Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-10-14
ADDRESS of MATTE M. DAVIS
Superintendent Cass County Schools

ucau attracted by her beauty, bought
/ her for a wlic, giving his small stock
Of iurs and a pony. lie brought her
! soon after 10 live with the less savage
| AI;nrian, She was different from the
women Of the plalns-murc erect, alert
II! re >cndcrly built quicker ni move
mcnt, and She sang about her work,
laughed with her French husband and
r"mpcd with her baby. She soon won
, the affection and respect u her Mandan
nc;yhlIrr> and was looked upon as 4
superior woman 1t is pleasant 70 hear
that Charbpnncau treated her with d
courtesy and respect that was not usu-
ally accorded t. Indian women. and
| probably for this reason she trusted
absolutely ,hc white men
Until the arrival "i the Lewis and
Clark expedition. the Bird Woman had
no hope of returning to her friends in
the mountains. but when the search for
2n;dce begun. it was the Young Indian
wife Il Ch.rhprlrau who urged him
~ offer himself 70 the leader, az pilot
| t. Was not ambitions FIR the honor and
declared hi inability. either * 4 guide
i"r plains " mountains. but he per-
>,,alcd him. "\Vhn knows the plains
:" well rs my husband an'. rs for The
mountains, have not hunted there
with my brothers Did ! not come
;"nn those paths A, a captive and
watch every turn that | might return
to my pcopIc:' When he spoke Of
the baby as hindrance she said. at
will not hurt him: he has a mountain
mother He shall trouble no one. but
shall 90 all the way on his mothers
back. Besides, he will be a protection
to these white men When the Indians
sec the s1,lw and baby. they will know
it is no war party"
Sakakawca finally prevailed on him
10 60, and the little company started
late in April Of 1905. The Indian wo-
man was the real leader and the. only
woman of the party AS guide, she
possessed many qualities that were in
valuable. She could march; she could
row: she could swim: load a canoe;
catch fish; shoot game: set up tent:
dress a skin. and get up good meal
from the bones where others would
starvc with meat. The expedition had
been furnished with men for every pur-
pose except a physician. and it was
fortunate that Bird Woman's knowl-
edge of herbs and plants as medicine
helped her to minister to the sick and
suffering.
As they proceeded day by day, climb
ing the long slope to the mountains,
to every one but the mountain-bred girl.
breathing became difficult. but her feet
grew lighter as she assembled. Late
in May. she led Captain Lewis to cliff
where he got his first view Of the snow
covered Rockies, and still on until there
came ",hc burst OF glory above the
plains 1t was the Great Falls. From
this point the boats must be carried
for twenty miles, and Bird Woman told
the men how to make carriages from
cross sections of cottonwood trees and
to mount the boats thereon, and when a
little later, in a swift current her fright
cncd husband upset the boat and its
precious contents went floating away.
her quick wit enabled her to Sieze and !
save maps, charts and scientific instru-
ments Gas we'll as herself and baby,
without which the party would have
Dccn TOpclcSSly lOSl. ,DHc )cNdlHS lilS
counselor and friend as we'll as the
guide How she found her own friends
and obtained horses and food for the
nearly starved men, and how her peo-
pie passed the party on to the friendly
tribes beyond with Sakakawca as sole
Interpreter is we'll known. At last they
reached the Pacific ocean, and after cS-
ploring the country and recruiting for a
time, Sakakawea led them back through
the painless wilds with only little
less danger, to their starting place. This
was in the year 1906
DR.. Grace Raymond Hcbard, libra
rian of the University Of Wyoming and
member of the Wyoming bar. tersely
describes the expedition in the follow
ing:
"The most hazardous and the most
significant journey ever made on the
western continent, journey that riv
ais in daring and exceeds in import
ance the expedition of Stanley and
Livingston in Africa-a journey that
resulted in the greatest real estate trans
action ever recorded in history, and
gave to the world riches beyond com.
prehension-was piloted by woman.
1T was an epoch making journey;
a journey that moved the world along:
that gave us the breadth of the hcmi-
sphere from ocean to ocean: the COM