Dreams of a Bird Woman: The Sacagawea Story

Dreams of a Bird Woman: The Sacagawea Story is a story based on what is known about this young Shoshone woman who helped guide Lewis and Clark on their westward expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Sacagawea traveled with the expedition in 1805 and 1806. She is perhaps one of the most well-known and least known figures in American history. Most of what we know about her is gleaned from the journals of Lewis and Clark. At the age of 12, she was kidnapped from the Shoshone by a war party of Hidatsa Indians. She was later sold as a slave to a French-Canadian fur trader, who claimed her as a wife. Sacagawea and her husband both accompanied Lewis and Clark and their party of 33 explorers on the expedition. They served as guides and as interpretors on the journey. Sacagawea was a valuable asset to the explorers as they traveled westward through the territories of many new tribes.