Later explorations have shown that the Musselshell rises in the Little
Belt Mountains, considerably to the north of the sources of the
Yellowstone. Modern geography has also taken from the good Sacajawea
the honor of having her name bestowed on one of the branches of the
Musselshell. The stream once named for her is now known as Crooked
Creek: it joins the river near its mouth, in the central portion of
Montana. The journal, under date of May 22, has this entry:--
"The river [the Missouri] continues about two hundred and fifty yards
wide, with fewer sand-bars, and the current more gentle and regular.
Game is no longer in such abundance since leaving the Musselshell. We
have caught very few fish on this side of the Mandans, and these were
the white catfish, of two to five pounds. We killed a deer and a
bear. We have not seen in this quarter the black bear, common in the
United States and on the lower parts of the Missouri, nor have we
discerned any of their tracks. They may easily be distinguished
by the shortness of the talons from the brown, grizzly, or white bear,
all of which seem to be of the same species, which assumes those
colors at different seasons of the year. We halted earlier than usual,
and camped on the north, in a point of woods, at the distance of
sixteen and one half miles [thus past the site of Fort Hawley, on the
south]."
Let us pause here to pay a little tribute to the memory of "the Indian
woman," Sacajawea. She showed that she was very observant, had a good
memory, and was plucky and determined when in trouble. She was the
guide of the exploring party when she was in a region of country, as
here, with which she was familiar. She remembered localities
which she had not seen since her childhood.
When their pirogue was upset by the carelessness of her husband, it
was she who saved the goods and helped to right the boat. And,
with her helpless infant clinging to her, she rode with the men,
guiding them with unerring skill through the mountain fastnesses and
lonely passes which the white men saw for the first time when their
salient features were pointed out to them by the intelligent and
faithful Sacajawea. The Indian woman has long since departed to the
Happy Hunting-Grounds of her fathers; only her name and story remain
to us who follow the footsteps of the brave pioneers of the western
continent. But posterity should not forget the services which were
rendered to the white race by Sacajawea.
Sacajawea is believed to have settled down on the Wind River
Shoshone and Bannock Indian Reservation in Wyoming and lived to be 94
years old.
In 1999, the U.S. mint issued a $1.00 coin
(see inset) featuring the image of
Sacajawea in order to celebrate the coming bicentennial of the Lewis &
Clark expedition. While many consider the coin to represent long
overdue recognition for this remarkable woman's contribution to the
expedition, others feel it represents the submission of a Native
American to the ways of the white man, and even consider the coin an
insult to the Shoshone Indians who are still awaiting Federal
recognition.
As an added token of irony (no pun intended), the word "Liberty"
appears above Sacajawea's head. As you may recall, Sacajawea was sold
as a slave to Toussaint Charbonneau, who then decided to make her his
wife...
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