Born around 1788 as a member of the Lemhi band of the Native American Shoshone tribe,
Sacagawea became the property of French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau who married her.
President Thomas Jefferson had made the Louisiana Purchase from France in 1803—828,000 square miles of almost completely unexplored territory.
Within this vast wilderness he hoped would lie the rumored Northwest Passage (a waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans). That never existed.
She could identify roots, plants and berries that were either edible or medicinal. And by being with these men (Lewis and Clark) she was able to help them buy horses and understand the tribes they can across.
She died at 25, on December 22, 1812 probably of typhoid fever.
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