Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-11-23
BY HENRY BLAZE


Sacajawea-the Bird Woman
the most famous heroine In all the
story of the American Indians,
whOse name Is linked with that Of
Lewis and Clark In the greatest ex-
plOratiOn exploit in all history, was
won In q gambling game by Char
bOneau, the dissOIute, nl-tempered
French Canadian trapper, and so
became his head wife.
The story of her romantic nte-her
capture as a child from her own peo-
Ole. the Snake Indians her sad love
affair with handsome young Mandan
warrior who was killed IN battle with
the Arickarees; her own tale OF her
Journey with Lewis and Clark-theSe
form a true romance OF the OLD west
that could not be equaled in fiction.
Sacajawea was captured by the Man
dams from the Snakes about the year
1894 near the three forks Of the Mis-
souri, Her captor, who also secured
another young Snake girl named Otter
Woman, was a Mandan chief named
Red Arrow. Red Arrow took the girls
back to the Mandan village with him
and treated them as he did his own
daughters. But unfortunately for the
girl captives, Red Arrow was a great
gambler, and due to this fact, mlstor-
tune overlook them. The story, as once
related by Sacajawea, and describing
her life after she had reached the
AFandan village, follows:
Story of Sacajawea
with the coming of winter, a white
man who was married to a Minnetaree
woman. moved up to this village and
bought lodge in 1t. He had been
4rapper for the Northwest Fur COM
pany, but was now free man. He
trapped and hunted a little part OF
the time and did some trading with
the Cheyennes and other tribes that
now and then came to visit the Mn
netarees and Mandans.
"ThiS mani may as well tell you
now that 1t was Charboneau-was often
a visitor in Red Arrows lodge. With
other men he came there to gamble,
to play hide-the-bone for horses, guns,
knives and all kinds of small property
Often, very often, we would awake IN
the morning and find the men Stll
playing the game.
''The white man, Charboneau, could
not understand the language of this
tribe, although he had long had q
hfinnetaree wife, and so he conversed
with the people in the sign language.
Well, when we awoke one morning a
number of men were still gambling in
the lodge, among them the white man,
who was playing against our captor,
Red Arrow The players were ranged
in two rows, one on each side OF the
fire. and q man on one side OF II
played against the man directly oppo-
site him. When Otter Woman and l
awoke and sat up a game had just
been concluded and the players began
making bets for a fresh game. We no
ticed that the white man was smiling, |
and Red Arrow appeared to be very
iow-hearted as they arranged their
bets, so we knew that Red Arrow was
a heavy loser in the games OF the
night. The two began arguing about
the bet to be made for the fresh game, |
and at first Otter Woman and I, no
more than half-awake and sleepy |
eyed, paid little attention to them. /
Then I saw the white man sign to Red
Arrow: You say that you have nothing |
left to bet. You have several things; |
plenty to bet. Your spotted buffalo !
runner Is a good horse; my black run
ner is a good horse; my black runner
Is faster than he will bet my black
against your spotted horse
RED Arrow considered the offer for
a long time. NO, I dare not bet that
horse, he answered. That horse is my
If I should lose him, my
women and my children would go
hungry
Won by Gambler
"'But you may win!' the white man
You have been losing all