Chapter 160: Chapter 144: The End of an Era

Columbia, Federal District, the United States of America
February 10th, 1821

Sacagawea held her "brother's" hand tightly as they walked off the passenger car of the steam locomotive, "Don't let go of my hand. Remember, there are thousands of people here today."

"I know, sis," Samuel Jackson, the thirteen-year-old son of Andrew Jackson, replied with an eye roll, "I'm not going to get lost."

Nearby, a pair of Secret Service agents walked behind the president's children and blended into the background. Sacagawea knew exactly where they were since she was used to the security detail she had for eight years. However, she chose to ignore them and focus on the rather rebellious teenager on her plate, "And remember, you need to behave once we get to the ceremony. You're the president's son."

"I know."

"You were running around in Uncle Sam's office."

"Can you blame me? He has the coolest and most advanced technology in the nation!"

The Shoshone had to smile at that remark. The two were returning from their visit to the first president's office in New York City. His new office building had just opened recently (standing five stories tall) and they were some of the first civilians to tour it. Many workers were already setting up shop within the building and the younger Samuel was able to catch a glimpse of a lot of American Enterprise's (Samuel Kim's company) engineering projects. After their short visit, they took a train back to Columbia, which took approximately four hours since the steam locomotives were traveling at seventy kilometers an hour. Now, they were in Columbia to watch their father retire from the presidency and for the new president to take his seat in the White House.

They traveled through a crowd of people to reach the stage set up in front of the Capitol Building. The huge domed structure provided an intimidating, but a magnificent background for the current president and the soon-to-be president. Sacagawea made her way up to the stage with her brother in tow and shook hands with a few important political figures (among them were the Chief Justice Smith Thompson, Speaker of the House Joseph Hopkinson, and various Cabinet members). After exchanging cordial greetings with all of them, they made their way to their father, President Andrew Jackson.

The elder Jackson was preparing for his farewell speech and only noticed them after Sacagawea cleared her throat. Once he saw them, he sheepishly put down his papers and smiled, "Welcome back! How was your trip to New York?"

"It was great! Uncle Sam has the coolest things!" Samuel replied with a grin.

"I thought you said the ARPA laboratory in Boston was the coolest?" His father answered with a matching grin.

"Yeah, but uncle is doing everything by himself! I saw a design for this really amazing rifle that can fire multiple shots and..."

As the two chatted among themselves, Sacagawea was unable to suppress a sad smile. Samuel was excitable and smart, just like his father. He was their father's pride and joy. However, she could see the lingering sadness in her father's eyes whenever he spoke with his biological child. Samuel's mother, a woman by the name of Rachel Fields, died early due to childbirth complications. As such, Samuel was the sole reminder that her father had to the only woman he loved. Sacagawea had done her best to help her adopted father cope with the depression that followed, but the sadness always remained. She was proud of him, for saving her and raising her all these years. Though, she wished she could do more for her father. She was busy working these days, whether it was going on diplomatic missions out west to negotiate treaties with Native Americans or giving lectures at federal universities about the differences in tribes out in the west (she was, after all, a graduate of the Federal University of New York with a degree in Native Studies). As such, the Native American woman was unable to visit her father frequently, though some considered her the "First Lady" of the White House due to her close relations with the president.

"And what about you, Aippu?"

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Sacagawea smiled at the nickname. Aippu was shortened for the word a'ipputoonkih, which meant "butterfly" in the Shoshone language. "It was interesting. Uncle had a lot of Native Americans working in his office. I think he mentioned that they were receiving training to take their expertise back to Iroquois and Hisigi."

"That sounds just like Samuel, always putting others before himself," President Jackson nodded with approval, "Well, are you ready?"

After this ceremony was over, the Jackson family was going to move out west. Specifically, they were going to try to find Sacagawea's parents by traveling through the Unorganized Territories. They agreed to search for two years, and if nothing came out of the search, they were going to move to California and settle there.

"Of course," Jackson's two children replied in unison.

Thirty minutes later, the Fifth President of the United States went in front of a crowd of twenty thousand and began his speech, "My fellow Americans! It has been an honor serving as your president for the past eight years. It seems like only yesterday, I was taking my Oath and preparing for my time in office. Now, I am an old and aging man, like all the other former presidents."

After some of the laughter died down, Jackson continued, "I will keep my speech short since I believe that many of you are here for the new president that will be inaugurated today. Words can not describe how privileged I was to serve as your president. Despite my own flaws, the people of the United States gave me an opportunity to lead this great nation to a brighter future. And I have done my best to fulfill their expectations during my stay in the White House. I will not boast of what I have done, because I did them to help the nation, not for my own, personal benefit."

"As I leave the office of the Presidency, I only ask for the people for two things. I ask that the United States, her people and her government, to treat the Native Americans in the west with great care. For we must remember that while those lands are supposedly ours due to our deal with Spain, there are thousands of souls living on the lands that we have acquired. They are not hostile to us for the sake of being hostile, but because they are wary due to the way that they were treated by the Spanish. They believe that we will sweep aside their homeland and culture, and replace them with our own settlers. Our nation, a nation that cherishes diversity and different cultures, should not expand for the sake of expansion. Instead, we must show restraint and respect the Native Americans that have lived in these lands for hundreds, if not thousands of years."

"The second thing I ask from all of you is what previous presidents have asked for the nation. We must not resort to infighting within our government. Our great Union, composed of thirty different states, have various different ideologies and interests. However, we need to remember that our Union can only hold together if the members of the Union are willing to work for the betterment of the nation as a whole. No matter what our political affiliation may be, whether it is Republican, Democrat, Unionist, Front, or Liberal, we must work together to move the nation forward. After all, the political parties within our nation have one goal in common: to improve and better the United States so it becomes a Beacon of Liberty and Equality in a world that is ruled by tyranny and oppression. Therefore, I ask all my supporters, and supporters from other parties, to fully support the Sixth President of the United States in his endeavors and reach for a better tomorrow. Thank you."

Sacagawea, along with thousands of others, let out a thunderous applause after President Jackson gave a full bow to the crowd, and to the prominent American figures on stage. As he walked off stage, Joseph Crockett, the Democratic-Front president-elect, shook hands with the outgoing president and strutted up to the podium. Chief Justice Thompson stood next to him and held out one of the first copies of the Constitution to begin his Oath of Office, "Mr. Crockett, please repeat after me."

" I, Joseph Crockett, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

"Congratulations, Mr. Crockett. You are now the Sixth President of the United States."

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AN: List of states in the Union:

1. Quebec
2. Nova Scotia
3. Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)
4. New Hampshire
5. Massachusetts
6. Rhode Island
7. Connecticut
8. New York
9. New Jersey
10. Pennsylvania
11. Delaware
12. Maryland
13. Virginia
14. North Carolina
15. South Carolina
16. Kentucky
17. Hisigi
18. Vermont
19. Maine
20. Georgia
21. Florida
22. Ohio
23. Ontario
24. Illinois
25. Michigan
26. Wisconsin
27. Ankigama
28. Alabama
29. Akansa
30. Jefferson

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