Sacajawea

Salmon, ID  High 89  Low 56

Lemhi Valley - AGAI-PAH – The sacred homeland and birthplace of Sacajawea

The Sacajawea Interpretive Center is located in Salmon, ID and well worth a visit. She was an amazing woman.

Sacajawea’s people, the Agaidkia (Salmon Eater) Shoshone, were a nomadic tribe living in the Lemhi Valley. In the Fall of 1800, a Hidatsa war party attacked the Agaidika and 12 year old Sacajawea was taken hostage. The Hidatsa took the hostages to the Knife River Village in current day North Dakota. A few years later she became the woman of a French Canadian trader, Charbonneau.

The Lewis and Clark expedition built Fort Mandan near the Knife River Village and hired Charbonneau as an interpreter in November of 1804. When they learned that Sacajawea was from the Shoshone tribe in the Lemhi Valley, they knew they had found their guide. Her biggest contribution to the success of the Expedition was her ability to negotiate for horses.

She was reunited with the three remaining members of her family in August of 1805. However, she remained with her husband and the Expedition and returned to the Knife River Village in 1806.

Most historians believe she died on December 12, 1812, however there is no proof of when she died or where she was buried.

There is a trail to follow through the center with art works from different artists.