Truth About Sacajawea

by Kenneth Thomasma, Agnes Vincen Talbot

Excerpts from the diaries of Lewis and Clark reveal the true story of a Shoshoni Indian girl who served as interpreter, peacemaker, and guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Biography, Juvenile, Cultural

96 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1997

About the author

Kenneth Thomasma is a professional storyteller and writing workshop leader who lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Reviews

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomasma presents all of the entries in the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark that talked about their Shoshone guide Sacajawea, in an effort to prove her indispensability to the Corps of Discovery. Entries that don't mention Sacajawea are briefly summarized in between.

Thomasma seems to think he is dispelling some sort of myth, but there weren't any big reveals here. The truth is, Sacajawea was one badass lady.

[Kevin Keating · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little book excerpting basically all of the references to Sacajawea in the Lewis and Clark journals. Very good reading. You get a little insight into her personality, which makes it more unfortunate that we let her slip away from history unresearched

[Kelly Hohenstern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story. Loved getting to read the only written observations ever recorded about this fascinating heroine from US history. Sacagewea added so much to the Lewis and Clark expedition. More than I knew about previously. Not only did she guide and interpret; but she also found food, cared for the sick, saved their supplies multiple times from being lost in the river, and warned the explorers of impending danger and betrayal from rival tribes. The expedition would have never been successful without her, and even Lewis and Clark themselves made this observation many times in their journals.

[Lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great resource by the self-proclaimed historian who helped get Sacajawaea’s face on the dollar coin instead of other white women whose names had been proposed. Note that some indigenous authors take umbrage with a white male author penning her biography, however, because she was sold as a sex slave to a white man, so this should probably just be used as a reference work (for citing the author’s advocacy, etc).

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most students study the Meriwether Lewis and William Clark expedition and the Native American woman named Sacajawea is always mentioned. However, the critical role that she played in the success in the mission is rarely covered. She was only 16 when she first met Lewis and Clark and was married to a Frenchman.
Sacajawea had a child named Jean Baptiste that was approximately 8 weeks old when she joined the expedition. Her contributions in knowledge of the terrain, languages of the other native tribes that the expedition encountered were invaluable and chronicled here. She also once became very ill and was close to death. It is darkly amusing that Sacajawea sometimes demonstrated a higher level of bravery than her husband did.
Sacajawea and her husband joined the expedition on November 4, 1804 and left it on August 17, 1806. Citing the extensive journal kept by Lewis and Clark, Thomasma describes the actions of Sacajawea in supporting the goals of the expedition. Not only did she hold up her end of the work, but she did also so while carrying for an infant. Strapped to a cradleboard, Jean Baptiste was an experienced traveler before his first birthday.
This is a book that should be a part of every curriculum and should be read when the Lewis and Clark expedition is covered in detail. Sacajawea was a critical force in one of the greatest explorations ever done by humans.

[Lesley Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

While an interesting endeavor to highlight Sacajawea's positive impact on the Lewis and Clark expedition, his focus was so narrow and dry that it really drained the expedition of much of it's intrigue and sheds little light on the experience. I learned some new facts, and (as I picked this book up on vacation in the right area) discovered I traveled by some notable landmarks, making this quick read worthwhile. Will probably keep it handy next time I reread Anna Lee Waldo's novel version of her life.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that my wife picked up while we were on a 2006 trip following the Lewis & Clark Trail (it was the 200 year anniversary of the expedition. The book was a quick read and covered the only historical record of Sacajawea, which was from the Lewis & Clark journals.

[Ricky Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this in 1997 in Jackson, Wyoming. It was a short nonfiction history about the life of Sacajawea, the Shoshoni woman who helped Lewis & Clark to reach the Pacific Ocean. This book is universally accepted by the indigenous peoples as accurate version of Sacajawea.

[Mary Northrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like to get the real story behind historical figures, this will appeal to you.

[Loree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent quick read about a wonderful young woman. Without her help during this expedition, it is very possible the United States would be a different country today.

[Stacy Nalley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best book, but informative and helpful for the tours I give at the Oregon State Capitol

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's always been really interesting to me

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about this fascinating young lady. I never knew she did that trail as a 16 year old girl with an infant baby.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had picked this book up for someone else but I feel like that person really didn't want the book so it came home with me to be read and enjoyed instead.

The book has a rather lengthy start as it starts off with information about Sacajawea and the golden dollar before going into a note from a Lemhi Shoshoni representatitve Rod Ariwite who explains what Sacajawea means to their people. He explains that no one in the tribe can or should fault a young teenage mother for not foreseeing the future of destruction that was to follow but to praise her for how she carried herself as well as proving the skills of not only her family but her tribe when they were most in need.

From there the reader is taken to a Preface that explains why this book project was undertaken, which was to prove just what type of amazing woman Sacajawea was. Kenneth explains that although there are a bunch of things written about her just as much is inaccurate or misinformation thus he wanted to delve into the subject of Sacajawea by getting information about her from the nearest source we had at the time, which was Lewis and Clark as she traveled with them for twenty-one months.

Kenneth approached this by taking apart the journals of the two greatest explorers of the American interior and paraphrasing it to the reader. As such the paraphrased diary entries are in cursive, his own opinions and insights are put in bold underneath each entry and further information about the trip to add to the reader's experience of the whole is in regular book format font. As such the reader is encouraged to read, to learn and to also look make their own conclusions with all this information on just what type of woman Lewis and Clark found in their Shoshoni guide.

At the same time the book is complemented with more maps and episode drawings included to help the reader follow the trip or view what may have occurred in certain areas such as the keelboat or during her emotional reunion with her childhood friend who had been captured along with her although escaping back to their tribe.

The book ends up exploring just what may have happened to Sacajawea after the trip by readdressing her contributions and then exploring death as controversial as that may be. As a result the author puts forth the theory that he thinks is most likely before closing her tale by explaining what happened to that child of hers that she was able to save and raise even as young teenage mother on a strenuous journey of exploration. What else can be truly said about her but an agreeing with the author that she was quite a woman!

I feel that people who enjoy learning about the Lewis and Clark expedition, about strong women, about Native American culture or just history in general will really enjoy this book. And there are entry date references in the back so you can actually look up the journals yourself to see what the entries read if you have any doubts about the paraphrasing included.

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sacajawea was a Shoshoni woman who was an interpreter on the Lewis and Clark expedition. She was a mother, a wife and a very important part of the expedition.

It is hard to know much of Sacajawea's life, as most of what is known about her is the journals of Lewis and Clark. So over the years some of the information about this amazing woman isn't accurate. The purpose of this book is to give people the the truth about Sacajawea.
The author tries his best to be as accurate as possible, even talking with the Shoshoni people, whom he has been friends with for many years.

The book includes a message from Rod Ariwite, representing the Shoshoni people as well as maps of the expedition routes and journal entries about Sacajawea.

I've read a number of books on Sacajawea and I think this is one of the best. Since There is only so much known about Sacajawea, I think it can be quite hard to write about her life and I think the author did a good job considering the limited information there is about her.

Sacajawea is a person who has long held my interest and I feel a connection to her, which is quite hard to explain. Although I have probably read everything (or at least almost everything) there is to read about her, if I see a book about her, I still read it and hope maybe there is some information that I don't know already. I already knew most of what was in the book, however, there were still a few pieces of information that I hadn't read before. The book was also well-written and had very nice illustrations.

If you are looking for a book about Sacajawea, this would be one I'd recommend.

[Moi · Rating 4 out of 5]

somehow my history courses never got around to discussing sacajawea in any real depth, so when i found this book in my niece's collection, i was shocked to learn of this teenager who guided lewis and clark across the western territories while caring for an infant son. amazing. this book aims to debunk some apparently long-held misconceptions about sacajawea by carefully inserting lewis and clark's own journal entries into the narration and urging the reader to reject any conclusions that can't be safely and fairly drawn from known historical fact. a fascinating, quick read, appropriate for adult and child alike.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Wish there had been more to read! Sacajawea was an amazing young lady! What I read confirmed, or, rather, documented what I knew about her. I guess I am unlike other readers for I didn't have any misconceptions about Sacajawea. I knew she was an Indian guide who was primarily responsible for the success of the trip. Now, I didn't know how ill-prepared her husband, Charbonier, was for this trip, and how unlikable he was. He was NOT an asset to the Corps of Discovery!

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick insightful read - The author used only those journal entries of Lewis & Clark where they mentioned the Indian maid and what she did to assist the expedition. After each the author would write a paragraph or two explaining, if needed. Apparently there is more myth than truth about her and this is the authors efort to clear some of the untruths.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good narrative from the journals of Lewis, Clark and others on the expedition describing their native Shoshoni guide, who saved them from certain death many times and helped them reach their destination - the Pacific Ocean.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great role model for teens. Every junior high girl should read this. What an amazing person. Way to tough out the rough stuff.

[Tamra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good history of Sacajiawea taken from Lewis and Clark's jounals. I learned a lot of interesting facts about her importance to the exploration by Lewis and Clark.

[coeli · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is NOT very good!!![unlike the others by this author:]

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the facts and setting the record straight about this remarkable American icon. Well written, quick read, very nicely set up and illustrated.