Arduous Journey Statue

Take 5th Street south and continue straight into the parking area for Lewis-Clark State College. On the far end of the west side is Sacagawea Hall and in front of its entrance stands a statue of the young Lemhi Shoshone woman. Entitled “Arduous Journey,” artist Carol Grende created three very similar versions: located here in Lewiston; in front of the federal courthouse in Great Falls, Montana; and by the train station in Dayton, Washington. The sculpture depicts Sacagawea and her 4-month-old baby, Jean Baptiste, or Pomp, climbing a hill near the Great Falls of the Missouri in 1805.

In the artist’s words, the statue of Sacajawea “exemplifies the feelings that were stirred within my soul: I have seen her in my mind’s eye, a woman of great strength and perseverance. In her face a great determination. Sacajawea is truly a culmination of my career and represents the perseverance we all must have to proceed on in times of trouble.”

Carol Grende also created the “When They Shook Hands, the Lewis and Clark Expedition Began” sculpture that stands in front of the Falls of the Ohio State Park center in Clarksville, Indiana. She passed away in 2009.