Truckee was medicine chief of the Northern Paiute and an influential prophet.

Family life

Old Winnemucca was born a Shoshoni and became a Paiute by marrying a Kuyuidika woman. He was the father of Tuboitone and father-in-law to Bad Face

Chief Winnemucca

Winnemucca, , was born a Shoshoni around 1820 in what would later become the Oregon Territory. He married a Kuyuidika woman, the daughter of Old Winnemucca, and thus was a Paiute himself by tribal rules...

, her husband. Thus, he was the maternal grandfather of Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca

Sarah Winnemucca was a prominent female Native American activist and educator, and an influential figure in the United States' nineteenth-century Indian policies...

. The Wuna Mucca clan had no choice by the 1850s but to accept the anglicized spelling of their name, Winnemucca, as journals of the time spelled it.

Relationship with United States settlers

He intercepted the Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery

Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...

, led by Tobe (Swooping Eagle)

Old Toby

Old Toby , whose name was Pikee Queenah ' was war chief of the Tuziyammo band of Western Shoshone and a Shoshone dog soldier.-Guide:...

 on the Lemhi River

Lemhi River

The Lemhi River is a river in Idaho in the United States. It is a tributary of the Salmon River, which in turn is tributary to the Snake River and Columbia River.-Course:...

 in the summer of 1805, offering to lead them to the Columbia River over the Old Shoshoni Trail through the Ochoco

Ochoco Mountains

The Ochoco Mountains are a mountain range in central Oregon. The Ochoco Mountains form the western end of the Blue Mountains province. The mountains were formed when Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic rocks were slowly uplifted by volcanic eruptions to form the Clarno Formation. Today, the highest...

, rather than the old Banatee Snake Trail held by the Blackfeet, but the Corps declined the offer.

He was friendly with white settlers and guided John C. Frémont

John C. Frémont

John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...

, securing a letter of introduction

Letter of introduction

The letter of introduction, along with the visiting card, was an important part of polite social interaction in the 18th and 19th centuries. It remains important in formal situations, such as an ambassador presenting his credentials, and in certain business circles.In general, a person would not...

 from him commending him for his support during the Mexican–American War

Mexican–American War

The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...

.

Death

In October 1860 he developed a serious infection in his hand which some sources say was caused by a tarantula

Tarantula

Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...

bite. Sarah Winemmucca and her father were present at his death.