Meeting with Cameahwait

Four Shoshone men on horseback, pictured here in 1900.

Denver Public Library Special Collections

Quick Facts

Location:

Cameahwait Campground, Montana 59725

Significance:

Sacagawea reunited with her relatives at this location in 1805.

Designation:

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

MANAGED BY:

Cameahwait Campground, Montana 59725

Amenities

7 listed

Beach/Water Access, Parking - Auto, Parking - Bus/RV, Picnic Table, Tent Campsites, Toilet - Vault/Composting, Water - Drinking/Potable

“We set out very early on the Indian road . . . the road was dusty and appeared to have been much traveled lately both by men and horses.”—Meriwether Lewis, August 13, 1805 

In August 1805, a few Shoshone people traveling on this dusty road came across a group of visitors, one of whom was Meriwether Lewis.  

This group of Shoshone people had recently been attacked, and lost twenty friends and family members, most of their homes, and many horses. And yet, they kindly welcomed these newcomers and assisted them on their journey.  

The Shoshone people communicated to the visitors using the sign language that was common among Indigenous communities and non-Native traders across North America, which one of the visitors knew.  

Cameahwait, the leader of the Shoshone group, led the way in inviting the visitors to smoke and take off their shoes, which signified friendship. They gave the visitors serviceberry and chokecherry cakes, salmon, and antelope. They danced and sang with them into the evening.

The visitors wanted to know what lay on the other side of the mountains. Cameahwait told them that the river leading down to the big river below was difficult to travel—full of rocks and rapids—and that it passed through barren land where few trees grew. The visitors seemed disappointed by this news. 

The visitors asked Cameahwait to trade horses. He agreed.  

And then, a few days after the visitors arrived, others came to meet them. And to the surprise of Cameahwait, he knew one of them. It was his sister, Sacagawea, who had lived far away for years. And now she held a tiny baby in her arms.  

They jumped and danced, hugged and cried, overcome with this reunion that they might never have expected. Sacagawea saw others who she grew up with and tearfully embraced them, as well. She motioned to the visitors who she had been traveling with that she knew these people. They were her family.

Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Centers and Museums

Visitor Centers (shown in orange), High Potential Historic Sites (shown in black), and Pivotal Places (shown in green) along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail