Streams to the River, River to the Sea

Streams to the River, River to the Sea (1986) by Scott O’Dell is a juvenile historical novel about Sacagawea. O’Dell is best-known for his historical fiction for children, and one of his most popular novels is The Island of Blue Dolphins, which won a Newbery. Streams to the River, River to the Sea follows the hardships and adventures of a thirteen-year-old Shoshone girl. She is kidnapped, married against her will to a cruel man, bears a child, and becomes an interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s westward expedition. Along the way, Sacagawea forms a close bond with Captain Clark, who is sympathetic towards her because of her youth and mistreatment by her husband.

At the beginning of the novel, Sacagawea and her cousin Running Deer are captured by the Shoshone tribe’s worst enemies, the Minnetarees. Running Deer escapes, but Sacagawea stays. She is selected to marry Chief Black Moccasin’s son Red Hawk. Three of the chief’s wives, pleased with her and thinking she will make a useful wife, endeavor to help her catch Red Hawk’s favor. Sacagawea is angry at being treated like a doll, but she sees the value in being the wife of a future chieftain. Unfortunately, she is abducted by Tall Rock and taken to another village led by a chieftain who is an enemy of Black Moccasin. She runs away, eventually making her way back to the Minnetaree village in the company of the trader Toussaint Charbonneau, who claims he rescued her and that she belongs to him. Furthermore, the chief that Tall Rock had given her to stakes a claim as well. The two of them and Red Hawk play a game with Sacagawea as the prize. Charbonneau wins.

Black Moccasin’s wives try to protect her, managing to put Charbonneau off until spring. They even have a house built for him to get him to stay in the village when he returns to marry Sacagawea. She becomes his second wife, after Otter Woman. Blue Sky, the eldest of Black Moccasin’s wives, refuses to allow Charbonneau to take Sacagawea from the village, since he trades with enemy tribes. She argues that he has the right to marry her, but not to take her against her will into known danger amongst enemies. Charbonneau leaves for months at a time to trade and comes back to find Sacagawea pregnant. She has a boy that Charbonneau names Jean Baptiste. She calls him Meeko, or Little Brown Squirrel.

Because she is Shoshone, a tribe located west, Charbonneau brings her to serve as a guide and interpreter on Lewis and Clark’s expedition. She straps her newborn son to her back and goes with them, pleased at the prospect of possibly seeing her people again. Since she knows the land they travel, she finds berries and roots that are safe for the company to eat. She quickly suspects her husband of treachery, when he almost steers them into enemy hands and later almost destroys the boat. They lose most of their gunpowder, food, and trading goods. She falls ill, and Lewis is concerned that she might die. He wants to see her safely to a fort. Clark, however, does not want to leave without her, since she knows the mountains and seeing a girl with a baby has a calming influence on the Indians they meet. She is also good for the men’s morale—considering that she does everything they do (with the addition of a baby), they work harder and complain less. She recovers, and they venture into Blackfeet territory. Charbonneau wants to abandon them, and he takes the baby with him. Unimpressed, Sacagawea takes a guard with her to retrieve her son and wayward husband. He makes excuses to Clark, blaming Sacagawea for his escape attempt, but she privately tells Clark that she would rather keep going with the expedition, regardless of the danger.

They finally reach the homeland of the Shoshone. She recognizes the island where the Minnatarees abducted her, and where her tribe’s camp used to be, as well as the mountain pass. She finds her people, identifies herself as Shoshone, and is enthusiastically embraced. Her cousin, Running Deer, survived and is with them. Equally good news is that Sacagawea’s brother has become chief. Unfortunately, her homecoming is spoiled by an old man who claims Sacagawea’s father had pledged her to marry him. She is forced to choose between the old man (his wives council her against it because he is a bad husband) and Charbonneau, who sometimes beats her and whom she hates. Her brother warns her against continuing her journey, so she goes to a cave where she used to pray to the Great Spirit and asks for guidance.

They continue west, meeting terrible weather, but also the Nez Percé who are friendly and provide them with food and assistance. Along the way, Charbonneau womanizes and marries a Flathead princess, who stays behind when they leave. The water on the Columbia River becomes increasingly treacherous, especially as they get closer to the sea. Worse, yet, the constant rain rots their clothing and provisions. The tribes that live by the sea are not very helpful, either. They overcharge for goods and steal things, including the company’s dog (quickly stolen back), which had been instrumental in protecting them from bears. They stay only a little while by the sea and then start the trek back. Charbonneau retrieves the Flathead chieftain’s daughter he had married the year before and brings her to the camp, but she finds the standard of living rough and returns home to her people. They ride past Shoshone land, and Sacagawea mourns because her people have moved away to follow the buffalo, as is their custom. They return to the Minnetarees, having been gone for nineteen months. Charbonneau gambles away the five hundred dollars he was paid for the expedition in a single day. Clark offers to take Sacagawea and her child to St. Louis so they could attend school. She turns him down, and he gives her the company’s loyal dog. Charbonneau threatens to beat her and eat the dog.

The story ends with Sacagawea taking her things, her child, and a horse, and riding hard for Shoshone lands.