"Couldn't they?" Sahwah flashed out quickly. "How about Sacajawea, I'd
like to know?"

"Goodness, who was she?" asked Gladys.

"The Indian woman who went with Lewis and Clark on their expedition to
the Columbia River," replied Sahwah with that tone of animation in her
voice which was always present when she spoke of someone whom she
admired greatly. "Her husband was the interpreter whom Lewis and Clark
took along to talk to the Indians for them, and Sacajawea went with the
expedition too, to act as guide, because she knew the Shoshone country.
She traveled the whole five thousand miles with them and carried her
baby on her back all the while. Lewis and Clark both said afterwards
that if it hadn't been for her they wouldn't have been able to make the
journey. When there wasn't any meat to eat she knew enough to dig in the
prairie dogs' holes for the artichokes which they'd stored up for the
winter; and she knew which herbs and berries were fit for food. And on
one occasion she saved the most valuable part of the supplies they were
carrying, when her stupid husband had managed to upset the boat they
were being carried in. While he stood wringing his hands and calling on
heaven for help she set to work fishing out the papers and instruments
and medicines that had gone overboard, and without which the expedition
could not have proceeded. She tramped for hundreds of miles, over hills
and through valleys, finding the narrow trails that only the Indians
knew, undergoing all the hardships that the men did and never
complaining or growing discouraged. On the contrary, she cheered up the
men when _they_ got discouraged. Now, do you say that a woman can't go
exploring as well as a man?"