 Frontier Fighters. Frontier Fighters. Inspiring dramatic incidents in the lives of the trailblazers of the far west. 1803. Seated in his study, President Thomas Jefferson is talking to his personal secretary. Captain Lewis, your attention, please. Yes, Mr. President. Captain, I'm a plain man, plain spoken. Yes, Mr. President. You've been my confidential secretary now for, let me see, two years. Two years, lacking a few months. Captain, have you ever speculated why I chose an army officer to be my secretary? Many times, Mr. President. Well, sir, you're going to relieve me? Send me back to the troops? No, I'm not returning you to your regiment. Captain Lewis, you've no business in the army. No business in the army? Oh, you don't think I lack courage, sir? Of course not. Your record in the whiskey insurrection is ample proof of your courage. Well then, Mr. Jefferson, just what do you infer? Captain Lewis, as third president of the United States of America, I contemplate sending an expedition to explore the great northwest territory beyond the Rocky Mountains. You, Captain Maryweather Lewis, and another army officer will lead that expedition. Well, I'm honored, sir, and thank you for your confidence. And who may I ask you to be my colleague in this undertaking? A man like yourself, a soldier, intelligent and courageous. A man who will sacrifice his life, if need be, to make this project the success. Captain William Clark. Winter, 1803. At the head of 26 men, 14 of them volunteer soldiers, the others, Kentucky boys, Lewis and Clark were snowed in at the mouth of the Missouri River, near what is now the city of St. Louis, until the spring thaws finally released them and they traveled on. Ever westward toward the setting sun, toiled the Lewis and Clark cavalcade, fighting hostile Indians, exploring the hidden tributaries of the great Missouri River, blazing new trails through the dense but magnificent wilderness, charting paths never before trod by white men. The winter of 1804 saw Lewis and Clark among more friendly redskins, in what is now southeastern Montana. One day, while the explorers were making a survey with their simple yet effective instruments, they looked, looked Clark in the valley there. Two men, they're both white too, and an Indian girl. By Cornwall, one of the men is beating the girl. Don't be cattle all that. You're right, Lewis. Come on. Ain't that about Norfolk Lank? She's about dead already. I got to wail the daylight out of an engine droor to make him behave. Stop. Is your wife now not your slave girl any longer? You're married proper. That gives me more rights to wail her, and I'm taking them. Clear to tell you, I'll face you on myself. Oh, you will, will you? Who'll help you? I'll I will. You raise that whip again and I'll thrash you with an inch of your life. And who might you be? I'm Captain Lewis. This is Captain Clark. How? My name's George Joyer. We was on our way to pay your visit. Our expedition don't welcome white men who beat women, not even Indian women. Who's this man? And this Indian girl? He's Pierre LeBlanc. The girl's his squaw. We, and we're married proper. What's your business? Craters, trappers or guys? Neither. We're interpreters. What engine we two men don't know? My squaw does. Does she understand English? Some. Go ahead, palable with her. What's your name, girl? Saccajawea. Who are your people? The snakes. What does Saccajawea mean among your people? Bird woman. I see. How did you come to marry this LeBlanc? I... Hold your tongue. I'll answer that. We're listening. I won her in a game with the Chief of the Minotrees. She was a prisoner of war. Is that true, Saccajawea? Yes. Out of woman and we were captains. My man gambled 14 horses for me. He won. Ah. You're lower than a skunk, LeBlanc. Throwin' dice for a woman. We white men out here live according to engine customs. I want both women fair and square. I marry this one. She can guide, too. And so you two men want jobs as interpreters? Yes, sir, we do. Well, you're hired at Army pay. And listen, LeBlanc. We, sir, are captains, sir. If we ever catch you beating your squaw again, you'll wish you'd lost your 14 horses instead of winning this poor, abused girl. You understand? Yes, sir. Come on, you two, to the headquarters tent. The Indian girl, too. We start west at once. Grateful to Lewis and Clark for delivering her from the white man's lashings. Saccajawea many times saved the expedition from total annihilation, as one day while on the plains. Hey, Clark, look. There's Buffalo on that ride. I see him. They look ugly, too. Yeah, they're milling. Waiting for that big bull leader to make up his mind. He's decided. There they go. There must be 10,000 animals in that herd. Yeah. Hey, hey, the leader's seen us. He's swarming them. Great cornwell are heading straight this way. What do we do? Hey, look, Clark. Saccajawea coming out of that gulch. Is he over there to my right? Is that girl insane? She was safe there in that gulch. She's running straight to the middle of the herd. And waving a blanket. Yeah, it's an old Indian trick. She intends to park the herd in the middle. Oh, she'll never do it. There's too many. The bulls were all gone. Hey, Clark. Clark, they're almost on her. They'll trample her down. Hey, hey, wait a minute. She's flicking that big bull across the snout. But he stopped. And she hit him again. The herd's parting, Clark. It's parting. Down, everybody, down. I'm afraid they'll pass us by. Hey, Clark. Clark, you all right? Sure. My eyes are full of dirt. Well, the herd parted in the middle. Just as Saccajawea intended it should. And passed on either side of us. But where's Saccajawea? Well, the girl's safe. She's still standing there when she hit that bull leader in the snout. Hey, look, Clark. She's waving a blanket at us. Look, ma'am. I see her now. By Cornwall, Lou. She's laughing at us. She's laughing at us. Through unexplored forests, across forbidding mountains toiled the brave expedition, pushing the boundaries of the United States across the Rockies, adding to the nation's domain broad plains, fertile valleys, and snow-covered peaks, a dominion vast enough, rich enough to satisfy the ambition of kings. All through the long journey westward, with countless obstacles blocking the bloodstained sweat-soaked path of the explorers, Saccajawea was constantly at the site of Lewis and Clark. The end of the month of June, 1805, found the party at the foot of the Great Falls of the Missouri, and, while making their tedious and harrowing portage around the Great Falls, Lewis and Clark and their intrepid companions celebrated the first Fourth of July ever to be held in Montana. Above Great Falls, they discovered that the Missouri River broke into three forks, which they named the Jefferson, the Madison, and the Gallifan. While traversing this country, they were deluged by numerous thunderstorms. Clark, this ain't a rain. It's a cloudburst. Better get out of this riverbed. This stream will be a tornado for long. Here it comes. Where's Saccajawea? Up ahead. There you always find it. You take them into that rise over there, and I'll go after Saccajawea. All right. To the rise. All men and pageants. Saccajawea! Saccajawea! Where are you? Hang on to your life. I'm coming. Saccajawea, thank heavens I found you. What shall I do about the noise? Hang onto my shoulder. Your arms tight around my neck. When I let go of this limo, I let the current take a sound scream. And trust in God. Here we go. Ah! Hold on, Saccajawea. We'll make it. The water's so hot. Keep your feet together. That's fine. I can still... I can see that steel water ahead there. We'll make for that. Saccajawea, open! Safe and sound. Be quiet now. I'll take hold of these branches. Help us out of the streamer. There you are. Now I can rest a bit on the sand. Great Cornwall. But that water was wet. The buckskin garments hanging in tatters from their gone shoulders. Their faces deeply seamed from hunger and exposure. Their bare feet torn and bleeding. Their flesh seared by Indian arrows. The explorers finally reached the Columbia River. What's the date, Lewis? It's November 15th. It's 18-5. Just around that bend in this river, Lewis. What do you see? I can't see anything, but I hear plenty. Listen. The sea, Lewis. The sea. That sweet music, Clark. The roar of those bridges. I prefer the view. Blue water. Wide water. Salt water. Without limits. Mighty sea of the setting sun. The Pacific Ocean. And thus did victory crown the Lewis and Clark expedition. An epic struggle against almost overwhelming odds. A journey that gave America riches beyond human comprehension. Those pioneers of yesterday who followed that brave little band of trailblazers and their descendants of today owe a great and lasting debt of gratitude to Sacajawea, the simple Indian girl who dedicated two years of her life to the service of her white brothers and sisters. And thus did the frontier fighters of yesteryear battle danger, the elements of nature, and discouragement to push the American boundary ever westward.