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SACAJAWEA’S BABY.
At Fort Mandan, Sacajawea’s baby boy was born.
He was only eight weeks old when the white men began to go to the far
West.
Sacajawea made a basket of skins for her baby.
She put it on her back.
The baby could sleep in the basket as Sacajawea walked.
The soldiers liked the baby.
They gave it sugar.
They made it playthings of wood.
They danced to make it laugh.
Indian babies do not laugh much and they do not cry much.
Once in the West the baby was ill.
Then the soldiers camped for some days.
They were very still.
Captain Lewis gave the baby medicine.
This made the baby well again.
Then the men laughed.
They said, “Let us sing and dance for the baby.”
The baby laughed as it looked at the men.
—
A pril par ty shot broke shoot warm
The warm April sun broke up the ice in the Missouri River.
Then the party got into their boats and rowed on up the river.
From this time on, Sacajawea and her baby were a help to the soldiers.
When the Indians saw a woman and a baby with the men, they knew it was
not a war party.
Indians would not take a woman and baby to war.
Only men go to war.
The Indians did not shoot at the men.
They came up to see what they wanted.
If Sacajawea had not been there, they would have shot the white men.
The Indians thought that all strangers wanted war.
They thought this until the strangers showed that they were friends.