Visit locations of the Pyramid Lake War! A Nevada territory war between the natives and settlers.

What you'll see here is what the combatants saw all those years ago. The year was 1860, and things had come to a head between the native Americans living in the Great Basin and the growing populations of Euro-Americans - mountain men, gold rushers, emigrants and gold and silver miners - passing through and then later moving into the Northern Paiute's ancestral lands. The Indians had had enough and this is what happened - the greatest conflict between white settlers and native Americans in the history of Nevada - one of the many exciting stories of the establishment of the American west.
Don't adjust your television! Sepia - brown tone sequences are deliberate!
Visit our merch shop! Shirts, hats, stickers etc.!! SteveTRYK.redb...
Music Credits:
E's Jammy Jams - Erev Shel Shoshanim
Steve Ellison - guitar music
Link to the Pyramid Lake Tribe's website: pyramidlake.us/
Visit the museum in Nixon, NV! It's worth the drive!
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This is the place to learn interesting things about Reno, the state of Nevada and the American west! I've lived in Reno for 37 years (as an adult!). I've had a lifelong interest in history, and spend much time exploring and researching this wonderful area. I started this channel to share some of what I've learned. I produced a full-length documentary film on the history of Reno's Harolds Club casino in 2015.
Perhaps you're thinking of moving to Reno and are looking for background on the area, or you're already a resident and this content might help give you a sense of place. I shall endeavor to cater to both groups!
I'm also a craft beer enthusiast, and thought I'd talk about some of that scene here as well. I started homebrewing in 1992, and earned the Certified Cicerone designation in 2015 - this is a sommelier-like program for beer people.
Please subscribe, share and come along with me on this journey! Thanks and cheers!
Steve

[@ajm849]

Appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos! As a local myself who loves to research the local history and visit significant sites, it's really interesting to learn from you. Cheers!

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for viewing!

[@giannavlogs6009]

This was one of the most difficult segments for me to read in the Biography of Sarah Winnemucca by Sally Zanjani, and you captured it wonderfully (as wonderfully as the story could be told). I really enjoyed the black and white videography and the beautiful aerial shots of Pyramid Lake, Lahontan, and Fort Churchill. I collect Nevada history books and will have to add that one to my collection! Congrats on the home brew!

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks! Appreciate the comments!

[@johnwhitacre7063]

Enjoyed this bit of Nevada’s history.

[@miketalas7998]

Hi Steve, thank you for your video on this event in Nevada's history. I was born and raised in Carson City Nevada in 1963 to 1975. Then we moved to Hoopa CA, for 1 yr then moved to Sacramento CA. But I'll never forget the days my dad would wake us up hours before sunrise and he would drive us to Pyramid Lake to fish. I am 4/4's Indian, but not at all a Nevada Indian, my roots are in Washington State Lummi Res outside Bellingham, and my other half is Hopi AZ. So, I'm 1/2 fisherman 1/2 farmer. My parents met as their parents were Employees of the Nevada Stewert Indian Bording School, but when they married, they settled in Carson City. Soooo........Now I'm here in Phoenix for my health at age 62! Thanks again and again very nice job on the video!

[@SteveTRYK]

Cool - thanks for the comments! Cheers!

[@MikeMarley-r9s]

Hoopa , is that anywhere near Happy Camp?

[@dennisrogers5106]

You hit it out of the park again. Outstanding research and backup photography. Top notch editing too. Keep up the good work.

[@RichardEvans-u2e]

Really well done Steve.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanx!

[@chingachgook9718]

Thank you. Your account was as fair as the tellings I heard in the early 60s.

[@SteveTRYK]

Cool - thanks!

[@briankonash8438]

Fantastic history. Thank you for making these videos!

[@SteveTRYK]

Glad you like them!

[@chesabugg]

Amazing video,you always do a great job researching..Thanks!

[@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244]

When you know nothing of the subject, it will seem that way.

[@briankonash8438]

There's a story here.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks again!

[@thomasfoss9509]

Great Story- I've been to Pyramid lake several times- and didn't know this history. Thank you!

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for watching!!

[@hamaljay]

There's a museum right before you get to the lake It has all the history there and it's free.

[@Rzr543]

Fantastic channel. Liked and subscribed. Thank you for providing a detailed history of our city and surrounding area.

[@SteveTRYK]

Much appreciated!

[@jeffreyellison2252]

I would have bet against you finding an opportunity to use the term "whoop ass" in any of you videos - and then, YOU DELIVER! Seriously, the videography of the landscape was breathtaking, and as always, I appreciate the well researched completeness of the stories you tell.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks! It just came out LOL!

[@Mtnmanmike62]

Love your channel. It's my dream to live up in the Reno area, and your stories are making it more inviting. I love the history!

[@SteveTRYK]

Welcome in - in advance!!

[@wcbibb]

I was born in Reno in 1948. My father was a physician. He provided medical services to the reservation. I often accompanied him to the reservation as a child.

[@rael6_4wd]

I’ve read everything I could find in regard to this war over the years, and visited as much of the battlefield as possible many times. Your video is very accurate and I really enjoyed watching it. For anyone wanting to know more about this amazing time in history, “Sand In A Whirlwind” by Ferol Egan is a great book. It’s hard for me to understand why no one has made a motion picture about this even. Hopefully one day someone will. There were actually many battles that occurred over a wide area north and east of Pyramid Lake. The book goes into great detail how most of them happened and the individuals that fought them. Thanks for making this video. Every Nevadian should know about this. 🙏🏼

[@SteveTRYK]

I have yet to pick up that book - thanks!!

[@bethbartlett5692]

Thanks for sharing this resource. .

[@gringoreno]

Custer had it coming.

[@rael6_4wd]

@@gringoreno I couldn’t agree more! 👍🏼

[@williamh3823]

Custer gave me a local Casino

[@BearRidge128]

I’ve done several Paiute family trees and noticed that lots of them were forced onto Fort Bidwell. Some were at the Reservation in Greenville and others settled in Honey Lake Township.

[@johnstephen7610]

Thanks for posting this very tragic, but very important story. Well worth knowing. Great job.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for taking a look! Cheers!

[@FMIFestival]

Used to live in Sparks and love Pyramid Lake area. Thanks

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanx for watching!

[@RobertJl9516]

Terrific historic account and story telling with video at the locations, thank you will be looking for more.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for hanging out and watching!!

[@JMag1]

Great piece of history and well done video. Subscribed.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thank for your support!

[@MikeMarley-r9s]

My uncle Homer Marley owned and operated a store in Urington ,Nevada close to this area in the 50s and 60s.

[@DG-hb8rh]

Thank you for the video, very interesting

[@Nic-hp5zv]

I love you're channel, I just stumbled on it last night. Great content. I live here in Reno and have always wanted to know more about the pyramid lake war

[@larryotis4720]

Nice Gretsch! Great vid.

[@dalerushton1394]

Thanks. Very interesting; I just came across your channel now and liked 👍 and subscribed. Cheers 🍻 ( I never knew that about Jimmy Carter but I used to have a can of Billy Beer, Jimmy's brother's beer when I was a boy. It was unopened and I had it on my shelf, my Dad must have got it for me. Lol 😆 )

[@SteveTRYK]

Welcome aboard! I remember Billy Beer!

[@hardware1197]

Nice episode! Two counties in NV got named for combatants from the Pyramid Lake wars: Ormsby and Storey. As a retired San Francisco Sheriff's Deputy and frequent visitor to that area, I've always been cognizant of the shared history since Jack Coffee Hays was the first sheriff of San Francisco and led the "Washoe Regiment" in the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks and cheers!

[@MikeMarley-r9s]

Hays is buried in Oakland.He was an ex Texas Ranger famed for his bravery in battling The Comanche.He was an important man in that era and his history is a good story in itself.John Coffee Hays .The first sheriff of San Francisco.

[@Rgarizonahomestead]

Great video Thanks for sharing a little piece of history. Take care and have a great holiday season

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks, you too!

[@garymunson2493]

Thanks so much for doing the work for these history lessons! Seeing your music equipment behind you made me wonder if you ever host any jam sessions anywhere. If so, I'd sure like to be a participant!

[@SteveTRYK]

Haven't been a jam session participant in several years - maybe sometime! Thanks!

[@garymunson2493]

Maybe at one of your favorite imbibing establishments?@@SteveTRYK

[@expressarch]

Excellent video as always. BTW...Great Gretsch! Is that you playing the guitar on your videos intros and outros? It doesn't sound like a big hollow body.

[@SteveTRYK]

That is me - can't remember what guitar I used but it wasn't the Gretsch. I did use that Gretsch on 1849 - the song at the end of the 40 Mile Desert vid - thanks and rock on!

[@carolmartin7042]

Thank you. I enjoyed the video. I attended Carson City High School and graduated from the University of Nevada Reno. My folks lived in Carson City. Glen M

[@JST-NV-USA]

Very good! I was doing research years ago, and the closing of Winnemucca lake for derby dam I understood to be a big factor on the 1860 war. Have you done any digging around on that? The Pauite tribe had thriving fishing vessels and quite a big revenue on tourism.

[@SteveTRYK]

I haven't - the Derby Dam showed up quite a bit after the 1860's - worth looking at though! Cheers!

[@chuniquepaceno470]

Very entertaining and informative. Chief Numaga was amazingly accurate in his predictions and reminds me of Admiral Yamamoto, who was also fluent in English (studied at Harvard) and didn't think his people could win a war with the United States. Impressive how he knew that California would be sending in reinforcements and that the swarming would never end until the Natives were defeated and dispossessed of their lands. Thanks for your efforts, very interesting for any history buff, I'd think...at least they are for this one.

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for viewing! Chief Numaga saw it the way it was. The Paiute tribe hosts Numaga Indian Days every year - Labor Day weekend.

[@rachelraccoon5565]

That was super interesting, thank you. I'm a Nevada native and never really learned to appreciate the state or learn its history beyond the origin story of Nevada's silver reserves being instrumental in winning the Civil War for the Union which is just so much better than having started out aiding the other side which I guess is kind of a wash after these atrocities, but nobody ever said history was pretty....or right. Sigh...

[@SteveTRYK]

Cheers and thanks for your viewership!

[@4Score747]

Excellent video! Love the history! I live 25 miles north of the Lava Beds National Monument. Use to love exploring the caves and learning the history of the Modoc War of’72-‘73. The terrain is really like Pyramid Lake. Got out to far in the sand out there at Pyramid Lake and a couple nice native guys pulled us out. Beautiful down there. I am guessing Jimmy Carter had his brother Billy in mind when signing the new brew law 😂 I love that guitar too !! Looks like Randy Bachman’s old guitar! I love the story about how it was gone for many years, 45 I believe. 1957 Gretsch guitar finally found - in Tokyo Rare 6120 Chet Atkins model. We need a story and some songs on that guitar!!

[@SteveTRYK]

Lava Beds is too cool! I remember exploring the stronghold there. My car too was once pulled out of the sand at Pyramid decades ago by a kindly native guy! I now know to stay on the roads.

[@1927su]

Happily subscribed!😊

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for subbing!

[@geewillikers5342]

Nice, looking forward to a Roop county war video!

[@geraldwoodruff3494]

Thank you, I live in Cold Springs Northern Nevada is my home

[@SteveTRYK]

Cheers!

[@nickshomehacks]

Your channel is awesome man!

[@SteveTRYK]

I appreciate that!

[@CimarronLeatherStudio]

Much obliged Pard! Grew up in Reno. Pyramind Lake being the one of the Sunday family getaways back in the 50’s / 60’s. But we had to be back home for Bonanza. Never knew about the War there as education establishments didn’t teach that in school.

[@EricUnderwood-v2x]

How was the fishing back then? And what species please....

[@CimarronLeatherStudio]

Lahontan cutthroat trout (the world record cutthroat trout was caught in Pyramid Lake).

[@brucegarrison4999]

Thank you and I enjoy my own homemade Imperial Stout and I didn't know that Jimmy Carter made it possible

[@SteveTRYK]

Cheers!!

[@SpaceCowboy-u7j]

Great lighting! Perfect Rembrandt lighting. 🎞️ 🤓

[@montebradshaw128]

Great video thank you. Nice Gretsch as well...

[@SteveTRYK]

Rock on!

[@2_protects_the_1]

Awesome story

[@David-p9p1z]

I would like to try your home brew , I'll bet its good ! Thankyou for the history.

[@revazquez]

Great video with lots of unknown (to me) history. Thank you!

[@SteveTRYK]

That's what its all about! Cheers!

[@GtNetFishing]

This is great. Thank you (beer sounds tasty too)

[@SteveTRYK]

Cheers!

[@RonaldCoches]

Liked your narrative.and the "Cher Atkins model"Duane Edfy recorded hie hits in Phoenix.I live inTucsom.Been tiz Reno several times

[@SteveTRYK]

Tucson has a great tiki bar!

[@gagss2585]

This is entertaining and a quality informational video.Keep this format going

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks, will do!

[@MikeMarley-r9s]

I remember camping and fishing at Pyramid Lake in the 60s.

[@danaeiremo1379]

Same, born in the 60s and raised in Reno- grew up on Thomas Creek south of town. We spent many days and nights camping out at Pyramid Lake.

[@AGeorge-dc8qs]

Very Good! There is a book about the Williams Station and the 1860 War, its "SAND IN A WHIRLWIND"

[@robertmartinez1582]

Sand in a whirlwind isn’t about Williams station. It’s about Shoshone Mike and camp denio. Similar story but not about Paiutes nor about Williams station.

[@billroberts9182]

Nice video! Thx

[@SteveTRYK]

Glad you liked it!

[@chrisrasku2261]

Thank you.

[@markthomas4083]

I live in Wadsworth, maybe 20 or 25 miles away from this site. The gas station right alongside interstate 80 employees, Native Americans. I am sure these cashiers are probably related direct descendants of the Warriors mentioned in this wonderful film. It is so sad that Pierce could not have dominated the entire distance in a timeline.

[@carolmartin7042]

I finished eighth grade in Coleville, California. Locals talked about a battle with the Paiutes in 1927. I looked on the Internet and found nothing. Do you have any information about this battle? Glen

[@SteveTRYK]

I'm not familiar with that... maybe dive into a newspaper archive.

[@paiutebones]

I also liked in Coleville. Actually Camp Antelope (the Indian camp)

[@jiff80]

A 2 state solution? Sounds a lot like Ti Tirti O Waitangi

[@douglasgault5458]

Been to pyrimid lake many time's. Having lived in Reno for 16yrs. I caught so many large Brown Trout on the lake that were the size of huge King Salmon's up around 15 - 20 lbs. But when fishing pyrimid you had better adhear to all of the tribal rules. They will confincate your equipment including your boat! But some of the best trout fishing the west offers. .

[@SteveTRYK]

I visited the lake twice for this video and made sure to purchase day passes both days!

[@johnrobinson7336]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 Very interesting...Thank you !!!

[@SteveTRYK]

Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!

[@williammcdonagh7454]

Damn shame..never too late to right a wrong we are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth surely there's room to restore the tribes to their ancestral lands side by side thousand year peace

[@SteveTRYK]

Agreed and cheers mate!

[@haroldishoy2113]

Another well crafted episode but this one shows the extra care and research used to make it possible. The images, diagrams, drone footage and on location filming should make this eligible for some kind of award. I am a happy subscriber 😊

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanks for the high praise! Appreciate you - cheers!

[@Dr_Bombay]

Thank you, all hail, and cheers to President Carter!

[@andyokus5735]

The only man I ever voted for. Jimmy doesn't have much time left.

[@EricUnderwood-v2x]

​@@andyokus5735why ?

[@DavidVoight-c1v]

The first few moments of this video was horrendously frustrating, because of how misleading the title can be, because of it misleading to a current event! Please fix it and this whole video will be wickedly ace! I hold an Associates Degree of Fine Arts with Western Nevada College. I would spend my time, east of Carson City, exploring, fishing, and rock hounding down the Carson River Basin, all the way to Fort Churchill. After I got over my losing my temper over the initial first few seconds of the film, this exploded into into a very wickedly ace history video with gorgeous landscapes of Truckee and Carson Basins. I use to hike and mountain bike between Carson City and Virginia City and visit my mustang buddies along the way. I had on several occasions caught really nice sized trout and small mouth Bass that would roughly measure up to eighteen inches. I know how to target the bigger fish! NO BAIT, Only light plastics, small spoons, and crankbaits. I want to return soon for a week or so to fish Pyramid Lake to catch a lohontan cutthroat, just only one that would be enough to pop into my oven. I am a severe history buff largely due to the core history classes that covered Nevada, American, world, and Constitutional history and law. Your effort is very deeply appreciated by me except the first few seconds of me wanting to pull my hair outta my skull 💀 ☠️ 🙃 because I was assuming some sort of issue arose between the Piutes and BLM that had recently occurred. The first few moments, a total misunderstanding of what I thought I was watching for that grew into a glorious historical presentation 😀 😄 👏 . ♤♤♤

[@rarecj8jeep187]

Wigwam in fernley has on display a broken sabre found in the 1960s.

[@SteveTRYK]

I haven't been in there in a minute - will take a look next time! Thanx!

[@steveb486]

Can you please make a video about organized crime in Reno.. Thanks and I love watching

[@anabqueen6695]

👏👏👏

[@Nic-hp5zv]

Holy cow man I love your shirt at the end... Are we not men? WE ARE DEVO!

[@SteveTRYK]

I am a not-so-closeted Devo fan!

[@atomicdmt8763]

solid video

[@SteveTRYK]

Thanx!

[@TheLizziebk]

I just joined. I’m from Reno ❤

[@SteveTRYK]

Welcome in! Cheers!

[@kenthresh3350]

I know it is in California, but I would be interested Fort Bidwell's history.

[@drockmitchell]

And today we celebrate the ability to distill at home legally. Cheers

[@jtsrecordroom3963]

My grandfather came to Hazen and then Sparks in 1911. I wont call myself a native , because.. We ( Euro settlers ), are not ! I've always been interested in the brutal and selfish history of the west. I know of this bit of history, but.. You are really nailing it ! Thank you for this.

[@SteveTRYK]

I appreciate your viewership! Cheers!

[@stephenhipp7859]

Really? Us settlers? You people act like the Indians just popped up out of the ground and laid claim to a land non existence of other people's

[@kenthresh3350]

I used to ask my mom to stop when we drove by Pyramid Lake so I could wade way out.

[@jamesellis2784]

Reno got trees , forest, , should put a dividing line there ,north south,

[@mtbalpinecounty]

💪

[@SteveTRYK]

Rock on!

[@dsimas1967]

Have you considered using Patreon? ❤

[@SteveTRYK]

I have heard about it - it's on my list! Thanks!

[@bonjovi2757]

Yep. History can be cruel sometimes.

[@steverudder3321]

🤔 I wonder how different history might have been if the Williams Brothers hadn't done what they did to those 2 Indian girls? Kinda reminds me of the movie "The Outlaw Josie Wales."

[@waynelayton8568]

They developed languages! Wow. That's unbelievable.

[@AnneHunich]

Wow!! Invaders commit atrocities against Indians and Indian gets killed. So sad. No justice whatsoever.

[@user-mx9tu9xd1b]

Only been happening since the world began

[@robertmartinez1582]

Sean, one thing about this whole story that seems repeatedly dismissed once the story begins is those girls. Those grown men were doing god knows what to those poor girls for quite awhile, had those been white girls under the barn floor boards, this story would begin and end much different. In my opinion, the Indians were well within their right to seek revenge, especially the father of those girls. Had they been white, all men there would’ve been tried and hung. Also, Sand in a Whirlwind had almost nothing to do with this particular war or story. I don’t think I’d call this much of a war but more of a witch hunt. Sand in a Whirlwind was the story, or similar beginnings. A Shoshone named Mike whom had his daughter kidnapped by basque sheepherders, he found them after his ranch was stolen from his family by the Mormon Church. His daughters were brutalized at Camp Denio Nevada for months, until he found the camp with his daughters bound, tied and beaten inside. The basque men were out herding sheep. He waited for them, once they arrived back, he killed every one of them, a better suiting execution I cannot think of. Anyhow, Shoshone Mike was but another victim of the westward expansion and Manifest Destiny movements, as the militia that had gathered during the Paiute “wars” was hungry for “Indian blood” they caught up with Mike in Little High Rock Canyon, they brutally killed him, his wife and all of his children. The militia couldn’t dig a grave, so they blasted a hole in the ground and threw them all into it. The nature of killing his children with him, in my opinion, proves which side was savage. Shoshone Mike had lived in harmony and peace on his ranch for well over thirty years, selling wood and trading rabbit, dear meat and fish to the white locals, they all admired him and were very close with him, that is until the Utah Mormon regime decided an Indian couldn’t own land. In all the books written of those times, it really irritates me that the reasons behind the Indians anger is never expressed, but once a white man is killed, the entire story shifts to “Indian savagery” or “Indian brutality” Those girls were kidnapped, starved, beaten, rapes repeatedly, then stuffed underneath the floor for safe keeping. Dogs retreated better than they were, yet their relatives were wrong for seeking revenge?

[@RonaldCoches]

Looks like a gretch guitar on your left.

[@SteveTRYK]

That it is! The twang's the thang.

[@giftedplanksify]

We even have stolen their drum circles aye yihyia ya 🎉🎉

[@dragon90815]

Good thing they didn't call it an insurrection

[@noel3422]

So sad to hear, in the beginning of this topic, "the land looked much like it does today" so wrong, the land and water are thrown so out of balance from ag as everything in most of the land thousands of miles around everywhere you can look today, just so sad, nothing is even close to what it was.

[@alonzowitt5931]

Sad, people in general are greedy, no matter what race or what side of the planet you come from. Greed has caused more war and death then anything else..... It's still going on today!

[@tarrahhern9975]

Not all true ,,,facts of the event are wrong

[@Skidderoperator]

Govt atrocities are hidden.

[@frogmantoad8110]

The peaceful Indians never had any conflicts amongst themselves? Nonsense

[@brandondrye7477]

That's like comparing an argument I have with my wife and me shooting somebody that breaks in my home. They're both conflicts, yes, just very different in nature.

[@Jukeboxxxz]

Europeans are a trip

[@sparkkie804]

Hawhite!! lol

[@MFRtherapy]

Who's for demolishing the ruins of our shitebag military? No reason to leave that out in the desert. I'm sure the natives would appreciate the gesture

[@lloydparish4127]

bad audio

[@darinjacobs6799]

As much as I can say I am a proud American citizen, I truly feel bad for the natives that lived here before Europeans came and screwed him over.

[@darinjacobs6799]

Them not him

[@mray8519]

Circa 2024: SETTLERS ARE NOW CALLED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

[@darinjacobs6799]

Them not him

[@hughgallagher807]

Invaders not settlers

[@dapetersen]

Conquerors, not invaders. So yes… settlers.

[@JohnnyDanger36963]

Indians wiped out those before them.try their 3 day torture parties. whites never did that.

[@EvitaNY-re2sv]

​@@dapetersenSHUT UP

[@ONEBALLINMYBUTT]

Big balled men

[@JPVillalobos27]

@@dapetersenRifles, Gatling guns, horses and cannons vs bows and arrows… big conquerors.

[@VagaBumAdventures]

The Paiutes also suffered slave raids. They were enslaved by the Navajo and the Ute tribes.

[@SteveTRYK]

Native American history is complicated for sure.