History at Its Best -- and Worst

We've been watching a documentary about the Lewis & Clark expedition.

I started out with great respect for the men (and one woman, Sacajawea), until they got hungry enough to kill a colt for meat. Not a mature horse mind you, that had lived a full life. But a colt. More tender, I suppose. I can't forgive them for that, sorry.

But wait, it got worse. Even though they were traveling beside and camping beside a river filled with salmon, FILLED WITH SALMON -- they didn't want to eat fish. Let's be picky shall we? Instead they traded at one Indian village for dogs. For meat. Now I know that some tribes thought nothing of eating dog, but these travellers were supposed to be civilized, at least by comparison! This wasn't a matter of "when in Rome," this was, in my opinion, men sinking to their lowest.

To end on a positive note though, I have learned that Sacajawea was only 16! And pregnant! She gave birth along the way, then travelled on foot cross country with a newborn. More than 8,000 miles, round trip. Gotta admire that. And talk about a coincidence! She had been stolen from her Shoshone tribe as a child, but many years later on this expedition when she settled into a tepee to translate, the Shoshone chief sitting across from her was her brother, whom she never dreamed she would see again. Wow!

Also amazingly, only one (human) life was lost along their travels -- a man with, historians suspect, appendicitis.

When the group finally reached the Pacific Ocean (which they considered "ugly... not pacific at all," in order to decide upon a location to settle in for the winter, the two captains put it to a vote, allowing everyone to have their say... including Sacajawea and Lewis's lifelong slave, a man named York. This was the first time in our history that a woman got to vote, and the first time a black got to vote! At the end of their arduous three-year service to President Jefferson, York asked Lewis for his freedom as a reward for his participation in the history-making event. Lewis called him "uppity" and beat him, but five years later did acquiesce.

After the party's return to civilization, Sacajawea eventually had another child, a daughter. When she fell ill and died, Clark (who spent the remainder of his career advocating for the Indians) adopted both of her children and raised them as his own. Lewis ended up eventually killing himself... by shooting himself simultaneously in the chest and in the head.

Now why isn't THAT stuff taught in our history class rooms? If it had been, back in the fifties, I might have actually paid attention! Instead we concerned ourselves primarily with such weighty matters as passing notes to our friends, and how to hang our history teacher in effigy.

To be fair, Frank says maybe it was taught, How would I know, since I wasn't paying attention?

Hmmm... gotta think about that one.