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The Shoshoni
13-30 August 1805
Following the long winter with the Mandan, the Lewis and Clark Expedition began the second, and most difficult, leg of its journey to the Pacific. The explorers intended to "penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trodden." In the biased wording of 1805, "civilized man" meant white Americans, and the Corps of Discovery realized that their survival in the Far West depended upon the cooperation and assistance of Indians who had the knowledge and experience to guide them through lands never encountered by United States citizens.
From information shared by the Mandan and the Hidatsa, and probably by Sacagawea as well, Lewis and Clark learned that they would have to cross huge mountains on horseback. Their only hope of success depended upon getting the necessary horses from friendly Indians – most likely Sacagawea's Shoshoni tribe. But just where would the Expedition find those nomadic Indians who did not live in permanent villages and traveled great distances over vast territories in different seasons?
In this phase of their journey, Lewis and Clark saw some of the most spectacular natural wonders in the West. In late April they saw the Yellowstone River, an area teeming with beaver. In early May, several grizzly bears scared the Expedition with their fierceness and huge size, continuing to attack even after being shot many times.
Late that same month, big-horned sheep were plentiful, and on 26 May, the Corps first glimpsed the Rocky Mountains in the distance. At noon on 13 June, the Expedition finally reached the magnificent Falls of the Missouri River (now Great Falls, Montana).
It was not until late July-early August, however, that Sacagawea spotted landmarks in southwestern Montana – the Three Forks of the Missouri River and the "Beaver's Head" rock formation – that she remembered from her Shoshoni childhood. On Monday, 12 August 1805, the Expedition finally crossed the Continental Divide by way of the Lemhi Pass. Corpsmen playfully stood there with one foot on either side of the narrow headwaters of the 2723-mile-long Missouri River. The very next day, Lewis's small scouting party at long last met face to face with three women and 60 mounted warriors from Sacagawea's Shoshoni tribe.
These Northern Plains Shoshoni or "Snake" Indians were a branch of Numic or Shoshonean language speakers that included the Ute, Paiute, and Southern Shoshoni of the Great Basin area of Utah and Nevada, as well as the Comanche of the Spanish Southwest. Sacagawea's people split their year between salmon fishing west of the mountains and buffalo hunting east of the Continental Divide. They traveled about a thousand miles per year on Spanish horses obtained from their Comanche kinsmen.
Their adaptation to the horse-and-tipi culture of the High Plains was relatively recent, and if they had not relocated to hunt buffalo in Montana during the autumn months, Lewis and Clark would never have obtained the horses they so desperately needed to continue their journey westward. The Shoshoni were smaller in number and militarily weaker than most other Indians on the northern plains, and they lacked the firearms to defend themselves against raids by the Blackfoot, Gros Ventres, Cheyenne, Nez Perce, and Hidatsa. Lewis and Clark reported how the Shoshoni were sometimes so hungry that they ate raw deer meat and wanted guns most of all in exchange for their horses.
The Expedition spent 17 days encamped with the friendly, helpful Shoshoni in eastern Idaho and obtained 30 horses for the trek across the mountains. In several days of horse-trading, the Shoshoni demanded steeper and steeper prices for their mounts. Clark had to trade his pistol, a good knife, and 100 rounds of ammunition for one horse!
Despite being over-charged, the Corps of Discovery appreciated the hospitality and friendship of the Shoshoni. The good relations with these Indians came about because they regarded peace and trade with the United States as essential to their survival in a region of well-armed enemies. In addition, the diplomatic parleys among American and Indian leaders were very successful thanks to Sacagawea's translation skills as a native Shoshoni speaker.
No other Lewis and Clark encounter with Native Americans featured genuine affection as well as goodwill, because Sacagawea's brother, Cameahwait, turned out to be the chief of the Lemhi Shoshoni! He was surprised and delighted to see her alive and well five years after raiding Hidatsa had captured her. Lewis and Clark wrote that when Sacagawea recognized her brother, "she jumped up, ran & embraced him, & threw her blanket over him and cried profusely." We can imagine how proud she was to show her relatives and old friends her new baby – Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, or "Pomp" – who had been born on 11 February while the Corps was living at Fort Mandan.
The Expedition finally said goodbye to Cameahwait's people on 30 August, with Lewis and Clark heading toward the Pacific and the Shoshoni traveling east to the Upper Missouri buffalo herds. Riding Shoshoni horses and carrying supplies of Shoshoni salmon, the Corps of Discovery began the next phase of their explorations accompanied by experienced Shoshoni guides – "Old Tobey" and his four sons. |
