AS A NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH DRAWS TO A CLOSE THIS WEEK, WE LOOK AT THE LEGACY OF THE FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN ENGINEER.

MARY GOLDA ROSS WAS A PIONEERING FIGURE OF THE SPACE AGE, THE FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN TO BE AN ENGINEER -- ACHIEVEMENTS SHE ATTRIBUTED TO THE CHEROKEE EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION, AND ON EDUCATING BOYS AND GIRLS EQUALLY.

SHE WAS BORN IN 1908 IN PARK HILL, OKLAHOMA TO A FAMILY WITH A PROUD CHEROKEE HERITAGE -- HER GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER, JOHN ROSS, WAS CHIEF OF THE CHEROKEE NATION DURING THE TURBULENT AND TRAUMATIC ERA OF THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830.

THOUSANDS OF CHEROKEE PEOPLE WERE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHEAST AND WALK TO INDIAN TERRITORY IN WHAT IS NOW OKLAHOMA, A ROUTE KNOWN AS THE TRAIL OF TEARS.

AS A CHILD, ROSS WAS SENT TO LIVE WITH HER GRANDPARENTS IN TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA, THE ONE-TIME CAPITAL OF THE CHEROKEE NATION, SO SHE COULD ATTEND SCHOOL.

AFTER HIGH SCHOOL, ROSS EARNED A MATH DEGREE FROM NORTHEASTERN STATE TEACHER'S COLLEGE IN TAHLEQUAH, THE SUCCESSOR TO THE CHEROKEE FEMALE SEMINARY, WHICH HER GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER HAD HELPED ESTABLISH.

ROSS TAUGHT MATH AND SCIENCE IN CHEROKEE SCHOOLS IN OKLAHOMA AND WAS ASSIGNED TO THE GOVERNMENT-RUN SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL IN NEW MEXICO.

SHE WAS A GIRLS ADVISOR AT THE BOARDING SCHOOL, A NATIVE AMERICAN ROLE MODEL FOR INDIAN GIRLS SEPARATED FROM THEIR PARENTS AND FAMILIES.

GAYLE: YOU CANNOT UNDERSTATE HER PASSION FOR TEACHING OTHERS, TO TALKING TO OTHER INDIAN KIDS ABOUT SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH.

JOHN: DURING SUMMER BREAKS, ROSS TOOK ENOUGH CLASSES TO EARN A MASTERS DEGREE IN MATH IN 1938 FROM WHAT IS NOW THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO.

AT THE TIME, ACADEMIC AND INDUSTRIAL LABS EMPLOYED FEW WOMEN.

TEACHING WAS ONE OF THE ONLY CAREERS IN WHICH WOMEN LIKE ROSS, TRAINED IN MATH OR SCIENCES, COULD USE THEIR KNOWLEDGE TO EARN A LIVING.

BUT DURING WORLD WAR II, AS INDUSTRY GEARED UP FOR WARTIME PRODUCTION AND YOUNG MEN WENT OFF TO FIGHT, TECHNICALLY TRAINED WOMEN WERE IN DEMAND.

IN 1942, ROSS WENT TO WORK FOR LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT.

SHE HELPED DESIGN THE P-38 LIGHTNING, AN INNOVATIVE, FAST AND POWERFUL FIGHTER THAT MADE ITS MARK IN BOTH THE EUROPEAN AND PACIFIC THEATERS.

AFTER THE WAR, MANY WOMEN ENGINEERS WERE LAID OFF TO MAKE ROOM FOR MEN RETURNING HOME.

BUT LOCKHEED KEPT ROSS ON THE JOB, EVEN SENDING HER TO UCLA FOR HER PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION IN ENGINEERING, THE FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN TO EARN THAT CREDENTIAL.

ROSS WAS ONE OF THE EARLY MEMBERS OF LOCKHEED'S FAMED SKUNK WORKS, THE TOP-SECRET ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT DIVISION THAT WORKED ON CUTTING EDGE, BREAKTHROUGH AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY.

SHE WAS THE ONLY WOMAN AND ONLY NATIVE AMERICAN AT THE SKUNK WORKS.

MUCH OF HER WORK STILL CAN'T BE DISCUSSED PUBLICLY.

GAYLE: IF SO MUCH OF HER WORK HAD NOT BEEN CLASSIFIED SHE WOULD HAVE WON A NOBEL PRIZE.

THAT'S HOW INNOVATIVE, THAT'S HOW IMPORTANT THE WORK THAT SHE DID WAS.

JOHN: SOME OF THE WORK THAT IS PUBLIC NOW INCLUDES THE POLARIS SUBMARINE LAUNCHED MISSILE, AND THE AGENA ROCKET, WHICH CARRIED NUMEROUS SATELLITES INTO EARTH'S ORBIT.

ROSS ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO NASA'S INTERPLANETARY FLIGHT BOOK, WHICH DETAILED SPACECRAFT FLIGHT PATHS TO MARS AND VENUS.

GAYLE: WHAT SHE REALLY WANTED TO DO WAS BE THE WOMAN BEHIND THE FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE, AND SHE DID THAT.

JOHN: AFTER ROSS RETIRED FROM LOCKHEED IN 1973, SHE DEVOTED THE REST OF HER LIFE TO ENCOURAGING YOUNG WOMEN AND NATIVE AMERICANS TO PURSUE CAREERS IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND MATH.

ROSS DIED IN 2008, THREE MONTHS SHY OF HER 100TH BIRTHDAY.

IN 2019, THE U.S. MINT HONORED ROSS BY PUTTING HER IMAGE ON A SACAGAWEA ONE-DOLLAR COIN.