Winnemucca ( – 1882) (also called Wobitsawahkah, Bad Face, Winnemucca the Younger, Mubetawaka, and PoitoOntko, Gale. ''Thunder Over the Ochoco,'' Volume I: ''The Gathering Storm''. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, Inc., 1997.) was a

Northern Paiute Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

war chief. He was born a

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, easter ...

around 1820 in what would later become the Oregon Territory. When he married the daughter of

Old Winnemucca Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

, he became a Paiute according to their tribal rules. They were of the Kuyuidika band of the

. His father-in-law honored him by naming him "Winnemucca the Younger". The name means "The Giver of Spiritual Gifts." Winnemucca the Younger became a war chief with the ''Kuyuidika''.

Political life

Winnemucca the Younger (his alternative name "Bad Face" will be used in the remainder of this article) eventually became war chief of the Kuyuidika. He distrusted white settlers more than did his father-in-law. Trying to define his role in Northern Paiute politics has been an area of controversy for historians. He is primarily known through the writings of his daughter, Sarah Winnemucca. She downplayed his Shoshone roots and connections to distinguish her father and her people as peaceful and to protect them from the prejudice many settlers held against the more warlike Shoshone, also called "Snake Indians". She exaggerated his influence over the Paiute people, saying that he was the principal chief of all the Paiute tribes. Since she served as an interpreter in the area, her viewpoint was adopted by many contemporary Oregonians. Modern historians and ethnologists view Winnemucca more as a "first among equals", with considerable influence over the bands in the Pyramid Lake region. He was a leading proponent of the Pyramid Lake War of 1860. At the time of the formation of the Paviotso Confederacy at the Ochoco Council of 1851, the Paiute were more allied with his father-in-law, (Old) Chief One Moccasin's plea to keep the peace. The Paiute did not then join the Shoshone and Northern Ute warriors in the war effort.Ontko, Gale. ''Thunder Over the Ochoco,'' Volume II: ''Distant Thunder'', Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, Inc., 1997. Later, Bad Face led several Paiute units in warfare, and they were mistakenly identified as Snake warriors. At 3:00 am on March 17, 1865, while Sarah Winnemucca and her grandfather, Old Winnemucca were in Dayton, Nevada, Captain Almond D. Wells' Nevada Volunteer cavalrymen raided their family camp on the shore of what is now known as Winnemucca Lake. The cavalry killed 29 of the 30 old men, women and children in the camp, including two of Old Winnemucca's wives. Bad Face's wife and a daughter were shot, sustaining mortal wounds. His baby son was killed by being thrown into a fire. In 1868 Bad Face surrendered. After that war, his influence decreased considerably. He had little control over events at the Malheur Reservation leading to the

Bannock War The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U.S. military and Bannock and Paiute warriors in Idaho and northeastern Oregon from June to August 1878. The Bannock totaled about 600 to 800 in 1870 because of other Shoshone peoples b ...

of 1878.

During the winter of 1872-1873, Bad Face refused to settle on a farm at the Malheur Reservation, despite his daughter Sarah's asking him to join her. He said he might starve there.Ontko, Gale. ''Thunder Over the Ochoco'', Volume IV: ''Rain of Tears''. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, Inc., 1998. He took refuge at the base of Steens Mountain, near the Reuben and Dolly Kiger Ranch in what is now Harney County, Oregon. By 1873, settlers and the government in Oregon worried that the Paiute under Bad Face might join with the Shoshone under ''Chochoco'' (Has No Horse). They also worried about potential collaboration of the tribe with former enemies, the

Modoc Modoc may refer to: Ethnic groups *Modoc people, a Native American/First Nations people ** Modoc language **Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe of Modoc *Modoc War, the last armed resistance of the Modoc people in 1873 *The "Mo ...

people, being led by

John Schonchin John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Captain Jack (''Modicus''), in what became the Modoc War. On April 11, 1873, the Modoc War ended. By 1874, Winnemucca, Sarah and another daughter, and eight warriors were appearing at Metropolitan Theater in Sacramento, California in a series of skits on Indian life, which they performed for five years. While the agency was led by the US Indian agent Samuel Parrish, in 1875, Bad Face went to and from the Malheur Reservation with considerable freedom. Parrish built irrigation canals and a school for the reservation. He had expanded the reservation to secure better farmland for the Shoshone, although he had no permission. He annexed Pony Blanket's cultivated land and the Shoshone's traditional hot springs. This caused conflict with powerful local settlers who wanted that land; they included the ranchers Henry Miller and

Pete French Peter French (April 30, 1849 – December 26, 1897) was a rancher in the western United States in the late 19th century. The community of Frenchglen, Oregon, was partially named for him. Early life Peter French was born John William French in M ...

. They started what was a successful campaign to have Parrish replaced. In early April 1875, Bad Face, Sarah Winnemucca, and Pony Blanket attempted to persuade officers at Fort Harney to help reinstate Parrish.

William V. Rinehart William Vance Rinehart (28 December 1835 – 16 October 1918) was an American soldier who served as a Union Army officer in both the 1st Oregon Volunteer Cavalry Regiment and 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War. ...

and other wealthy opponents retaliated by falsely accusing officers at Fort Harney, Fort McDermitt, and Fort Bidwell of supplying food to Shoshone who refused to stay on the Malheur Reservation, and thus helping them stay away. Rinehart was the sworn enemy of both the Shoshoni and Paiute, preferring absolute authority and extermination of indigenous people, where possible. Parrish was replaced by Rinehart on June 28, 1876, just three days after Custer's fall at Little Bighorn. He began defrauding and abusing both reservation and non-reservation native people, often not giving them adequate supplies of rations. Northeastern Oregon settlers prevailed upon the Congress to overturn President Ulysses S. Grant's pact to let the Nez Perce stay in Wallowa. On June 13, 1877 Chief Joseph went on the warpath. After refusing to move 500 of his people from their high mountain meadow in the

Wallowa Valley Wallowa may refer to: Places *Wallowa, Oregon *Wallowa County, Oregon *Wallowa Lake *Wallowa Lake State Park *Wallowa Mountains *Wallowa River Other *''Acacia calamifolia'', a shrub or tree *''Acacia euthycarpa'', a shrub or tree * ''The Wallo ...

to the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, he killed four white men. (The reservation was to have included Camas Prairie, but due to a clerical error, did not.) The Paiute, who had been leaving the Malheur Reservation to escape Rinehart and starvation, returned en masse, knowing they would be safer at the reservation during wartime. Bad Face and some of his warriors traveled to Boise City, where they dined as guests of honor with Governor

Mason Brayman Mason Brayman (May 23, 1813 – February 27, 1895) was an American attorney, newspaperman, and military officer. During his service to the Union Army during the American Civil War, he rose to the rank of Major general with the 29th IL. Volu ...

; they assured him of their peaceful intent. Still, neither would go onto the Malheur Reservation as Rinehart insisted and conditions continued to worsen. Two Shoshone "Dog Soldiers" came to the Malheur Reservation in March 1878 and threatened war as soon as there was grass. Brayman wrote to US Senator W. J. McConnell on their behalf, agreeing that the Shoshoni Banattee Snakes at Fort Hall Reservation had "ample justification" for the methods they pursued, given the ongoing loss of their natural food supply, Camas root, to the settlers' hogs. On June 16, 1878, the '' Salt Lake City Tribune'' reported that Laughing Hawk (Tambiago), imprisoned at the Idaho Territorial Penitentiary, had informed officials that Buffalo Horn (Kotsotiala) was to meet with Bad Face and Has No Horse in the " Juniper Mountains". The officials ignored his warning. On May 27, 1878, after holding a council of war, the Shoshone started an uprising in eastern Oregon with the killing of James Dempsey, a white gun dealer who lived in

Harney Valley The Harney Basin is an endorheic basin in southeastern Oregon in the United States at the northwestern corner of the Great Basin. One of the least populated areas of the contiguous United States, it is located largely in northern Harney County, ...

. with a Shoshoni wife. He had purchased arms in October 1877 from the

Mormons Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

at Salt Lake City and sold the weapons to the Bannock/Bannatte Robber Snakes, after having urged them for a year to go to war. He then informed Idaho Governor Brayman that war was eminent. The uprising turned into the second Shoshone War, which the Americans called the

. On June 5, Sarah Winnemucca met with Pony Blanket (

Egan Egan may refer to: People * Egan (surname) * Egan (given name) Places in the United States * Egan, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Egan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community and census-designated place * Egan, South Dakota, a city * Eg ...

), Left Hand, Dancer, and Three Coyotes at the Malheur Indian Agency and learned that the Snake Indians were being starved out of the Malheur reservation, that they could not buy clothes, and that Paiute horses were being shot. Three Coyotes reported the rape of an Indian girl and the confiscation of weapons and horses at the Fort Hall Reservation. They gathered money to send Sarah to Washington to tell President Rutherford B. Hayes of these problems. She left on June 9, 1878. That day Captain

Reuben F. Bernard Reuben Frank Bernard (1834 – November 17, 1903) was an American Brigadier General. Early life Bernard was born in rural Hawkins County, Tennessee to John Bernard Sr. and Mary Morelock Bernard. He was the eldest boy of 14 brothers and sisters, ...

caught up with Black Buffalo and Old Bull near the Oregon-Idaho border, after having his men pull down telegraph lines to shut off the war zone communications. He seriously wounded both men. Before the last of the lines were pulled down, General Irvin McDowell got a message through to Bad Face and his son Natchez, asking them to come and help keep the peace with the hostile Snake at the Malheur Reservation. They consented but planned to join the Snakes at war. On June 10, 1878, Congress declared war on the Western Shoshoni Nation. Bad Face died of poisoning in 1882. The '' San Francisco Chronicle'' reported that Winnemucca died in October 1882 at Coppersmith Station, Nevada.

Legacy

Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada, Winnemucca Lake, Winnemucca Mountain, and the city of Winnemucca, Nevada are named after Winnemucca. His eldest son Natchez and nephew Numaga were known to whites as Little Winnemucca and Young Winnemucca, respectively. As of 1970, one source claimed that descendants of Chief Winnemucca could be found among the residents of the Pyramid Lake Reservation.

References

"Winnemucca, Chief of the Piute", from ''Famous Indian Chiefs I Have Known'' (1908)

Political life

Legacy

References

See also