Sacagawea was kidnapped from her home, sold into slavery and forced into marriage, all before the age 15 when she was pregnant with her first son. She also was the reason Lewis and Clark did not die on their many expeditions
At the age of twelve (1800) she was kidnapped by a group of Hidatsa and the battle that provoked it caused the death of four women, four men and several boys from the Shoshone tribe. She was then taken to what is now Washburn, North Dakota.
During the winter of 1804 Lewis and Clark interviewed several men to hire a guide. Sacagawea was pregnant for the first time and was married to Charbonneau. Charbonneau was hired because of his wife who spoke Shoshone because Lewis and Clark knew they would need help from these tribes. She was given the nickname of Janey by Clark and delivered her son, Jean Baptiste on 2/11/1805. In April of the same year the expedition headed out. One of their boats capsized and Sacagawea was quick enough to rescue several items including the important records and journals Lewis and Clark kept. For this reason the Sacagawea River was named after her in May of that year.
Some say if it wasn't for Sacajawea then Lewis and Clark would have never made their expeditions.