Sacajawea at the Three Forks

One of the most important things about the headwaters of the Missouri River is that it was in this area that little Sacajawea (I'll use the "j" spelling since that is the preference around here) was captured and taken away by Hidatsa (Minnetaree) raiders in an attack that killed her mother. She was about 10 or 11 years old. Her band had traveled over the Rockies into enemy territory from what is now Idaho to take advantage of plains foods and resources.

The Missouri Headwaters State Park and the town of Three Forks focus on this event and on Sacajawea's recognition of regional landmarks when she returned to the Three Forks with Lewis and Clark five years after the attack. There are quite a few interpretive exhibits about her here, as well as a famous historic hotel that bears her name.

I previously mentioned being happy to find that older interpretive signs which had been removed from the state park have been relocated to a central location in the town. The signs are included as part of a visitor's information site that includes a kiosk with brochures and pamphlets and an old caboose. Many cabooses have been given new life as information centers in this way, but here it is particularly appropriate given the prominence of the railroad in the history of Three Forks.


Interpretive kiosk and caboose in Three Forks. A couple of the older signs from the state park can be seen to the left of the kiosk.


For some reason, I especially remembered this sign about Sacajawea from my visits to the headwaters several years ago. The illustration is from Edgar Paxson's famous 1912 painting, "Lewis and Clark at Three Forks."


Close-up of the text on this older sign, now relocated to the town.

While in the area, I finally got a chance to visit the Sacajawea Hotel and see the grandly-restored lobby and eat in the dining room. The front portion of the hotel usually depicted in photographs was added in the early 1900s to an older hotel that was moved to this site to be closer to the train depot across the street. The Sac is for sale, by the way, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. I believe the price is about 1.5 million dollars.


The lovely Sacajawea Hotel. I was traveling with my birds, or I would have stayed here (no pets allowed).

Across from the hotel is Sacajawea Park with yet another new statue of the much-admired young woman. I wonder what she would think of her modern acclaim! The statue called "Coming Home" was dedicated in July of 2005. The sculptor is Mary Michael.


Sacajawea and baby across from her namesake hotel.


Close-up of the text accompanying the statue.


Another view of "Coming Home."

If statues, interpretive signs, and buildings are any indication, young Sac is by far the most popular single individual on the expedition. She has captured people's imagination in myriad ways. Even here in La Grande, which wasn't even on the L&C Trail, we had a Sacajawea Hotel, and while the hotel itself no longer exists, its extension lives on today in downtown La Grande as an apartment complex called the "Sac Annex."

[All photos by K. Dahl, copyright 2007.]