Throughout history, women have rarely been recognized for their contributions that have impacted the world. Sacagawea, a young Native American girl, had a rough start in life having been kidnapped and sold at a young age. During the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Sacagawea served as both guide and translator. Lewis and Clark were saved countless times through the use of Sacagawea's knowledge and survival skills. Sacagawea was an important woman in American history because without her the Lewis and Clark Expedition would have failed. Sacagawea was born in 1788 into an Agaidika (salmon-eating) tribe of Shoshone Native Americans located in present-day Idaho. When Sacagawea was twelve years old she and several other Shoshone girls were kidnapped in the midst of a battle between Indian tribes. At the age of thirteen Sacagawea was sold to Toussaint Charbonneau, a Canadian fur trapper, where he took her as his new wife. At the age of sixteen, Sacagawea was already pregnant with her first child. Although Sacagawea got off to a rocky start, he went on to make history. Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark communicate with other Indian tribes and taught them about the native flora and fauna of the region. In 1804 Lewis and Clark hired Sacagawea and her husband as a translator and guide for their West Coast expedition. They hired Toussaint Charbonneau primarily because of his Shoshone-speaking wife Sacagawea who would later be of great use to them. Soon after beginning her journey west, Sacagawea gave birth to a son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. The addition of a newborn strengthened their non-threatening image as a peaceful group of explorers. Sacagawea also contributed by diving into the cold water to save important documents after they were… half paper… and survived. By leaving her first husband and building a life for herself, Sacagawea set an example for the Suffragettes and many other American women. Sacagawea not only made the Lewis and Clark Expedition possible, but she also became a symbol of what a woman could be. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea http://www.biography.com/people/ sacagawea-9468731 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/sacajawea.html http: //lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2664 http://billingsgazette.com/ news/features/magazine/reviews-books-give-introduction-to-corps-of-discovery/article_32b90526 -047a-5930-8303-5b0254aa44b3.html http://books.google.com/books?id=wfGPEX0PA3wC&pg=PA209&lpg =PA209&ots=NN5PQKDfhP&focus=viewport&dq=sacagawea%2Babused+by+husband&output=html_text http://idahoptv.org /lc/sacagawea/importance.cfmhttp://www.historynet.com/sacagawea