I Am Sacagawea
By Grace Norwich
Hi! Have you ever driven across the country? Well, Sacagawea crossed the continent on horses and boats, all with a baby on her back!
Sacagawea was born in the area of Salmon River, Idaho. She wasn’t very old when she was kidnapped by the members of the Hidatsa tribe. Her friend, Jumping Fish, got kidnapped, too, but she got away. Sacagawea didn’t. When Sacagawea was older, she married a man named Toussaint Charbonneau. He was much older than Sacagawea because Indian girls had to marry people who were much older. But, Toussaint Charbonneau was not an Indian. He was a French trader who came to live with the Hidatsa tribe.
Later, Lewis and Clark came and they were asking for food and supplies in exchange for some other things. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark travelled to try to find a path from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. President Thomas Jefferson had sent Lewis and Clark to find out new things about the Indians’ land and everything that they saw. That’s when the Chief realized that they had something that Lewis and Clark needed desperately. They could trade Sacagawea for more guns and weapons. She would be useful on their journey since they would be going through other Indian lands on their journey. They would need more horses and boats and Sacagawea could communicate with the other Indians.
Sacagawea brought along her husband (let’s just call him “T.C.” from now on!). So, Lewis, Clark, T.C., Sacagawea and the many more people that Lewis and Clark brought with them set off on their journey. After a long ways, Sacagawea started feeling sick. That’s when the men discovered that she was having a baby. They didn’t know how to get the baby out when somebody told Lewis to give Sacagawea a rattlesnake’s tail. Luckily, since they had been collecting things for President Jefferson, he had a rattlesnake’s tail. He gave it to Sacagawea and a baby boy was born. The boy’s name was Jean-Baptiste. Everybody called him Baptiste, though. The newest member of the corps had been born!
Will they finish the journey without getting stopped by anything? Will Sacagawea help? Or will they go hungry and be lost forever? As I always say, read the book to find out!
I recommend this book to readers who like non-fiction books and adventures. This is very much an adventure. Imagine having to cross the world with strangers and a baby on your back! Wow, that must have been hard for Sacagawea!
P.S. – Did you know that Sacagawea only lived to be 27 years old?
A few helpful things I like to say about the books I read:
“Run and Get Mom” (how I describe the scariness factor):
There were a few scary parts, but non-fiction scary. Non-fiction scary means not very scary because it would be scary if it happened to you in real life, but less scary than in fiction books.
“Yucky-Lovey Stuff” (how I describe the romance factor):
There were no yucky-lovey parts other than Sacagawea marrying T.C.
I give this book 4 wands.
I prefer fiction, but this was still a great book! This gave me lots of new information about Sacagawea and it was fun to read. I hope you like the book!!!
