[1] Her family prioritized education, and at age eleven in 1853, McCurtain attended the Wheelock Female Academy, a school founded by reverend Alfred Wright in 1832 to prepare Choctaw girls to be Christian women.

[3] In 1860, as tensions of the American Civil War grew, she returned home from Edgeworth Seminary in what became a two-month journey back to her Choctaw homeland.

[3] During this time, she met Jackson McCurtain, a captain in the Confederate States Army, serving with the First Regiment of Choctaw and Chickasaw Mounted Rifles.

McCurtain served as a secretary, speechwriter, and close political advisor to her husband, contributing to Choctaw position papers and demonstrating strong support for her people.

[3] Following her husband’s death in 1885, she continued to reside near the Tuskahoma Council House, where she maintained a leadership role among her community, promoting education and cultural preservation.