Sacagawea: see Sacajawea.

Shoshone Indian guide who led the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–06). Having been captured by Hidatsa Indians, she had been separated from her people for nearly 10 years when the expedition began. Carrying her infant son on her back, she traveled thousands of wilderness miles with the expedition. At one point in the journey, Sacagawea was instrumental in obtaining horses and guides from a band of Shoshone (led by her brother Cameahwait); without them the expedition might well have ended. Her fortitude in the face of hazards and deprivations became legendary.

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Sacagawea's Nickname: Essays on the American West is a collection of essays by the American writer Larry McMurtry. It was published in 2001 by New York Review Books, and consisted chiefly of articles and book reviews that had appeared in the publishing house's affiliated magazine The New York Review of Books between 1997 and 2001. The book was generally well-received by reviewers.

McMurtry dedicated the book to Barbara Epstein, editor of the NYRB.

Contents

1. The West Without Chili
2. Inventing the West
3. Chopping Down the Sacred Tree
4. A Heroine of the Prairies
5. Zuni
6. Cookie Pioneers
7. Powell of the Colorado
8. Pulpmaster
9. Janet Lewis
10. The American Epic
11. Sacagawea's Nickname
12. Old Misery