Mari Bolen's

Sacagawea & Baptiste

    Sacagawea was the Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis & Clark on their historic journey from 1802 to 1806. She was the slave of the Hidatsas till sold to Charbonneau and bore him a son, Baptiste, six weeks prior to leaving for the Pacific with the Corps of Discovery. She was welcomed as his wife as she would serve as a signal to tribes along the way that the mission of the Corps was a friendly one. Her value to the Corps as guide, interpreter, herbalist and forager increased as Charbonneau's waned.
She is depicted as a 16 year old new mother, when she and her baby, the only person to whom she could relate, were at rest. With a sweep of her arm, she shows the infant that this land...this place..is his heritage.

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