| Battle of Williams Station | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Pyramid Lake War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States | Paiute | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John C. Hays [2] | Numaga | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| >500 (Washoe Regiment) | 150 warriors [3] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2 killed [3] | 6 killed [3] | ||||||
The Battle of Williams Station was a minor skirmish during the Pyramid Lake War of 1860. The fight took place following the defeat of Major William Ormsby at the First Battle of Pyramid Lake as U.S. Volunteers entered the war.
When Major William Ormsby's vigilante command was routed at Pyramid Lake, settlers in the area sent calls for help to California. John C. Hays responded to the call and arrived in Carson City to organize a volunteer regiment. Hays organized over 500 men from Carson City, Virginia City, Genoa and other communities into the "Washoe Regiment". U.S. Regular soldiers from Fort Alcatraz where en route to the region under Captain Joseph Stewart. [2]
Instead of waiting for Stewart's regulars, Hays marched his command out of Carson City toward the location of the initial Indian attack at Williams Station. Hays encountered 150 Paiute warriors at the station and a brief skirmish ensued. Two soldiers and six Paiutes were killed. [3] The warriors withdrew toward Pyramid Lake and were defeated in the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake.
Williams Station was a Pony Express station kept by James O. Williams along the Carson River between stations 149 (in the Carson Sink) and 151 (Hooten Wells Station). The ruins were inundated by the Lahontan Reservoir created by the 1911 Lahontan Dam and were visible during a 1992 drought. [1]
Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins was a Northern Paiute author, activist (lecturer) and educator. Her maiden name is Winnemucca.
Ormsby County was a county in Nevada Territory from 1861 to 1864 and in the State of Nevada from 1864 until 1969. It contained Carson City, the county seat, and later, the state capital, founded two years earlier.
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the basin of the Truckee River, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Reno, Nevada, United States.
Modern Lake Lahontan is a reservoir on the Carson River in northwest Nevada in the United States. It is formed by the Lahontan Dam, built in 1905 by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Newlands Reclamation Act and is located between Fallon, Nevada and Carson City, Nevada. The flows from the Carson River are augmented by the diversions from the Truckee River. The reservoir is maintained by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID). The lake is named after ancient Lake Lahontan, which covered much of northwestern Nevada during the last ice age.
The Snake War (1864–1868) was an irregular war fought by the United States of America against the "Snake Indians," the settlers' term for Northern Paiute, Bannock and Western Shoshone bands who lived along the Snake River. Fighting took place in the states of Oregon, Nevada, and California, and in Idaho Territory. Total casualties from both sides of the conflict numbered 1,762 dead, wounded, or captured.
Lahontan State Recreation Area is a public recreation area surrounding Lake Lahontan, a 17-mile-long (27 km) impoundment of the Carson River, located approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of Fallon, Nevada. The reservoir features 69 miles (111 km) of shoreline and 11,200 acres (4,500 ha) of water when full. Much of the park lies below 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in elevation and is dominated by high desert sagebrush. Wooded areas of native cottonwoods and willow trees can be found along the shore of the lake. Primary access points to the park are along U.S. Route 50 near the Lahontan Dam and off U.S. Route 95 in the town of Silver Springs. A corridor known as Carson River Ranches connects Lahontan with Fort Churchill State Historic Park.
The Paiute War, also known as the Pyramid Lake War, Washoe Indian War and the Pah Ute War, was an armed conflict between Northern Paiutes allied with the Shoshone and the Bannock against settlers from the United States, supported by military forces. It took place in May 1860 in the vicinity of Pyramid Lake in the Utah Territory, now in the northwest corner of present-day Nevada. The war was preceded by a series of increasingly violent incidents, culminating in two pitched battles in which 79 Whites and 25 Indigenous people were killed. Smaller raids and skirmishes continued until a cease-fire was agreed to in August 1860; there was no treaty.
The Nevada National Guard is the component of the United States National Guard in Nevada. The governor of Nevada may call individuals or units of the Nevada National Guard into state service. The Constitution of the United States charges the National Guard of each state to support its dual federal and state missions.
Fort Churchill State Historic Park is a state park of Nevada, United States, preserving the remains of a United States Army fort and a waystation on the Pony Express and Central Overland Routes dating back to the 1860s. The site is one end of the historic Fort Churchill and Sand Springs Toll Road. The park is in Lyon County south of the town of Silver Springs, on U.S. Route 95 Alternate, eight miles (13 km) south of U.S. Route 50. Fort Churchill was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. A 1994 park addition forms a corridor along the Carson River.
The Lahontan Valley is a basin in Churchill County, Nevada, United States. The valley is a landform of the central portion of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan's lakebed of 20,000-9,000 years ago. The valley and the adjacent Carson Sink represent a small portion of the lake bed. Humboldt Lake is to the valley's northeast. Pyramid Lake is west. Walker Lake is to the south. The valley is part of the larger Great Basin Desert, however during the California Gold Rush the valley was often called the Forty Mile Desert.
Joseph Stewart was an officer in the United States Army notable for serving as commander of Fort Alcatraz, Fort Churchill and the Department of Alaska. His name is occasionally seen as Jasper Stewart.
The 1st Nevada Cavalry Battalion, or the Nevada Territory Cavalry Volunteers, was a unit raised for the Union army during the American Civil War. It remained in the west, garrisoning frontier posts, protecting emigrant routes, and engaged in scouting duties. The unit was disbanded in July 1866.
The Second Battle of Pyramid Lake took place in response to the U.S. defeat at the First Battle of Pyramid Lake. A well-organized force of militia and regulars, under the capable leadership of famed Texas Ranger Col. John C. "Jack" Hays, defeated the Paiute warriors under Chief Numaga. This was the final engagement of the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.
The Battle of Owyhee River took place during the Snake War in 1866 in response to Paiute attacks along the Owyhee River earlier that year.
William Matthew Ormsby was an early settler of Nevada who was instrumental in the establishment of Carson City and the Nevada Territory. Major Ormsby was killed leading a Militia force against Paiute Indians in what was called the Pyramid Lake War.
The Williams Station massacre was an incident that ignited the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.
Numaga was a Paiute leader during the Paiute War of 1860 that centered on Pyramid Lake in what is now Nevada in the United States. The war was caused by an influx of miners and ranchers after silver was discovered in the Comstock Lode near to Carson City. The newcomers assaulted the Paiutes and destroyed their foods supplies. When the Paiutes responded, the U.S. Army used force to suppress them. Both before and after the war, Numaga was a strong advocate of peace and did much to reduce the violence on both sides. He died of tuberculosis, a "white man's disease", in 1871.
The Battle of Mud Lake/Mud Lake Massacre, also known as the "Skirmish at Mud Lake", occurred on 14 March 1865 during the Snake War in northwest Nevada Territory, at present-day Winnemucca Lake, Nevada, during the closing months of the concurrent American Civil War.
The Battle of Egan Station was a minor skirmish which occurred near Schellbourne, Nevada in August 1860. A group of about 80 Paiute warriors attacked a Pony Express station in Egan Canyon looking for food. When the two civilians had gathered up all the food on hand the warrior's chief demanded they bake more bread. Meanwhile, an approaching Pony Express rider turned around and rode back to a military column he passed along the trail. The soldiers were members of the 4th U.S. Artillery under Lt. Stephen H. Weed. As Weed rushed to Egan Station just as the warriors were preparing to burn the two station workers alive. In the ensuing fight, Weed's men freed the captives and ran off the Native warriors inflicting 3 killed and roughly 12 wounded. Weed's losses were 2 wounded and 1 died of wounds.