Sacajawea is forever tied to Boulder. With a coin face designed by famous sculpture Glenna Goodacre, mother of Boulder’s own Jill Goodacre Connick, on the $1.00 coin, Sacajawea was in part guide, in part translator, peacemaker/peacekeeper/, and mother. She had to walk 5,000 to 6,000 miles. Wages: poor? Place in history: huge. Hours: 24/7. Native American essential. Multilingual, and willing to walk around the entire Louisiana Purchase land as a portion of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Or so her job request might have been written.
I wonder how hard it was to fill that job description. The role was filled by a Shawnee American Native, Sacajawea. I can only ponder that it was a deep curiosity coupled with infinite energy, an amazing skill set, and stupendous strength of muscle and character that Sacajawea brought to the table. Having just given birth to Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, she carried him on her back for the trip. Her roles included guiding, translating, peacemaking, with the baby showing that the expedition was not a war party, and more. for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The coin celebrated the Indian Citizen Act of 1924.
Sacajawea and Boulder are like two sides of a coin. One side of the coin is Sacajawea carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. The other side varies, with some carrying the American Flag while other coin backs symbolize the harvest. What binds the two sides of the “golden coin” is Sacajawea, one of the most famous of the Shawnee Native Americans. Her infant is the most unusual parts of the Sacajawea coin, being, I believe, the only infant featured on any American coin at any time. The famous Shawnee and her daughter decorate the face/front of the $1.00 coin which replaced the Susan B. Anthony $1. 00 US coin. Her tale is one of fascination, historical importance, and one which continues to today. Jill married Harry Connick Jr. and the Jill Goodacre family is one of the most respected, best known real estate groups in the Boulder area and in Colorado. She has her tale to tell in another blog!
Some stories do not fade. Some stories get cast into bronze.
Sacajawea is the young Shoshone woman whose life became inseparable from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, whose face became the centerpiece of America’s “golden dollar,” and whose legacy still carries questions, beauty, and meaning more than 200 years later…