A bittersweet homecoming: as the corps finally makes contact with the Shoshone Indians, interpreter Sacagawea reunites with her family.(LEWIS AND CLARK: 200 YEARS AGO THIS AUGUST)(Diary entry)

Publication: Smithsonian

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After Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the Indian interpreter and guide Sacagawea is probably the most famous member of the expedition. Her contributions were praised by the captains; William Clark wrote to Sacagawea's husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, in 1806: "[Y]our woman who accompanied you that long dangerous and fatigueing rout to the Pacific Ocian and back diserved a greater reward for her attention and services on that rout than we had in our power to give her...." As August began, 200 years ago, the corps was still searching for Sacagawea's tribe, the Shoshone, or Snake, Indians, and the horses the expedition members so desperately needed.

August 1, 1805 [Sgt. Patrick Gass]

We set out early in a fine morning and proceeded on till breakfast time; when Capt. Lewis, myself and the two interpreters went on ahead to look for some of the Snake Indians.

August 8 [Capt. Meriwether Lewis]

The Indian woman recognized the point of a high plain to our right which she informed...

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