Showered by myth and mystery, not knowing the correct spelling of Sacagawea's name or his correct date of birth. His story has been told many times throughout history. Learning neither to read nor write, she was well known for assisting explorers Lewis and Clark on their expedition, surveying the Louisiana Purchase lands. She became a valuable guide for the expedition, interpreter between the tribes of her region. Without Sacagawea's help, Lewis and Clark may not have been as successful, but through their efforts, it made it impossible for other countries to claim the new lands of the United States. Sacagawea, also known as Bird Woman, was born to a Shoshone woman. chief in 1788, at Salmon, Idaho. At the age of twelve, she was captured and sold to French-Canadian fur trader Toussaint Charbonneau, and became one of his many wives. After the purchased land was conformed, Lewis and Clark approached the hired interpreter, Charbonneau and his unknown Native American wife. They were to serve as guides to the group. Being only sixteen years old, she and her husband accompanied Lewis and Clark, graciously leading them on the expedition. She then gave birth to a boy, Jean-Baptiste, nicknamed “Pompée”, in their fort. As Clark had become deeply attached to the baby, he offered to take him in, once he was weaned, to raise him as his own child. Less than two months later, the expedition was to continue and Sacagawea had his grandson strapped to his back to share the hardships of the journey. Sacagawea posed as a guide, spectator, and translator because she knew geography, animals, and plants. As she traveled across the country, she allayed the fears of other Native American tribes because she served a...... middle of paper ...... et al. Flight. 4: Primary sources. Detroit: UXL, 2006. 146-161. United States History in Context. Print. November 17, 2013. McBeth, Sally. 2003. “Memory, History, and Contested Pasts: Reimagining Sacagawea/Sacajawea.” Journal of Native American Culture and Research 27, no. 1:1-32. Humanities Full Text (HW Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed November 17, 2013). “Sacagawea. » Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribe's Sons, 1936. United States History in Context. Print. September 25, 2013. Shoemaker, Nancy. “Native American Women in History.” OAH History Magazine, Vol. 9, no. 4, Native Americans (summer 1995), pp. 10-14. November 17, 2013Vettel-Becker, Patricia. “Sacagawea and Son: The Visual Construction of the American Maternal Feminine.” American Studies (00263079) 50, no. 1/2 (Summer 2009 2009): 27-50. America: History and Life with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed November 17, 2013).