Paiute attack on Williams Station rescues two kidnapped young Paiute girls and ignites the Pyramid Lake War

On this day, Paiute warriors of the Humboldt Meadows band, led by Mogoannoga went to Williams Station where they discovered two young Paiute children tied up in the basement. They rescued the children and killed the five white settlers present. Williams Station was a saloon, general store and stagecoach station. The attack/rescue led to the formation of a settler militia of about 100 people led by Major William Ormsby. While this incident is considered the opening attack and justification for the return attack on Pyramid Lake Paiute's by the settler militia, important background context is a silver rush known as the Comstock Lode was discovered and made public in 1859. This announcement caused a massive influx of settlers to the area which caused major problems and also combined with a particularly harsh winter. As in many other examples, the settlers let their cattle roam anywhere they liked which ruined important water sources in the arid area, and also chopped down pinyon pine orchards, another important Indigenous food source.