when did sacagawea join the lewis and clark expedition

Sacagawea effectively joined the Lewis and Clark Expedition in November 1804, when the Corps of Discovery hired her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, as an interpreter while they wintered at Fort Mandan in present-day North Dakota, and she was specifically included so she could interpret with the Shoshone. Her active travel with the main exploring party began on April 7, 1805, when the expedition departed Fort Mandan and she went up the Missouri River with them, carrying her infant son.

Key timeline

• In November 1804, Lewis and Clark decided to hire Charbonneau as an interpreter and agreed that Sacagawea would accompany him as a Shoshone-language interpreter.

• On April 7, 1805, the expedition left Fort Mandan, and from that date until August 14, 1806, Sacagawea was part of the main Corps of Discovery traveling west and then back east.

What “joined” really means

• Some historians mark November 1804 as the point she “joined,” because that is when the captains formally brought her into the expedition’s plans at Fort Mandan.

• Others emphasize April 7, 1805 , as her joining date, since that is when she physically set out with the main exploring party on the Missouri River as an active member of the expedition.

In practical terms, Sacagawea became part of the Corps in winter 1804–1805 at Fort Mandan, but her famous journey with Lewis and Clark begins with the April 7, 1805 departure up the Missouri.

Bottom line (TL;DR): Sacagawea was brought into the expedition at Fort Mandan in November 1804 and actually started traveling with the main Lewis and Clark party on April 7, 1805.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.