Chief Truckee and John C. Fremont
Chief Truckee also known as Old Winnemucca Wuna Mucca was a medicine chief of the Northern Paiute people and an influential prophet. How he gained the name Truckee is not quite clear, with many different ideas and reasons being tossed out there. However he gained his name, Chief Truckee truly left his mark on history as he led his people through a rapidly changing time in California history. He was a greatly respected chief both by his people and to an extent by the American explorers and settlers who he often aided.
Chief Truckee guided John C. Frémont and Kit Carson as they ascended the Truckee River in January 1844. They had originally called the river they passed the Salmon Trout River, after the huge Lahontan cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) that ran up the river from Pyramid Lake to spawn. However, the river was ultimately named after a Paiute chief known as Truckee, who later that same year guided an emigrant party from the headwaters of the Humboldt River to California via the Truckee River, Donner Lake, and Donner Pass. Appreciative of their Native American's guide's services, the party named the river after him.
Image Credit: Truckee-Donner Historical Society
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