Sacajawea

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My hero is Sacajawea. Sacajwea was a Shoshone girl that lived in Idaho over 200 years ago. When she was still a child she and her friends were captured by their enemies, called the Hidsatas. Sacajawea, then called Bo-I-Naiv(Grass Woman), could have escaped but she decided not to leave her best friend, Otter Woman, behind. When Bo-I-Naiv tried to wake Otter Woman, Otter Woman thought she was being killed and screamed, which alerted their enemies. The girls' master later lost them in a gamble to Toussaint Charbonneau, and they were taken to live with the Mandans. When Charbonneau’s Mandan wife died, he took the girls as his wives.

One reason I think Sacajawea was heroic is that she helped many people. When President Thomas Jefferson was hoping to find a passable water route to the Pacific Ocean he sent Louis and Clark to find one. Louis and Clark found Charbonneau living in the Rocky Mountains and hired him as an interpreter. Charbonneau and Sacajawea traveled with Louis and Clark on their expedition. Sacajwea had her first son, Baptiste, at age 16 while traveling with Louis and Clark. When the men were hungry Sacajawea dug up roots and caught little animals for the men to eat. When they went into other Indian camps they were not mistaken for war parties because a war party would never travel with family.

Another reason I think Sacajawea is heroic is that she cared about her friends. I think it was very brave of her to risk her life and stay with her friend. She could have just escaped with her other friends but she stayed with her best friend, Otter Woman. If she had not tried to wake Otter Woman she would have just been able to return to her tribe. Sacajwea is my hero because she was a very brave person.