Teller Institute Student, Becomes a Vaudeville Star

Meet Emma Rainey. (b. 1889, d. 1918) Emma was a young girl when she left her home amongst the Bannock–Shoshone tribe near Pocatello, ID, to enroll in the Teller Institute, a Native American Boarding School, here in Grand Junction.

While she was here, she gained attention “in local circles by her extraordinary musical ability, and her charming personality,” according to the March 16, 1910 Daily Sentinel.

Emma left the Teller Institute in 1906, for further education at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Where she studied for another two years. She discharged Carlisle in 1908 at age 16, with a 5th grade education. Her trade listed as Sewing and Laundry.

But Emma had bigger dreams. Within months she was headlining a vaudeville act “A Modern Pocohontas” and touring the country. Her skills as a singer and actress made headlines around the nation. This marked, according to the Denver Post, the first major theatrical production to have Native Americans in leading roles.

By May 1909, Emma Rainey was hard at work writing and producing “the one great American drama.” In an article from the Tacoma Times from May 17, 1909, Emma spoke about her project:

“I feel that the day is near at hand when I can deliver over again to the people of this nation the one splendid story that will shine above everything else as the genuine American play.”

I could find nothing about how this ambitious project turned out. Fame for Emma would be short lived. By 1911, she had disappeared from the public limelight. Then just a few years later, she died at age 29 of the Spanish Influenza, in Salt Lake City, where it was reported that she was involved in the local theater.