3
Jefferson hired army captain Meriwether Lewis to head the expedition to map the newly purchased
American West. Lewis chose his friend William Clark to co-lead the expedition, and the two of them hired
forty skilled soldiers and hunters for the journey. One of the men also brought his slave, York.
Lewis and Clark set off from St. Louis in 1804. In the Dakotas, they hired a French-Canadian trapper and
one of his Indian wives, Sacagawea, as their guides.
Sacagawea, a pregnant, Native American teenager, acted as interpreter. She negotiated a crucial
purchase of horses that the group needed to cross the Rockies. While on the trek, she also gave birth to a
healthy child.
What is the purpose of the third paragraph of the passage?
A. to provide a description of Sacagawea's B. to argue that Sacagawea was the most
role in the expedition
important member of the expedition
C. to support the claim that Sacagawea did D. to describe the hardships Sacagawea
not lead the expedition
encountered during the expedition