CHAPTER 4
Sacagawea

On February 11, 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to a fine, healthy boy. His father named him Jean Baptiste, but Clark came up with the name Pompy, meaning “little chief” in the Shoshone language. Soon everyone called him Pompy or Pomp. Having a baby around was a happy reminder of home and family to all the men.

Like the explorers, Sacagawea was far from home, too. A Minnetaree war party had captured her when she was just a young girl picking berries with other Shoshone women and children.

For five years Sacagawea lived as a Minnetaree slave on the Missouri River, hundreds of miles from home. The Minnetarees named her Sacagawea. Sacagawea meant “Bird Woman.” When she was sixteen, Toussaint Charbonneau, who was more than twenty years older, took her for his wife. When Sacagawea married, she was no longer considered to be a Minnetaree slave. However, her husband didn’t speak Shoshone, and Sacagawea didn’t speak French. They spoke to each other in Minnetaree, which they both knew. They met up with the Corps about a year after their marriage.

When Sacagawea learned that Lewis and Clark wanted horses from the Shoshones, she was thrilled. That meant she would be going home. Home!

At last spring arrived. Plans were made for pushing off. For her first long journey, Sacagawea wore her best clothing: deerskin leggings, moccasins, a fringed garment decorated with elk teeth, and a blue-beaded belt. She also wore bracelets, earrings, and finger rings. She planned to wear all these handsome clothes again when they reached the land of the Shoshones. She would be seeing her family and old friends after all this time.