian’s camp, they were all surprised that the chief turned out to be the brother of Sacajawea. She had no idea that he was the chief and had not even seen her brother since she had been kidnapped. The Shoshone were more that willing to provide Lewis and Clark with as many horses as they needed. As they continued on their way Sacajawea proved to be a knowledgeable guide. She also was able to help the exploration party deal with other Indian tribes that they encountered. God had provided Sacajawea to allow the Louisiana Territory to be successfully explored. Years later, Clark said the following to Sacajawea’s husband “Your woman who accompanied you that long dangerous and fatigueing rout to the Pacific Ocian and back diserved a greater reward for her attention and services on that rout than we had in our power to give her.”

No comments:

Post a Comment