Jerry Stemach, MS, CCC-SLP Karen Erickson, PhD Center for Literacy and Disability Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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2 Editors Jerry Stemach, MS, CCC-SLP Karen Erickson, PhD Center for Literacy and Disability Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Exclusively Sold by Don Johnston Incorporated W. Commerce Drive Volo, IL myreadtopia.com donjohnston.com Copyright Start-to-Finish LLP. Start-to-Finish and the Don Johnston logos are registered trademarks. Readtopia is a trademark of Start-to-Finish LLP. Start-to-Finish LLP grants the rights for teachers and other educational professionals to download, print, reproduce, and distribute this book with students, or portions of it in any form, in both print and electronic formats. This book may be printed and viewed electronically on a computer, tablet, or other smart device. Start-to-Finish LLP also grants the rights to download and distribute this book to use as a master copy.

3 A Step into History Sacagawea The Trip to the West by Alan Venable and Jerry Stemach Don Johnston Incorporated Volo, Illinois

4 4 Contents Chapter 1 How My Mother Died Chapter 2 Prisoner Chapter 3 The Wives of Old Bear Chapter 4 How My Son Was Born Chapter 5 Heading West Chapter 6 The Big Surprise Chapter 7 Across the Rocky Mountains Chapter 8 The Trip to the Sea Chapter 9 The Way Back East Chapter 10 After the Great Adventure About the Author About the Author

5 Chapter 1: How My Mother Died 5 When I was 10 years old, the Minnetaree Indians caught me and made me their prisoner. They gave me the name Sacagawea. Sacagawea means Bird Woman. Why did the Minnetarees give me that name? Maybe it was because I was as thin as a bird when they caught me. I was thin because I was starving.

6 6 My family was part of the Shoshoni Indian tribe. Our hunters and warriors did not have guns. But some Indian tribes did have guns. It was not safe for a Shoshoni to go down to the plains, but we had to do it because there was no food for us in the mountains. There were thousands of buffalo on the plains. We needed their meat for food. We needed their skins to make teepees for houses. We could not live without the buffalo.

7 It was early in the morning when the Minnetaree warriors attacked my tribe. My mother and I were out looking for berries along the river. 7 We could hear the war cries of the Minnetarees. We could hear their guns. I tried to run, but a warrior threw me down in the river. We passed by my mother lying on the ground. She was dead. I tried to reach her, but the warrior dragged me away with a rope.

8 8 Chapter 2: Prisoner We passed great herds of buffalo on the plains. The Minnetarees shot the buffalo with their guns. They gave me buffalo meat to eat.

9 One day we came to a Minnetaree village that was next to the wide Missouri River. I had never seen houses like these before. They were lodges. 9 Inside the lodge, there was a room that was big enough for many people. It was even big enough to keep horses inside during the winter.

10 10 I was sent to stay in the lodge of the chief. There was another Shoshoni girl staying there, too. Her name was Otter Woman. She could speak my language! We are slaves here, she told me. If you are careful and do exactly as you are told, the Minnetarees will not hurt you. The wife of the chief was good to us. She taught us how to make round boats out of buffalo skins so that we could cross the river.

11 She taught us how to grow corn. The women grew so much corn that they could trade it to other tribes for furs and horses. 11 The Minnetarees had guns and knives and pots that were made out of metal. Their way of life was very different from my life in the Shoshoni tribe. Even in winter, the Minnetarees did not starve, and everyone stayed warm in the lodges.

12 12 Chapter 3: The Wives of Old Bear When I was 13 years old, a Frenchman came to live in the Minnetaree village. He was the first white man that I had ever seen. The Frenchman s face was hairy like a bear! When he spoke, he growled like a bear. We laughed at him behind his back. We called him Old Bear.

13 Old Bear learned to speak the Minnetaree language. Old Bear would help our chief to trade with other white men. 13 One night the chief invited Old Bear to play a Minnetaree game. Old Bear said, If I win, I want you to give me Otter Woman and Sacagawea.

14 14 By morning, the chief had lost the bet, so he said to us, This white man has won you in a game. Now you must become his wives. I didn t want to marry Old Bear, but I was glad that Otter Woman was also going to marry him. Together we went to live in Old Bear s lodge.

15 15 Two years passed. Then, in the fall, more than 30 white men came up the river in big canoes. They have been sent by Chief Jefferson, said Old Bear. The white man s tribe is called the United States. The United States has bought some land from France, said Old Bear. Chief Jefferson calls this land the Louisiana Territory.

16 16 Chief Jefferson wants to find a way to cross the land to get to the western sea, Old Bear went on. How can white men own the land if it belongs to the Indians? we asked. It s simple. They have more guns than Indians do, said Old Bear. You will help the white men to trade for horses, said Old Bear. The white men need Shoshoni horses to carry their canoes over the Rocky Mountains.

17 I laughed. Old Bear must be joking. I knew how hard it was to cross those mountains. 17 But Otter Woman and I were happy because we were going back to our people at last! We hoped that the white men would trade their guns to our people for horses. Then maybe the Shoshonis would not have to starve in the mountains.

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