Discontinuity in Winnemucca's Accounts and Actions

Although Winnemucca’s novel is a chronologically ordered account
of her life experiences, there is a lot of discontinuity in her accounts,
causing me to pause a lot to contemplate why she left such a breaks
between events. For instance, when she saved her father and his tribe
from the Bannocks, they learned that the Bannocks discovered their
attempt to escape and followed them, capturing Egan’s tribe and attempting
to retrieve her father’s tribe. Sarah, then, left them to call for reinforcement
and assistance from the General in order to save them. However, Sarah
does  not mention whether the general’s soldiers saved her father’s tribe
in time before the Bannocks captured them, leaving us to question the
condition of her father and their tribe. She does eventually mention
- though indirect and very much later- the condition of their tribe.
Why does Sarah hold back such important facts and wait to tell them
much later? Does she divulge the facts as they come to mind?

Certainty, the discontinuity is conveyed through her many “distractions”
or changes in her journey. Initially given money to go to Washington D.C.
to advocate for a better agent and to tell of the suffering of her people, she
sets off, only to find herself unable to travel any further due to a war. Then,
abruptly, she agrees to help serve as a translator to the U.S. army and
provide any services required by them. What happened to her initial
promise to her people then? Has she told them of her inability to travel to
Washington D.C.? Later on, after the war, they ask her to go to Washington
D.C. again for similar concerns and needs. It seems as if they always have
to raise concerns about their people and to constantly remind her to
tell the white men.

In addition to the discontinuity of her actions, she lacks a lot of information
in several events, leaving many events unexplained and almost blank. For
example, after agreeing to help the U.S. Army, the man that has been
traveling with her and paying her to take his little girl along with her travels
proposes to. The proposal was definitely unexpected and very peculiar
because she does not reveal any prior experiences with him or account of
him during their journey. What was their relationship like? Obviously, it was a
close relationship since the daughter was very attached to her. So why didn’t
she include their experiences in the journey that may have contributed to
his actions?

~J.L.