They saw the Pacific Ocean before them.
They sang because they were the first white men to make this journey.
They did not care for the troubles going back.
They knew that they could go home faster than they had come.
And they sang together, "The Ocean! The Ocean! O joy! O joy!"
beach blub ber line thun der
Clat sop salt whale sand
SACAJAWEA ON THE OCEAN BEACH.
The party made a winter camp at the mouth of the Columbia River.
They called it Fort Clatsop.
The Indians near-by were the Clatsop tribe.
These Indians gave the whites some whale blubber.
They said that a whale was on the ocean beach.
Captain Clark and some men got ready to go to see it.
Sacajawea came to Captain Clark and said, "May I go, too?
I have come over the mountains with you to find the Great Water and I
have not been to it yet.
Now I would see the Big Animal and the Great Water, too."
Captain Clark was glad to have her go.
He wrote in his book that this was the only time she asked for anything.
She took her baby on her back and walked with Captain Clark.
When she got near the ocean, she was afraid.
The noise seemed to her like thunder.
She always had been afraid of thunder.
When she saw the waves, she was afraid they would come over the earth.
She had never before seen any big body of water.
She had seen only rivers and ponds.
The ocean looked very big.
She would not go near the waves.
Then Captain Clark showed her the high water line.
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