By Julia White
It
is really sad that history does not mention the Native name of this woman
who contributed so much to the exploration of the continental United States.
She was called "Dorion Woman" because she was married to Pierre Dorion,
a Metis/Yankton Sioux. They were both hired to travel with the explorers
of the Wilson Price Hunt expedition which set out in 1811 to investigate
the territory from St. Louis, Missouri to the Pacific Northwest. Dorion
Woman was included in the party because of her ability to speak several
Native languages and, like Sacajawea, she also took her children with her.
While waiting out the harsh winter storms in the Rockies, Dorion Woman gave birth to another child. Due to the harsh winter, and the terrible starvation which was suffered by the group, the baby only lived about a week.
Once they cleared the Rocky Mountains, the main party of the expedition split into two groups for the purpose of setting up trading posts and trapping. These two groups again split, and succeeded in setting up a network of trading posts and trapping areas. The group that Dorion Woman and her family had traveled with was attacked by Dog Rib Indians who were destroying the trading posts which had been established along the way. Dorion Woman was warned of the approaching Dog Ribs, and she was able to run with her children. However, her husband, Pierre, was caught in one of the attacks and killed. One man survived long enough to tell Dorion Woman of the death of her husband, and in an attempt to save her children, she began to travel East, alone.
She was eventually forced to stop and build a shelter for herself and her children to wait out the cruel winter months. She kept the family alive by killing her two horses, smoking, and drying the meat for food. In the Spring, still alone, she finally walked into a village of the Walla Wallas where she was given shelter and cared for.
Later in the Spring, the original expedition party stopped at the Walla Walla camp on their way back to St. Louis. Dorion Woman told her account of the attacks on the groups she had traveled with, and her story of hardship with her family in her fight to get them all to safety. They marveled that she had been able to survive alone, and that she had been able to bring her children through the ordeal.
Gabriel Franchere took her story to Montreal where he published a
narrative version of her exploits and adventures. This story was picked
up by a publisher in London who again spread the word of Dorion Woman's
bravery and determination. Other members of the party reported her story
to various publishers upon their return to St. Louis, and the story was
widely circulated throughout this country, but with heavy emphasis on her
contribution to the success of the exploration of the unknown territory.
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