The Paiute War of 1860

2020-03-15T06:05:37+00:00

The silver and gold rush in the mid-1800s brought many settlers into Nevada, specifically the Pyramid Lake area in western Nevada. With miners encroaching on the land, the availability of natural resources caused tensions between the Paiutes and the newcomers. At the same time, the Pony Express built several stations along Paiute territory causing more conflicts with the natives. The Williams Station Massacre sparked the Paiute War of 1860, also known as the Pyramid Lake War.

In 1859, several prospectors struck it rich when they found silver at the head of Gold Canyon in western Nevada. Hundreds of people soon came to mine for these minerals. As the population rapidly increased, they established Silver City, Virginia City, and Gold Hill. The following year, thousands more arrived, transforming the area into a hub for underground mining. Though many consider this discovery the beginning of civilization in the western United States, the indigenous people experienced a degrading impact on their lifestyle.

With a growing settler population came a significant loss of resources for the Paiute Indians. Many settlers brought their own livestock but would feed their animals on Paiute territory, which led to range wars, overgrazing, and exploiting the land of its mineral wealth. These conflicts stimulated further tension among the settlers and Paiutes. Additionally, the Pony Express gained physical traction and interrupted Paiute land with numerous stations along the trail between California and Missouri.

In a series of disagreements, some Paiutes murdered two white men, resulting in a response of blackmail and fraud from the settlers. A tribal chief named Winnemucca counseled with his people whether or not they should fight. What further spurred this decision was the kidnapping of two Paiute girls who were later found alive at the Williams Station near Carson River. When the two girls told their people of the abuses the Williams’ brothers had enacted on them, several Paiute warriors went to the station, captured two of the brothers and a traveler, and burned the building, killing those inside. The nephew of Winnemucca, named Young Winnemucca or Numaga, heard of the retaliation and knew the settlers would come back. He thereby created a plan to prepare his people for their arrival.

After hearing of the so-called Williams Station Massacre, nearby settler towns took up arms and assembled an attack force. Low in numbers and weapons, men from different towns gathered together and proceeded to the ruins of Williams Station. On May 9, 1860, the volunteer group spotted a few Paiute men and began to chase them into a nearby ravine in the Truckee River banks. As they approached the ravine, about one hundred Paiute warriors attacked in an ambush. The Paiutes then chased the survivors twenty miles south of their original entry point. Almost eighty men died from the volunteer group in comparison to a few Paiute casualties.

A month later, Colonel John Hays led a battalion of five hundred men to Pyramid Lake after hearing rumors concerning the result of the ambush. This time the attack did not end well for the Paiutes; about 160 Paiutes died. Small skirmishes and raids continued for the next few months until August, when both sides called for a ceasefire. The site of this battle has been preserved and is located on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation.

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Literature and Legacy of Pyramid Lake Ranch

2019-10-01T20:39:27+00:00

This ranch served as home to many divorcees evolved through many owners over the years.

Like the Riverside Hotel, Pyramid Lake Guest Ranch has roots in the 1880s, before being passed around from owner to owner in the 20th century. The first commercial use of the land came from Sutcliffe’s 1880s ranch dubbed the Willows. Sutcliffe’s era came to a close in 1926 when he sold the residence to A.J. Olds. Five years later, in 1931, the property was rebounded in its sale to John Marshall. In 1936, the ranch was sold to Alva and Leslie Kitselman who called the property, “The Sage” until 1946. During the Kitselman’s reign, Alva and Leslie’s adult son Beau caused conflicts with neighboring Native Americans. Harry Drackert then leased and managed the ranch with his wife Joan until 1956. By the sixties, Nevada’s role as a divorce haven began to wane as did the number of visitors to Pyramid Lake.
A few visitors wrote about their experiences at Pyramid Lake. Connecticut transplant Marilu Norden wrote a fictional book based on her 1951 experience at Pyramid Lake . From an interview with her and her son, she describes daily experiences at the ranch and the closeness of the community. She knew and loved the ranch’s manager Harry and his wife and Joan Drackert, she befriended a Grecian Premier, and once talked with Frank Sinatra during her stay. The cabins in pyramid lake were not extravagant. By Nordan’s description, the cabins bore light with a single dangling light bulb. The cabins were twenty years old when Norden and her son arrived.
One story set in Pyramid Lake was published a few years later, in 1954. After visiting the lakeside dude ranch, Abbott Joseph Leibling wrote an story based in Pyramid Lake. Leibling’s fictional article was overtaken by Arthur Miller’s 1961 film “Misfits”, also based on his time at Pyramid Lake.
Arthur Miller was a Pulitzer Prize Winner who had penned successful plays like 'Death of A Salesman.' He came to stay at Pyramid Lake two years after Liebling's Pyramid Lake story was published. Miller came as the lover of Marilyn Monroe and husband of Mary Miller, from whom he was seeking a divorce.
Miller wrote while waiting out his Nevadan residency on the rural landscape. The ranch rested on the shores of its namesake, Pyramid Lake. Situated 30 miles outside of Reno, the ranch offered a slower pace, well suited to Miller’s writing needs. In 1960, Miller would return when his short story had evolved into a screenplay for the Nevada divorce film.
Pyramid Lake served as a temporary home to many divorcees. Hospitality ranged from owner to owner, including the troublesome Beau Kitselman to the beloved Harry Drackert. Like the ownership, the name of the ranch changed frequently moving from its 1880 origins of the Willows to Sutcliffe, then becoming The Sage before being dubbed Pyramid Lake Guest Ranch. After the divorce haven era, the ranch was renamed the Sutcliffe Inn before its current title as the Crosby Lodge. Today, this historic plot of land remains a home to travelers and likely some divorcees in Sutcliffe, Nevada.
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Intermountain Histories

The Paiute War of 1860

Literature and Legacy of Pyramid Lake Ranch