Presents a biography of the young Shoshone Indian princess who acted as interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Presents a biography of the young Shoshone Indian princess who acted as interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition.

In the saga of early western exploration a young Shoshoni Indian girl named Sacajawea is famed as a guide and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Far Northwest between 1804 and 1806. Her fame rests upon her contributions to the expedition. In guiding them through the wilderness, in gathering wild foods, and, above all, in serving as an ambassadress to Indian tribes along the way she helped to assure the success of the expedition. This book retraces Sacajawea’s path across the Northwest, from the Mandan Indian villages in present-day South Dakota to the Pacific Ocean, and back. On the journey Sacajawea was accompanied by her ne’er-do-well French-Canadian husband, Toussaint Charboneau, and her infant son, Baptiste, who became a favorite of the members of the expedition, especially Captain William Clark. The author presents a colorful account of Sacajawea’s journeys with Lewis and Clark and an objective evaluation of the controversial accounts of her later years.

One minute she was picking berries and the next her tribe was under attack. Running for her life, Sacajawea was scooped up and taken far away from her village and family--and into history. From her mountain home to the banks of the Missouri River, over the majestic Rockies to the pounding waves of the Pacific, Sacajawea would travel farther than any American woman of her time. Richly illustrated and smartly narrated, this book brings to life the story of the real and remarkable Shoshone princess who helped Captains Lewis and Clark navigate their way across the American West.

How do you continue living when life collapses around you in a single day? Marguerite Wadin MacKay believes her 17-year marriage to explorer Alex MacKay is strong-until his sudden fame destroys it. When he returns from a cross-Canada expedition, he announces their frontier marriage is void in Montréal where he plans to find a society wife-not one with native blood. Taking their son, MacKay sends Marguerite and their three daughters to a trading post where she lived as a child. Deeply shamed, she arrives in time to assist young Doctor John McLoughlin with a medical emergency. Marguerite now lives only for her girls. When Fort William on Lake Superior opens a school, Marguerite moves there for her daughters' sake and rekindles her friendship with Doctor McLoughlin. When he declares his love, she dissuades him from a match harmful to his career. She's mixed blood and nine years older. But he will have no one else. After abandonment, can a woman love again and fulfill a key role in North American History?

Clad in a doeskin, alone and unafraid, she stood straight and proud before the onrushing forces of America's destiny: Sacajawea, child of a Shoshoni chief, lone woman on Lewis and Clark's historic trek -- beautiful spear of a dying nation. She knew many men, walked many miles. From the whispering prairies, across the Great Divide to the crystal capped Rockies and on to the emerald promise of the Pacific Northwest, her story over flows with emotion and action ripped from the bursting fabric of a raw new land. Ten years in the writing, SACAJAWEA unfolds an immense canvas of people and events, and captures the eternal longings of a woman who always yearned for one great passion -- and always it lay beyond the next mountain.

DIVRemarkable study, based on exacting research, unravels the tangled threads of Sacajawea's family life, describes her personal traits, and significant services she rendered during a grand adventure that would forever alter American history. /div

A concise look at the legendary Shoshone woman who led explorers Lewis and Clark on their route from the Dakotas to the Pacific Ocean. Born in the Rocky Mountains, Sacagawea was taken captive and held hundreds of miles away from home for years. When Meriwether Lewis and William Clark came through her new village, Sacagawea was offered as a guide since the explorers were heading toward Shoshone territory, where she was from. Pregnant with her first child and the only woman on the expedition, she accompanied them through the frigid winter of 1804-05 and gave birth to her son as the group traveled west. Her knowledge of the land, interpretation skills, and diplomatic manner were of great use to the team and helped ensure a successful voyage. This child friendly narrative of Sacagawea's intrepid life contains memorable facts, history, and context, accompanied by elegant illustrations. Back matter includes a timeline, author's note, and bibliography.

Classic biography of Sacajawea.

In these 11 essays, all originally published in "The New York Review of Books," McMurtry brings his unique narrative gift and dry humor to a variety of western topics.