Nothing now was too good for the white men, for they were brothers and friends. Sacajawea was their interpreter, and they received everything they needed for comfort, such as provisions and horses, for the journey to the Pacific and the return.
In meeting the many savage tribes and asking favors and permission to travel in safety through their domains, it was not the flag nor the guns they carried, but Sacajawea with the papoose upon her back and her wise diplomacy that opened the way and made them welcome. Upon the home journey the little Indian girl rode ahead with the captains, having richly earned her honors and the love of all. When the journey came to an end, Captains Lewis and Clark begged that Sacajawea and her husband accompany them to Washington, but Chabonneau preferred the wild life he had chosen, and the brave little woman dropped from civilized history.
Well may the women of beautiful Oregon in the coming Centennial take an honest pride in commemoration of the deeds of Sacajawea. It is most appropriate that the beautiful bronze to be then erected to her memory has been designed and executed by an American woman, Miss Alice Cooper, of Denver.
We copy these stanzas of a poem by Bert Hoffman, who epitomizes admirably the reasons for Sacajawea's honored place in this Centennial history:
Sacajawea.
"The wreath of Triumph give to her; She led the conquering captains West; She charted first the trails that led The hosts across yon mountain crest! Barefoot she toiled the forest paths, Where now the course of Empire speeds; Can you forget, loved Western land, The glory of her deathless deeds?
"In yonder city, glory crowned, Where art will vie with art to keep The memories of those heroes green— The flush of conscious pride should leap To see her fair memorial stand Among the honored names that be— Her face toward the sunset, still— Her finger lifted toward the sea!
"Beside you on Fame's pedestal, Be hers the glorious fate to stand— Bronzed, barefoot, yet a patron saint, The keys of empire in her hand! The mountain gates that closed to you Swung open, as she led the way,— So let her lead that hero host When comes their glad memorial day!"
The heroic explorers of a century ago richly earned the honors they are now to receive, and wherever and whenever the names of Lewis and Clark are spoken or written in honor there also should be the name of Sacajawea, the Indian girl of the wilderness.
Thus the crowning success of the great expedition which gave the United States its second strong legal claim to the whole grand Oregon country was shared by the brave, true, diplomatic Sacajawea ("the bird-woman"). Readers of the complete story to follow will not need to be reminded that the heroes and heroines who thirty years later braved danger and death to save beautiful Oregon to the Union were only making sure the grand work thus inaugurated.