Williams Station

Williams Station. . , Little known at the time, except as a stage stop, Williams Station was destined to be remembered in Nevada history as the incident that ignited the Pyramid Lake War of 1860., Williams Station was named for three brothers, James O., Oscar, and David Williams. It was a one room combination saloon, general store and stagecoach station located along the "Big Bend” of the Carson River about ten miles northeast of where Fort Churchill later was constructed. The site is now submerged by the modern-day Lake Lahontan. , On May 7, 1860 Williams Station was raided by the Paiutes. Accounts vary as to the exact details leading to the Williams Station "Massacre". Most accounts say that two young Paiute girls were abducted by the traders, held at the station and molested. About nine Paiute warriors went to the station, forcing five white men, believed to be have been responsible for the kidnapping inside the building: Oscar Williams, David Williams, Samuel Sullivan, John Fleming and "Dutch Phil". The station was burned with all five men inside. , Station operator and owner, J.O. Williams was camping a couple miles further up the river and thus escaped the fate of his brothers. He rushed to Virginia City to spread the news. Within no time, a militia was formed with the intent of apprehending the perpetrators. This force consisted of about 105 men and was under the overall command of Major William Ormsby. , After the war the station was rebuilt and called "Honey Lake Smith's" and visited by Mark Twain in 1861. He did not speak highly of the place, saying "it was a two-story log house situated on a small knoll in the midst of the vast basin or desert through which the sickly Carson winds its melancholy way." , Dedicated on Cctober 24, 2020 , Copper Queen 1915 , Outpost of Julia C. Bulette 1864 , E Clampus Vitus