Sarah Winnemucca [M.Hopkins; Thocmetony] (1844–October 17, 1891)

When Winnemucca was around ten, she accompanied her mother and Truckee to California. There she learned Spanish and began to pick up English while working for several white families. Her knowledge of English increased after 1857, when she and her sister Elma became companions to the daughter of Major William Ormsby in Carson Valley. Her beloved grandfather, who had been a strong influence, died in 1869. In accordance with his wishes, Winnemucca and Elma briefly attended a school at the Convent of Notre Dame in San Jose, run by the Sisters of Charity. Winnemucca variously gave the dates of her attendance as 1858 to 1860 and as 1861; the girls left because of whites’ objections to their presence. Winnemucca continued her education on her own while working as a domestic in and around Virginia City.