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5 Brave Woman Explorers

Great explorers have one thing in common: a desire to leap into the unknown, no matter how dangerous that might be. Take a look at the towering achievements of these 5 brave women and their jaw-dropping adventures from our book Explorers!

Sacagawea (1788 – 1812), Native American explorer

Sacagawea was only 16 and heavily pregnant when she joined Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s expedition as their translator and guide. In the summer of 1805, they came across tall, snow-covered mountains but had no way of crossing them. Sacagawea thought she recognized the area and that they were near her old tribe—the Shoshone! The chief of the tribe was none other than her long-lost brother, Cameahwait, and thanks to Sacagawea the Shoshones allowed them to buy the horses they needed to cross the mountains and continue on their journey. Through her guidance, they eventually made it to the Pacific Ocean.

Nellie Bly (1864 – 1922), American reporter

Elizabeth Cochrane was furious when, at age 21, she read a newspaper article called “What Girls are Good For,” which said that a woman’s place was in the home and not at work. She wrote a letter to the editor of the paper, and he was so impressed with her writing that he offered her a job. She chose the pen name Nellie Bly and never looked back. She soon got a job at the New York World newspaper, where she earned the reputation as a daring writer who was willing to cover controversial topics. Inspired by the book Around the World in 80 Days, she challenged herself to also travel around the world and to beat the novel’s 80 days. Her journey became the biggest story in the United States, and when she got back there was a huge celebration waiting for her in New York. She reached the finish line in 72 days, setting a new world record!

Aloha Wanderwell (1906 – 1996), Canadian American explorer and aviator

At the age of 16, Idris Galcia Welsh read an ad that called for a woman with “Brains, Beauty & Breeches!” to join an expedition led by the mysterious Walter Wanderwell. When Captain Wanderwell met Idris, he was impressed by her charisma and fluent French and welcomed her to the team, giving her the stage name "Aloha Wanderwell." Shortly afterwards, she embarked with the team on a seven-year tour around the world in a Ford Model T car, eventually driving through 43 countries. Aloha had many adventures, including camping right by the Great Sphinx in Egypt and charming attackers who tried to take her hostage on the Great Wall of China by teaching them how to use a machine gun. The team funded the journey by filming their adventures and putting on stage shows until the end of the expedition in 1929—and along the way, Captain Wanderwell and Aloha fell in love and got married. She continued to film her travels around the world throughout her life, earning her reputation as the “world’s most widely traveled girl.”

Junko Tabei (1939 – 2016), Japanese mountaineer

Junko was only 10 years old when she climbed her first peak! Despite being a fragile and weak child, she fearlessly faced the challenge of reaching the summit of Mount Nasu in Japan. In college, Junko wanted to challenge herself with harder and harder climbs, so she joined a mountaineering club and spent all her free time in the mountains. She formed the Ladies Climbing Club, which was Japan’s first-ever women-only mountaineering club. In 1975 Junko became the first woman to reach the top of Mount Everest, and eventually became the first woman to climb the highest mountain on each of the seven continents!

Mae Jemison (1956 – Present), American astronaut, engineer, and doctor

At the age of 5, Mae had already decided that when she was older she wanted to be a scientist. She started college when she was only 16 and got degrees in both chemical engineering and African American Studies before training to be a doctor. She volunteered at a refugee camp in Cambodia and then became a medical officer with the Peace Corps in West Africa. In 1987 she was selected to join NASA’s astronaut program from more than 1,000 candidates. Despite her fear of heights, Mae worked hard to complete her training and was selected as a science mission specialist for a space shuttle flight. In 1992 she blasted off on the space shuttle Endeavour. The crew conducted 44 different experiments while in space, and Mae worked on a lot of them. As the first female African American astronaut, Mae helped pave the way for people of different races and genders to travel to space.