Oh, Brother We're Saved
How the first explorers
to cross America were rescued by 'the
greatest coincidence in history'
Even Hollywood
wouldn't have made a film so corny. A
Native American girl finds her long-lost
brother in the middle of the wilderness
and saves two all-American heroes. But
it did happen, and the story is told in
Wilderness Men, BBC2's new docu-drama
series about famous explorations.
Almost two hundred
years ago, Meriwether Lewis and William
Clark, the first white men to cross North
America, were in deep trouble. Sent by
President Jefferson to find a route across
the continent from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, the two explorers had struggled
westward along the Missouri river and
into wild uncharted country.
And then came an
unexpected obstacle - the Rocky Mountains.
The only way across
the Rockies was with horses and local
guides. But the tribe who lived in the
mountains, the Shoshone, were suspicious
of these white strangers.
They did not want
to help - until the rest of the 30-strong
expedition arrived. Among them was an
18-year-old Native American girl named
Sacagawea, the wife of the expedition's
interpreter.
What happened next
is described in the programme as 'the
greatest coincidence in American history'.
When she was a child, Sacagawea had been
kidnapped from this same group of Shoshone
and, as she stumbled into the camp, she
stared in wonder at the young chief, Cameahwait
- he was her brother.
Overjoyed at finding
his sister, he gave the expedition horses
and guides. They were saved, and although
they ran out of food again and were helped
by another tribe, they reached their goal,
the Pacific, after a two-and-a-half-year
expedition.
But the triumph
didn't bring happiness to the heroes.
Depressed by his experiences, Lewis is
believed to have killed himself.
As for the Native
Americans who had helped out, the crossing
opened up the West to hunters and settlers
who stole their land, killed their buffalo
and wiped out their ancient way of life.
But one member
of the expedition has been honoured. A
portrait of Sacagawea is on the new US
dollar coin.
(Copyright 2000)
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