What did Sacagawea look like?
More statues, streams, lakes, landmarks, parks, songs, ballads, and poems honor this young woman than any other woman in American history. Yet, no portraits created during her lifetime exist. Even Lewis and Clark’s journals don’t include sketches or other clues as to what she really looked like. This appealed to the Dollar Coin Design Advisory Committee (DCDAC) torn between recommending a real person or an allegorical image for the new coin. Because no factual representations of Sacagawea exist, her image has been left largely to imagination, much like an allegorical figure. Read more about her life and remarkable contributions to the Lewis and Clark expedition, the debate over the spelling and pronunciation of her name, or the model who inspired the image on the new Golden Dollar.
