Sarah Winnemucca - Early Life

Early Life

Born "somewhere near 1844" at the Humboldt Lake in what is now western Nevada, Sarah Winnemucca was the daughter of Chief Winnemucca (Poito) and Tuboitonie. Although she claimed that her father was chief of all the Northern Paiute (and she was therefore often called the "Paiute Princess" by the press), the Paiute had no centralized leadership and her father, though influential, was the leader of a small band.

Sarah's grandfather, Tru-ki-zo or Truckee (meaning "good" in the Paiute language), was enthusiastically friendly towards white people. Some say that he was called "Truckee" because it means "good" in the Paiute language, while others say that he got his name because he shouted "Tro-kay" which means "hello." He guided John C. Frémont during his 1843–45 survey and map-making expedition across the Great Basin to California. Later he fought in the Mexican-American War, earning many white friends. Although Sarah was initially terrified of white people, her grandfather took her with him on a trip to the Sacramento area (a trip her father refused to make), and later placed her in the household of William Ormsby of Carson City, Nevada to be educated. Sarah Winnemucca soon became one of very few Paiutes in Nevada able to read and write English.

William Ormsby was later killed in action at the first battle of the Paiute War when the militia force he led was annihilated by a Paiute force led by Sarah's cousin Numaga. Sarah's book tells how her brother Natchez unsuccessfully tried to save Ormsby by faking his death. Her father and brother both fought on the Paiute side.

After the war, Sarah's family moved to the Malheur Reservation which was designated a reservation for the Northern Paiute and Bannock by a series of Executive Orders issued by President Ulysses S. Grant. Sarah taught in a local school and acted as interpreter for Indian Agent Samuel Parrish. Parrish worked well with the Paiute, and established a coherent and well-managed agricultural program.