RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0030

Did you know that Winnemucca is the only town in Nevada that is named after a Native American, a Paiute Indian named Chief Old Winnemucca? When Winnemucca was a young boy some prospectors saw him walking around one day wearing only one moccasin. In the Paiute dialect, “muc-cha” means moccasin; so the prospectors started calling him “wan-na-muc-cha,” which means “one moccasin” This name, which is part English and part Paiute, pleased Winnemucca, so he adopted it as his new name, being referred to thereafter by his tribe as “Wan-na-muc-cha.”

When Winnemucca became chief of his tribe, he and his daughter, Sarah, traveled across the United States bringing attention to the plight of their people. In their travels, Sarah gave over 300 speeches and met with President Hayes and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz. Sarah is also recognized as the first Native American woman to write a book and have it published. A statue of Sarah Winnemucca is housed in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.

Throughout Winnemucca and the Humboldt County area there are a number of RonnieAdaventures! A good place to start is the Winnemucca Visitors Center (located in the Winnemucca Convention Center), where you will find more free information on area adventures than you will have time to accomplish in one trip. Actually, the Convention Center has its own free attractions that should not be missed.

Another interesting fact! Did you know that 37 new mineral were first discovered in Nevada? Or that northern Nevada is a rich source for mineral and rock collectors? To get started as a “rock hound,” the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has set up mineral and rock display cases inside the Convention Center to help identify the many types of minerals and beautiful rocks found in Nevada. The various displays are labeled by mineral type and give the discovery location of each display to help new collectors get started.

Mineral Display Case

The Convention Center also contains the Buckaroo Hall of Fame, which pays tribute to the buckaroos that helped tame Nevada. (In this part of Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, wranglers are called “buckaroos,” not “cowboys.”) In addition to recognizing individual buckaroos, there are various artifacts, photos, saddles, guns, and other memorabilia on display that give a glimpse into the hard life of a buckaroo.

Buckaroo Museum

And, not to be missed is William Humphreys’ Big Game Collection. This is a collection of more than 53 mounted big game animals from four different continents.

William Humphreys' Big Game Collection

Just up the street a few blocks from the Convention Center is the Humboldt Museum, which is filled with historical artifacts and the skeleton of a 15,000 year old mammoth from the Black Rock Desert. There are several old buildings on-site that are in various stages of renovation, including the old St. Mary’s Episcopal Church that was renovated and moved to its present location in the 1970. The old general store is currently under renovation and is not open to the public. Of particular interest is the Clarence H. Stoker collection of old buggies and automobiles, which are displayed along a wall-length mural of Old Bridge Street in downtown Winnemucca as it appeared in 1910. Although not advertised, Winnemucca is also the place where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made their last big haul and then headed for Mexico.