Sakakawea Statue – Bismarck, North Dakota

The Sakakawea statue project began in 1905, initiated by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of North Dakota (then known as the North Dakota Federation of Women’s Clubs). Their campaign sought to honor Sakakawea with a suitable monument. To raise funds, they distributed Sakakawea Statue Notes, a small booklet, selling some copies for a nominal fee while generating most of the money through other efforts. With support from the State Historical Society, the Federation raised over $3,500, including $555.78 in pennies contributed by schoolchildren and one-dollar donations from club members. Additional funds came from projects like the sale of North Dakota’s first Christmas seals during the 1909 holiday season. In 1907, the North Dakota Legislature donated a site on the state capitol grounds and allocated $1,500 for the statue’s foundation and pedestal. The statue was unveiled and dedicated on October 13, 1910.

The monumental bronze sculpture, created by artist Leonard Crunelle, depicts Sakakawea (also known as Sacagawea or Sacajawea) carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, on her back. Crunelle modeled the 12-foot-tall statue after an Hidatsa woman named Mink Woman. The statue stands on a large rock on the east side of the North Dakota State Capitol grounds in Bismarck. It bears the following inscription:
SAKAKAWEA / THE SHOSHONE INDIAN “BIRDWOMAN” WHO IN 1805 GUIDED THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION / FROM THE MISSOURI RIVER TO THE YELLOWSTONE / ERECTED BY THE FEDERATED CLUBWOMEN AND SCHOOLCHILDREN OF NORTH DAKOTA / PRESENTED TO THE STATE OCTOBER 1910.

In 2003, a recasting of the statue was added to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., where it represents one of North Dakota’s two contributions to the collection.