Toussaint Charbonneau Hired — Sacagawea Joins the Expedition
Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader living with the Hidatsa, approached the captains and offered his services as an interpreter, explaining he had just returned from a hunting trip upriver with several Indians. Of greater interest to Lewis and Clark was his young Shoshone wife, Sacagawea, who had been captured as a girl by a Hidatsa raiding party and later acquired by Charbonneau through gambling. The captains saw that her language skills would be crucial for trading for horses with the Shoshone once the expedition reached the Rocky Mountains.
Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader living among the Hidatsa, presented himself to the captains as a potential interpreter. His primary value to the expedition, however, would be his young Shoshone wife, Sacagawea.
“A Mr. Chaubonee interpreter for the Gross Ventre nation came to See us, and informed that he came Down with Several Indians from a Hunting expedition up the river.”
Sacagawea had been captured by a Hidatsa raiding party as a young girl and brought to the Mandan villages, where Charbonneau won her (or purchased her) in a gambling game. The captains recognized that a Shoshone speaker would be invaluable when they reached the Rocky Mountains and needed to obtain horses.
This seemingly routine personnel decision would prove to be one of the most consequential of the entire expedition.
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Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader living among the Hidatsa, presented himself to the captains as a potential interpreter. His primary value to the expedition, however, would be his young Shoshone wife, Sacagawea.
"A Mr. Charbonneau (Chaubonee), interpreter for the Gros Ventre (Gross Ventre) nation, came to see us, and informed us that he came down with several Indians from a hunting expedition up the river."
Sacagawea had been captured by a Hidatsa raiding party as a young girl and brought to the Mandan villages, where Charbonneau won her (or purchased her) in a gambling game. The captains recognized that a Shoshone speaker would be invaluable when they reached the Rocky Mountains and needed to obtain horses.
This seemingly routine personnel decision would prove to be one of the most consequential of the entire expedition.
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