As you drive into Mitch Park on the north side of Edmond, you will see this exquisite bronze statue, standing 6'11" on its base, surrounded by a concrete patio with benches, and lovely landscaping.
The statue rests of a cylindrical base and shows the lovely Native American Shoshone, Sacagawea. She is dressed in a native dress with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. On her left shoulder, you see her newly born baby, asleep and peeking out of his wrap. Sacagewea is looking up and into the distance, and carries a walking stick in her right hand.
The statue is the creation of renowned artist, Glenna Goodacre, whose sculptures of people, particularly children, have enthralled the world. Her biography and a beautiful photo of this sculpture can be found on the website below. The sculpture was donated by Mo and Richard Anderson who have contributed, along with the Edmond Visual Arts Commission, a total of seven pieces of outdoor art in Edmond. Created in 2001, this sculpture was dedicated on August 3, 2014.
[The following details of Sacagaqea’s life were taken from the biography.com website]
Sacagawea was the daughter of a Shoshone chief, born about 1788 in Lemhi County, Idaho. Around the age of 12, she was captured by Hidatsa Indians, an enemy of the Shoshones and sold to a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau who made her one of his wives.
In November 1804, an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark entered the area planning to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean, They met Charbonneau and quickly hired him to serve as interpreter on their expedition. Though pregnant with her first child, Sacagawea was chosen to accompany them on their mission.
In February 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to a son named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Despite traveling with a newborn child during the trek, Sacagawea proved to be helpful in many ways, including finding edible plants, interpreting the Shoshone language, and serving as a symbol of peace - a group traveling with a woman and a child were treated with less suspicion than a group of men alone.
When Lewis and Clark returned east the following year, Sacagawea, her husband, and her son remained with the expedition until they reached the Mandan Indian villages in Idaho. During the journey, Clark became fond of Sacagawea’s son Jean Baptiste, and he even offered to help him get an education.
In 1809, Sacagawea is thought to have accompanied her husband to St. Louis to visit Clark, then leaving her son with Clark. Three years later, she gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Lisette. Only a few months after her daughter's arrival, she reportedly died at Fort Manuel in what is now Kenel, South Dakota, around 1812 at the age of 24. After her death, Clark looked after her two children, and ultimately took custody of them both.
Over the years, tributes to Sacagawea and her contribution have come in many forms, including statues, place-names, and she was even featured on a dollar coin issued in 2000 by the U.S. Mint.