Sacagawea: Westward With Lewis and Clark

by Alana White

Profiles the life and times of Sacagawea, with an emphasis on her journey taken with the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

Library Binding

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Alana White is the author of the Guid'Antonio Vespucci mystery series, whose titles include The Sign of the Weeping Virgin (#1) and The Hearts of All on Fire (#2). Both are set at the height of the Italian Renaissance in Florence, Italy. Other books include Come Next Spring, a coming of age novel set in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in the 1940s, and a biography of Sacagawea, Sacagawea: Westward With Lewis and Clark. She is a longtime member of the Historical Novel Society and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in Nashville, TN.

Alana welcomes readers and is always available for reader group chats. Please visit her at www.AlanaWhite.com for more information. As well as HNS and SCBWI, she is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, the Author's Guild, and the Women's National Book Association.

Reviews

[Meryem Matar]

The biography Sacagawea Westward with Lewis and Clark as written by Alana J. White. Sacagawea was a Native American girl from the Shoshones Tribe. When she was twelve, while picking berries with other Shoshone girls she got kidnapped by Hidatsa war party. The girls suffered especially during the winter, they got lack of food and clothes. Some people freezed to death and others caught disease. The hunters would always return without anything because it was hard to hunt during the winter. Later on, she comes through that period of marriage. A French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau bought her and a few days later he got married with Sacagawea. Louis and Clark were going to begin the “Lewis and Clark’s Expedition”, also called the “Corps of Discovery”. Their goal was to make an expedition Westward, but they needed a guide who know the land well and this can only be a Native American. Charbonneau agreed to let Sacagawea be the guide of the famous expedition. She was a very skilled person who defended Louis and Clark from a dangerous animal or a Native American and this made her successful. They also had to pass through hard times, and one of those times was when a storm occurred. Clark was the first one to notice it and it was very violent. Sacagawea got very scared that she could barely move. Clark pushed her to safety and she was very wet and cold, she had a risk of being sick. Sacagawea got a baby named Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, Clark called him Poppy. She carried her son on a bag held to her back. Sacagawea’s legacy was that she was a big member that really helped the “Corps of Discovery”.

This biography was strong enough to answer three questions about Sacagawea. I know that this book is a biography because it just says the name of a famous person as its title, but it also talks about a lot of details about a person’s life. What made Sacagawea really known was that she served as a strong and intelligent guide in “Lewis and Clark’s expedition”, also known as the “Corps of Discovery”. She is right now in the one-dollar coin, holding her baby at her back in the little bag. The questions I have about this person are: Why did Sacagawea get kidnapped? Did she really love Charbonneau or was she forced to marry him? How old was she when she got her baby? Did she get to be a grandmother? Four adjectives that would well describe Sacagawea are brave, because she used to defend Lewis and Clark from danger, determined, she didn’t get scared for most things and even though she got she had to be patient, mature, she took her job seriously without acting as a little child, and careful because she always cared for her, Lewis, Clark, and Poppy. As one can see, Sacagawea has a heroic legacy.

I would recommend this book to high school because it was a long story with a lot of hard words. I would also recommend it to people who love biographies because this book is a biography but who also like biographies about people famous in history. This book would go well with people who love social studies and American History. For language power, I would recommend this book to strong readers and to authors who write biographies about famous people of American History. As one can see, this book would be recommended to people who love American History.

[Randy O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

This thorough and informative story follows the young mother as she guides Lewis and Clark on there mission to survey the American west. Highly recommend.

[Youssef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sacagawea was born in Agaidika a salmon eater tribe. When she became twelve the group of Hisaka kidnapped Sacagawea. One year later when she was 13 she was bought as a wife to Toussaint Charbonneau. One of the most known fact about Sacagawea was that during the Lewis and Clark expedition she was pregnant. She was actually pregnant at the age of fifteen. Once a boat went by Sacagawea’s home with her husband, it was Lewis and Clark. Lewis and Clark agreed to hire Sacagawea’s husband Charbonneau, however he said he would go only if his lovely wife went with him. Later in the expedition Sacagawea gave birth to her first child names Jean Batiste Charbonneau. During the expedition Sacagawea did a lot if things to save the group. For example when an Indian tribe wanted to attack them she explained every thing. An other example was when the boat flipped and she had to go under water to get everything that was important. Sacagawea got food for everyone and helped everyone. During the expedition Sacagawea met her brother who was the leader of a tribe. Sacagawea was even important when the weather was very cold and very hot. So as one can see that Sacagawea did incredible things with her baby that is why she is remembered in the United States.




There are many questions about Sacagawea. One question is: Why is this book a biography. Well this book is a biography due to the fact that it is talking about someone’s life. An other question is: What did this person do to change other people’s life? Well the answer to that question is that she saved the group by not letting the Indians killing providing food and knowing what to do in cold and hot weathers. Finally the last question is do you think this person is a hero? I think that Sacagawea is kind of a hero owing to the fact that she saved the group as I said earlier knowing what do to in hard circumstances. So as one can see those where the questions and answers about Sacagawea.


I would recommend this book to many different people. I would mainly recommend this book to people who love history. I would also recommend this book to the people that are inspired my Sacagawea’s work. I would recommend this book to the people that have a pretty high lexile because the book is hard with hard words. Finally my last recommendation is to the people who never read about Sacagawea owing to the fact that she was a very brave and smart girl. So as one can see those where my recommendation. So as one can see this book would be recommended to people who love history.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book provided a good overview of the life of Sacajawea. As an adult, sometimes I don't want bogged down in the thick tomes of history - I just want something light and quick. This did the job.

[Steve Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a history teacher looking for information about Sacagawea and the Lewis and Clark expedition in general. The information related to these two topics is clearly presented and provides a nice overview to the story as a whole.