Paiute War
Encyclopedia
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
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....

 and the Bannock
Bannock (tribe)
The Bannock tribe of the Northern Paiute are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. Their traditional lands include southeastern Oregon, southeastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southwestern Montana...

 against the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It took place in 1860 in the vicinity of Pyramid Lake
Pyramid Lake
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin and is located northeast of Reno. The inflow is moderately high silt-loaded surface runoff....

 in the Utah Territory
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

, now within present day Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

. The war was preceded by a series of increasingly violent incidents, culminating in two pitched battles in which approximately eighty Americans were killed. The number of Paiutes killed in action is unrecorded. Smaller raids and skirmishes continued until a cease-fire was agreed to in August 1860, there was no treaty.

Background

Early settlement of what is now northwestern Nevada had a tremendous disruptive effect on the Northern Paiute people. The fragility of the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...

 ecosystem magnified this disruption despite the relatively low density of the settlers. These disruptions included the felling of Single-leaf Pinyon
Single-leaf Pinyon
The Single-leaf Pinyon, ', is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native to the United States and northwest Mexico. The range is in southernmost Idaho, western Utah, Arizona, southwest New Mexico, Nevada, eastern and southern California and northern Baja California.It occurs at moderate altitudes from...

 groves, a major food source for the Paiute, for the mining industry and monopolization of water sources. In addition, settlers and Paiutes competed for grazing lands. Several murders of settlers, including famed mountain man
Mountain man
Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...

 Peter Lassen
Peter Lassen
Peter Lassen was a Danish-American blacksmith, rancher, prospector and Freemason.-Early life:Peter Lassen was born on October 31, 1800 in Farum, Denmark and immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1830...

, were widely attributed to Paiutes. Murders of Paiutes by Americans also occurred. The lack of effective government in the area meant that there was no formal judicial response to these incidents, leading to private retribution and a general atmosphere of fear and distrust. The winter of 1859 and 1860 was particularly cold and snowy in the Great Basin, and was a great hardship to the Paiute. Chief Winnemucca
Truckee
Truckee may refer to:*The city of Truckee, California.*The "Truckee" test, part of the Operation Dominic series of nuclear tests.*Truckee lake*Truckee Meadows, a valley in northern Nevada*Truckee Range, a mountain range located in western Nevada...

 died in the winter of 1859. He had been influential among the Paiute, widely liked by the settlers, and therefore served as an ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 and keeper of an uneasy peace. Paiute bands from across the Great Basin gathered at Pyramid Lake for the spring fish run due to failure of local food supplies.

Williams Station Massacre

Williams Station was a combination saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...

, general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...

 and stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

 station located along the Carson River
Carson River
The Carson River is a northwestern Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long....

 at the modern-day Lahontan Reservoir. On May 6, 1860 Williams Station was raided by Paiutes. Three Americans were killed and the station was burned. According to Sarah Winnemucca
Sarah Winnemucca
Sarah Winnemucca was a prominent female Native American activist and educator, and an influential figure in the United States' nineteenth-century Indian policies...

, this raid was in retaliation for the kidnap and rape of two young Paiute girls by the proprietors of the station. One victim managed to escape to Virginia City
Virginia City, Nevada
Virginia City is a census-designated place that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 855 at the 2010 Census.- History :...

, and his story caused a general panic in the region. A militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 was quickly formed from volunteers from Virginia City, Silver City
Silver City, Nevada
Silver City is a town in Lyon County, Nevada, USA, near the Lyon/Carson border. The population as of the 2000 census was 170....

, Carson City
Carson City, Nevada
The Consolidated Municipality of Carson City is the capital of the state of Nevada. The words Consolidated Municipality refer to a series of changes in 1969 which abolished Ormsby County and merged all the settlements contained within its borders into Carson City. Since that time Carson City has...

 and Genoa
Genoa, Nevada
Genoa is an unincorporated town in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. Founded in 1850, it was the first settlement in what became the Nevada Territory. It is situated within Carson River Valley and is about south of Reno....

 with the purpose of apprehending the perpetrators. This force consisted of about 105 men and was under the overall command of Major William Ormsby
William Ormsby
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 vigilante force against Paiute Indians near Pyramid Lake.-Early Life:...

. It was organized as follows:
  • Genoa Rangers - Captain F. F. Condon
  • Carson City Rangers - Major William Ormsby
  • Silver City Guards - Captain R. G. Watkins
  • 1st Virginia City Company - Captain F. Johnston
  • 2nd Virginia City Company - Captain Archie McDonald

First Battle of Pyramid Lake

Ormsby's command assembled at the ruins of the Williams Station, and then proceeded north to the Truckee River
Truckee River
The Truckee River is a stream in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river is about long. Its endorheic drainage basin is about , of which about are in Nevada. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great...

, and then along that river towards Pyramid Lake
Pyramid Lake
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin and is located northeast of Reno. The inflow is moderately high silt-loaded surface runoff....

. On May 12 it was ambushed and routed by Paiute forces under the command of Numaga approximately five miles south of the lake. Seventy-six of the 105 militiamen were killed, including Ormsby, and many of the others were wounded. The number of Paiute killed is not recorded, but thought to be quite small in comparison.

Accounts indicate that the volunteer militia of 105 were poorly armed, badly mounted, and almost completely unorganized. They met at Williams Station and finding no natives, they headed towards Pyramid Lake, a known settlement of the previously friendly Paiute Indians whose chief had recently died. Along the way they encountered a small party of Paiutes occupying a strong position on a rocky hill. The whites attacked the Indians who fled after returning a few shots. The Indians continued firing sporadically as they fled into the ravine with the 105 militia pursing them. Once in the ravine 200 to 300 Paiute warriors appeared and began shooting. They closed off the route of escape and fired on the militia from all sides. The civilian militia headed for a patch of woods as their only escape and some of the survivors of the battle were pursued twenty miles by the Paiute Indians. Up to 500 Paiutes are thought to have participated in the battle. The total of dead was seventy-six civilians killed.

Organization of U.S. Forces

In response to the first battle of Pyramid Lake, settlers called upon legendary Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...

 Colonel John C. Hays. Hays organized a force of local volunteer militia dubbed the "Washoe Regiment". The Washoe Regiment was composed of 13 companies from the areas surrounding Carson City NV, Virginia City NV, Nevada City
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...

, CA and Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...

 CA. In addition to the volunteers under Hays, the U.S. Army responded by sending a detachment of U.S. artillery and infantry from Fort Alcatraz, California. This contingent known as the "Carson River Expedition" was led by Captain Joseph Stewart
Joseph Stewart (Alaska)
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.-Early life:...

. Hays' volunteers went into action at the battle of Williams Station
Battle of Williams Station
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.-Battle:...

 and were then joined by Stewart's Regulars.

Washoe Regiment

Field & Staff
  • Colonel John C. Hays
  • Lt. Colonel J. Saunders
  • Major Daniel E. Hungerford

Companies
  • Company A “Spy Company” – Captain L. B. Fleeson
  • Company B “Sierra Guards” – Captain E. J. Smith
  • Company C “Truckee Rangers” – Captain Alanson W. Nightingill
  • Company D “Sierra Guards” – Captain J. B. Reed
  • Company E “Carson Rangers” – Captain P. H. Clayton
  • Company F “Nevada Rifles” – Captain J. B Van Hagan (CA)
  • Company G “Sierra Guards” – Captain F. F. Patterson
  • Company H “San Juan Rifles” – Captain N. C. Miller
  • Company I “Independent City Guards of Sacramento” – Captain A. G. Snowden (CA)
  • Company J “from Sacramento” – Captain Joseph Virgo (CA)
  • Company K “Virginia Rifles” – Captain Edward Farris Storey
    Edward Farris Storey
    Edward Farris Storey was a Nevada settler who was killed during the Paiute War. Storey County, Nevada was named in his honor....

  • Company L “Carson Rifles” – Captain J.L. Blackburn
  • Company M “Silver City Guards” – Captain Ford
  • Company N “Highland Rangers/Vaqueros” – Captain S. B. Wallace
  • Company O “Sierra Guards” – Captain Creed Haymond
    • (CA) California Militia

Carson River Expedition

Field & Staff
  • Captain Joseph Stewart
  • Captain T. Moore, Quartermaster
  • Lieutenant Horatio G. Gibson, Asst. Commissary of Substance

Companies
  • Company G, 3rd U.S. Artillery - Captain Joseph Stewart
  • Company I, 3rd U.S. Artillery - Lieutenant Horatio G. Gibson
  • Company A, 6th U.S. Infantry - Captain F. F. Flint
  • Company H, 6th U.S. Infantry - Lieutenant J. McCreary

---

Second Battle of Pyramid Lake

In late June Stewart and Hays retraced the steps of Ormsby's command and met the Numaga's Paiutes at the same location as Ormsby's fight. Hays and Stewart defeated Numage and the Paiute forces scattered across the Great Basin. After a minor skirmish in the Lake Range
Lake Range
The Lake Range is a mountain range located in western Nevada in the United States. It is entirely in Washoe County, and the southern two-thirds are in the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation. The ridge runs north-south for approximately 35 miles....

 north-east of Pyramid Lake the volunteer forces were disbanded. Stewart's regulars stayed in the field for a little while longer before returning to the Carson River near Williams Station to construct Fort Churchill
Fort Churchill State Historic Park
Fort Churchill State Historic Park is a Nevada state park in Lyon County, Nevada, in the United States. Located south of the town of Silver Springs, it is in the Central Nevada Region of Nevada State Parks, and is one of seven National Historic Landmarks in the state of Nevada. The site is one...

. Four whites were killed in the second battle of Pyramid lake-and claimed 160 Paiutes killed.

Aftermath

After the inconclusive second battle of Pyramid Lake, the federal forces built a small fort at the southern end of Pyramid Lake to deny that area to the Paiutes. Small skirmishes and raids continued until August, when an informal cease-fire between Numaga and white surveyors working in the area north of Pyramid Lake was achieved. In 1861 the fort at Pyramid Lake was abandoned in favor of Fort Churchill
Fort Churchill State Historic Park
Fort Churchill State Historic Park is a Nevada state park in Lyon County, Nevada, in the United States. Located south of the town of Silver Springs, it is in the Central Nevada Region of Nevada State Parks, and is one of seven National Historic Landmarks in the state of Nevada. The site is one...

, which was further south, along the Carson River. While the number of Paiutes killed in action during the Pyramid Lake War was probably quite small, the disruption to food gathering activities, especially fishing in Pyramid Lake, may have killed more from starvation. The Bannock War
Bannock War
The Bannock War was a series of conflicts in 1878 between various Bannock, Northern Shoshone and Paiute tribes against the United States.- Background :...

 of 1878 may be viewed as a continuation of the Pyramid Lake War, as some Paiutes and Bannock fought in both wars. The war is of particular note because of its effect on the famed Pony Express
Pony Express
The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861...

. Several stations were ambushed and the service experienced its first and only delays in delivery. A few brave riders distinguished themselves during this time, especially Robert "Pony Bob" Haslam, who accomplished (out of necessity) a 380-mile round trip between Lake Tahoe (Friday's Station) and Fort Churchill and back with only nine hours of rest around May 10 of 1860.

See also

  • Ute Wars
  • Category: Native American history of Nevada

External links


Further reading

  • Egan, Ferol. Sand in a Whirlwind: The Paiute Indian War of 1860. Lincoln: University of Nevada Press, 1985. ISBN 0-87417-097-4
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