Williams Station Massacre

The Williams Station Massacre was an incident that ignited the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.

Accounts vary as to the exact details leading to the events at Williams Station. At some point a small group of Paiutes were assaulted and held against their will at Williams Station owned by J.O. Williams. On May 7, 1860 Paiute men returned to the station in retaliation for the earlier kidnapping. The Paiutes forced the four white men believed to be responsible inside the house. They house was burned with the men inside.

The deaths of the white settlers led to great panic with nearby Virginia City, NV. A local militia force was quickly assembled under the leadership of William Ormsby. Ormsby was defeated at the first Battle of Pyramid Lake which in turn led to a second, more sizeable, force led by John C. Hays to be assembled. Hays’ force returned to the site of Williams Station and won a small victory there before being united with U.S. Regular Army forces under Joseph Stewart.

The site of Williams Station is now submerged beneath Lahontan Reservoir.