Answer:
C: Sacagawea
Step-by-step explanation:
A widespread misperception of Lewis and Clark’s expedition of discovery involves two intrepid frontiersmen trekking their way across an uncharted continent accompanied by their Indian guide and interpreter Sacagawea. More recent popular interpretations have added recognition of Clark’s servant York and the presence of Lewis’ dog Seaman. The two U.S. Army captains actually led a well-organized group of individuals chosen for their specific skills that was formed around a “permanent party” of twenty-nine soldiers, two civilians under contract for special work with the War Department, and two dependents (increased to three after the birth of Sacagawea’s son), one of whom was Sacagawea. At various times, they also hired other civilians with particular talents to perform important tasks. Without minimizing her contribution to the expedition, she was neither the only guide, nor the lone interpreter.
The ability to communicate in Indian languages was one of those absolutely crucial capabilities that Lewis and Clark had to acquire in order to accomplish the diplomatic component of their mission. One must recall that there is no single American Indian language. The native inhabitants of the Great Plains spoke many different languages and dialects. Even those from within the same “language group,” are not always mutually intelligible. Long before contact with Europeans, the various Indian nations on the plains developed a system of hand signs that could be mutually understood in order to communicate, negotiate peace, establish military alliances, and conduct trade with one another. What made the Captains’ task of finding sufficient interpreters even more complex was the fact that they did not know how many different Indian tribes of the various nations would be encountered along the route
There was little difficulty in finding individuals who knew one or more of the Indian languages spoken along the lower Missouri River. French, Spanish, English and American settlers, trappers and traders had interacted with the tribes for years, and it was only natural that some of the frontiersmen married Indian women. The children of mixed white and Indian marriages often spoke the languages of both parents. George Drouillard (pronounced DREW-yar), the son of a French father and Shawnee mother, was one of them. Captain Lewis met Drouillard in Illinois while recruiting at Fort Massac, and recognized that his talents as a scout, hunter and interpreter would be most useful, and engaged his services. Lewis met Francois Labiche and Pierre Cruzatte in the Saint Charles and Saint Louis areas, and recruited them into the army as volunteers. Both men were the sons of French fathers and Indian mothers, and both spoke French and Omaha as well as English.
Next to the ability to speak one or more Indian languages, proficiency in French was a decided advantage. French-Canadian traders and trappers had lived among various Indian tribes for decades, and the expedition was sure to encounter a number of them along the way. Although he could not speak an Indian language, Private John Baptiste Lapage could translate French and English. Having him along gave Lewis and Clark one additional man who could speak to the traders’ language, which was sure to prove helpful when they met a Frenchman who spoke the language of his hosts.
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