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Sacagawea (1790)close
Born in Eastern Idaho, Sacagawea was the daughter of a Shoshone chief, but was kidnapped by the Hidatsa tribe when she was about 10 years old. From there, she was purchased by a French Canadian trapper who made her his wife. The explorers Lewis and Clark hired the trapper, named Toussaint Charbonneau, as a guide and interpreter on their expedition in 1804. While on the expedition, Sacagawea gave birth to her first child and carried the child on a cradleboard throughout their travels. During the trip, Sacagawea was asked to serve as an interpreter for a group of Shoshone Indians, and discovered that the leader of the group was her older brother, now the chief. When the expedition came to an end, Charbonneau's services were no longer required, and no one really knows what happened to Sacagawea. Some say she died in an epidemic in 1812, and others believe she eventually rejoined the Shoshone and died there in 1884. Her image now appears on a US one dollar coin.
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This page presents short biographies of more than 200 famous Americans drawn from our unit, "The 50 States." These personalities are arranged by theme.
Just click a theme at the top of the page to view a selection list for that theme.
African Americans:
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| Phineas Taylor "P.T." Barnum | Clyde Barrow | John Wilkes Booth |
| Butch Cassidy | William "Buffalo Bill" Cody | Davy Crockett |
| Jesse James | Evel Knievel | Harland David "Colonel" Sanders |
| Jefferson R. "Soapy" Smith |
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