The scholarly consensus is to treat Denig’s account as the more reliable primary source while acknowledging that Beckwourth’s memoir may be describing the same person in a heavily fictionalized way.

Denig knew her for twelve years and wrote about her from direct observation.

Beckwourth wrote from memory, years later, through a collaborating author, with evident commercial and personal motivations.

This distinction matters because it affects how much we can know about Woman Chief’s life.

Denig gives us the verified core — the chieftaincy, the war record, the household structure, the approximate dates and circumstances.

Beckwourth gives us a much more elaborate narrative, but one that cannot be trusted in its specific details.