This page shows questions in the Sacagawea public release module at MSDE. 8th Grade Social Studies
"Sacagawea"
Select from the list to explore. Read any associated passages and then interact with the questions here.
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Note: This set contains more items than what would regularly appear on an operational test. An operational EBAS would contain four 2-point items and one 4-point item.
Items that have student responses were field-tested on MCAP assessments and may or may not have been used operationally prior to public release.
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Introduction
A student is researching the Lewis and Clark Expedition for a project. The compelling question is:
What was Sacagawea’s most important contribution to the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
The student has found the following sources. Use the sources and source information to answer the questions.
Background Information
In 1803, after purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France, President Thomas Jefferson asked Congress to fund an expedition to explore the American West. Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark led a group of about 35 men on this journey. Between May 1804 and September 1806, the Corps of Discovery, as the expedition company was called, traveled nearly 8,000 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, to the Pacific Ocean and back.
In April 1805, the Corps of Discovery proceeded up the Missouri River. The group included soldiers, civilians, and two newly-hired members—Sacagawea, a Shoshone Indian, and her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader.
Route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
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Source Information: This is an excerpt from Captain Lewis’ journal from May 16, 1805. The day before, the expedition was hit by a wind storm which flipped over their boat. The boat contained valuable scientific information gathered in journals as well as various other important provisions.
Source A
. . . In the evening our Instruments, Medicine, merchandise provision [goods] . . . were perfectly dried, repacked and put on board. . . . our medicine sustained the greatest injury, several articles of which were entirely spoiled, and many others considerably injured; the balance of our losses consisted of some garden seeds, a small quantity of gunpowder, and a few culinary [cooking] articles which fell overboard and sunk, the Indian woman [Sacagawea] . . . caught and preserved most of the light articles which were washed overboard . . . all matters being now arranged for our departure we lost no time in setting out.
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Source Information: This article titled “The Challenge of Sacagawea ” is from the State Historical Society of North Dakota’s website. In addition to offering news and events, this website has online exhibits about North Dakota’s past. Their mission is to “identify, preserve, interpret, and promote the heritage of North Dakota and its people.” The article was published in 2003 and the website is updated regularly.
Source B
Sacagawea wrote nothing herself. She was almost certainly illiterate. . . . Had Sacagawea recorded her own history it seems certain that our understanding of her would be significantly . . . different . . . The journal keepers . . . five of whose journals are extant [surviving] for the Sacagawea phase of the expedition, did not routinely report her activities. Sacagawea got noticed when she fed the expedition, when she became ill, . . . when her beads were needed for an economic transaction, when she showed extraordinary resourcefulness in a boat accident, and when she interpreted among her people the Shoshone. . . . She was mentioned . . . only a handful of times in the journals.
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Source Information: This painting, Lewis and Clark at Three Forks, was painted by Edgar S. Paxson in 1912. Paxson was an American frontier painter who documented the disappearance of the Old West and the mistreatment of natives. He knew many American Indians and was sympathetic to the poor ways they had been treated. His paintings presented a romantic, but sometimes inaccurate, view of western settlement. This painting shows Lewis and Clark to the left of Sacagawea and her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, to the right. In the painting, she is identifying American Indian hunting grounds at the Three Forks Rivers that led into the Missouri River.
Source C
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Source Information: This is an excerpt from William Clark’s journal from October 19, 1805, less than one month before reaching the Pacific Ocean. He describes the first interaction with the Umatilla Indians along the Columbia River in present-day Oregon. They were one of approximately 50 native tribes that the Corps met on their journey. After failed attempts to communicate, Clark entered their homes uninvited, emptied his pockets, and provided gifts to convince them of the expedition’s peaceful intentions, but could not persuade the men to come outdoors to talk.
Source D
. . . [T]he sight of This Indian woman [Sacagawea], wife to one of our interpreters, confirmed those people of our friendly intentions, as no woman ever accompanies a war party of Indians in this quarter— Capt Lewis joined us and we Smoked with those people in the greatest friendship, during which time one of our Old Chiefs informed them who we were from whence [where] we Came and where we were going giving them a friendly account of us, . . . I Saw Several Horses and persons on horseback in the plains many of the men women and children Came up from the Lodges below; all of them appeared pleased to See us, we traded some few articles for fish and berries, Dined, and proceeded on past a Small rapid and 15 Lodges. . . .
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The Lewis and Clark Expedition required extensive planning.
Explain how evidence from Source A supports the statement.
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Consider the Source Information provided for Source B.
Why might a historian choose to use the State Historical Society of North Dakota's website for learning more about Sacagawea’s contributions to the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
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Consider the Source Information provided for Source C.
What information raises concerns about Source C's usefulness as evidence for learning about Sacagawea's contributions to the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Do Source A and Source D provide similar or different evidence of the contributions made by Sacagawea to the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
Part B
Briefly explain your answer with evidence from both sources.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
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Consider the Source Information provided for Source D.
What does the Source Information reveal about the challenges that Lewis and Clark faced since they started their journey West?
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Do Source B and Source C provide similar or different evidence of Sacagawea's value to the Expedition?
Part B
Briefly explain your answer with evidence from both sources.
Enter your answer in the space provided.
This is a question with 2 parts, including a question with drop-down menus from which you must select an option to fill in the blank, and, a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.
Part A
Lewis and Clark's interactions with the Umatilla Indians were positive.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Part B
Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement using evidence from Source D.
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The information provided in Sources A through D is credible. Use these sources to respond to the compelling question.
What was Sacagawea’s most important contribution to the Lewis and Clark Expedition?
Develop a claim that responds to the compelling question.
- Explain how one source supports your claim.
- Explain how one source does not support your claim.
- Use details and examples from the selected sources to support your response.
Enter your answer in the space provided.