Lewis & Clark Expedition – Did Sacajawea Voluntarily Donate Her Beaded Belt For a Fur Cloak?
The place and event. Shortly after the Corps of Discovery arrived on the Pacific west coast, it was no coincidence that several tribesmen appeared before Lewis and Clark wearing excellent fur apparel. These coastal tribes were commercially savvy. They had been trading with foreign sailors for years. They also knew what was on the explorer’s minds in addition to finding a cross-country trade route. One day, Lewis and Clark were awestruck by a particular sea-otter shoulder-cloak worn by a tribesman. But, they didn’t have enough tradable goods on-hand to obtain it from him. The tribesman also wanted the blue-beaded belt worn by the corps interpreter’s wife, Sacajawea. Did she voluntarily give it up for that purchase? Sacajawea teenage years. About five years earlier, Sacajawea’s early teenage life underwent tumultuous change. As a 12-year-old Lemhi Shoshone girl living near the now Idaho-Montana border, she was captured by a party of Hidatsa warriors. From there, she was taken to a large
