Sarah Winnemucca: A Princess for the People

By John L. Smith

The Fields of Silver and Gold series brings the past alive. Meet the trailblazers and the pioneers, the first people and the famous explorers, the legends and the everyday heroes that shaped the history, land, and culture of the West. Their powerful stories will fascinate and inspire you.

Advocate. Leader. Auth

• Language: English
• Publisher: Keystone Canyon Press
• Release date: Oct 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781953055026

John L. Smith

Native Nevadan John L. Smith is a longtime journalist and the author of more than a dozen books. He has won many state, regional, and national awards for his writing and was inducted into the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame in 2016, the same year that saw him honored with the James Foley/Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, the Society of Professional Journalists Ethics Award, and the Ancil Payne Award from the University of Oregon. He freelances for a variety of publications, including The Nevada Independent. The father of a grown daughter, Amelia, he is married to the writer Sally Denton and makes his home in Boulder City, Nevada.

Book preview

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Sarah Winnemucca

A Princess for the People

John L. Smith

For Amelia, my brave little flower

Publisher Alrica Goldstein

Copyeditor Paul Szydelko

Cover Designer Alissa Gates Booth

Cartographer David Stroud

Picture Research Catherine Magee

Keystone Canyon Press • 2341 Crestone Drive • Reno, NV 89523

www.keystonecanyon.com

Copyright © 2020 by John L. Smith

The publisher would like to thank the Nevada Historical Society, the Nevada State Museum, Nevada State Parks, University of Nevada Archives, and the Library of Congress for their kind permission to take and reproduce photographs.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

A Cataloging-in-Publication record for this title is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-953055-00-2

EPUB ISBN 978-1-953055-02-6

Manufactured in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Author’s Note

Timeline

Map of Northern Nevada/California

Chapter 1: A Girl Named Shell Flower

Chapter 2: Hard Lessons and a New Language

Chapter 3: The Pyramid Lake War

Chapter 4: Sarah Takes the Stage

Chapter 5: A Letter from Sarah

Chapter 6: The Malheur Dream

Chapter 7: The Bannock War

Chapter 8: Promises Made, Promises Broken, and a Petition to Congress

Chapter 9: Life Among the Piute

Chapter 10: Paying the Price for Speaking Out

Chapter 11: Teaching Future Generations

Epilogue: Brave Deeds and a Legacy of Hope

Appendix: In Her Own Words

Glossary and Key Characters in This Story

Selected Bibliography and Further Reading

Questions for Discussion

About the Author

Author’s Note

Sarah Winnemucca’s life remains as intriguing and controversial today as it was more than 150 years ago. She was celebrated and scorned by the press, politicians, and the public. Through the passage of time she has been depicted both as a brave and selfless leader of her people, and as one whose efforts were co-opted by the dominant white culture at times to the detriment of the tribe.

The pages that follow do not argue that controversy, but try to celebrate Winnemucca’s undeniably courageous efforts to call out injustice and improve the lives of her people as best she could in rapidly changing times.

It’s also important to note that the people known currently as the Northern Paiute did not call themselves by that name. They referred to themselves as the people and had their own language and long and rich spiritual and cultural traditions that were challenged and changed against their will.

Timeline

1844 Sarah Winnemucca is born near Humboldt River, precise date unknown.

1844 US Army Captain John C. Frémont travels through Northern Paiute country, eventually befriends Captain Truckee, Sarah’s maternal grandfather.

1848 Gold is discovered in California at Sutter’s Mill, attracting thousands of miners, speculators, and settlers from the East. They often traveled across Northern Paiute land.

1851 Genoa (first called Mormon Station) is founded. Considered Nevada’s oldest town.

1851 Captain Truckee leads of group of Northern Paiute to see the white settlements in California. Sarah reluctantly goes along.

1859 Silver and gold is discovered near Virginia City.

1860 Pyramid Lake War. Pony Express mail services crosses Northern Paiute land.

1861 Civil War begins.

1864 Sarah speaks at Sutcliffe’s Music Hall in Virginia City.

1864 On October 31, Nevada becomes a state.

1865 Mud Lake Massacre; Civil War ends.

1868 Sarah is hired as an interpreter at Fort McDermit.

1872 Paiute are relocated to Malheur, Oregon Reservation.

1878 Bannock War

1882 Chief Winnemucca dies. Natches becomes chief of the Northern Paiute.

1883 Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims is published.

1888 Peabody School closes. Sarah moves to Idaho to live with her younger sister, Elma Winnemucca Smith.

1891 On October 16, Sarah Winnemucca dies at Henry’s Lake, Idaho.

2005 On March 9, a statue of Sarah Winnemucca sculpted by