Sacagawea Insists on Seeing the Whale
After news arrived at Fort Clatsop of a beached whale near present-day Cannon Beach, Clark assembled a party to retrieve blubber and oil. Sacagawea spoke up, arguing that having traveled so far to see the ocean, she should also be allowed to see the great fish. Clark agreed to let her join. The group crossed Tillamook Head and reached a roughly 105-foot whale skeleton near Ecola Creek, where they bartered with the Tillamook people for about 300 pounds of blubber and several gallons of oil, a valuable supplement to their elk-and-fish diet.
When word reached Fort Clatsop that a whale had beached near present-day Cannon Beach, Clark organized a party to obtain blubber and oil. Sacagawea insisted on going — one of the few times she asserted herself in the expedition record.
“She observed that She had traveled a long way with us to See the great waters, and that now that monstrous fish was also to be Seen, She thought it very hard that She Should not be permitted to See either.”
Clark allowed her to join the party. They crossed Tillamook Head and found the skeleton of a whale about 105 feet long on the beach near Ecola Creek. They managed to purchase about 300 pounds of blubber and several gallons of whale oil from the Tillamook people — a welcome addition to their monotonous diet of elk and fish.
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When word reached Fort Clatsop that a whale had beached near present-day Cannon Beach, Clark organized a party to obtain blubber and oil. Sacagawea insisted on going — one of the few times she asserted herself in the expedition record.
"She observed that she had traveled a long way with us to see the great waters, and that now that monstrous fish was also to be seen, she thought it very hard that she should not be permitted to see either."
Clark allowed her to join the party. They crossed Tillamook Head and found the skeleton of a whale about 105 feet long on the beach near Ecola Creek. They managed to purchase about 300 pounds of blubber and several gallons of whale oil from the Tillamook people — a welcome addition to their monotonous diet of elk and fish.
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