Trails to
the Past of Nevada is accepting any donations of
genealogy materials that you may have such as marriage
announcements, news articles, old obituaries, births,
(you do not need the birth certificate) just the
information, and biographies. If you have any of
these items please contact me Marie Miller the Nevada State
Administrator.
Lyon County was
one of the nine original counties created on November
25, 1861. It was named after Nathaniel Lyon, the
first Union General to be killed in the Civil War.
Its first county seat was established at Dayton on
November 29, 1861, which had just changed its name
from Nevada City in 1862, and which had been called
Chinatown before that. After the Dayton Court House
burned down in 1909, the seat was moved to Yerington in
1911. There were stories that it was named for Captain
Robert Lyon, a survivor of the Pyramid Lake War in 1860,
but Nevada State Archives staff discovered a county seal
with the picture of the Civil War general, settling the
conflict.
In 1860 a band of Paiutes and
Bannocks attacked Williams Station along the Carson
River in retaliation for the kidnap and rape of two
young Paiute girls by the proprietors of the station. In
retaliation a small group of volunteer soldiers and
vigilantes led by Maj. William Ormsby attacked the
Native Americans, starting the so-called Pyramid Lake
War. Ormsby's force was defeated and in response Colonel
John C. Hays and Captain Joseph Stewart led a larger
force of volunteers and U.S. Regulars to defeat the
Natives at the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake. Captain
Stewart, leading the Regular contingent, afterward
established a permanent U.S. Army fort along the Carson
River near the location of where the hostilities began
at Williams Station. The post was named Fort Churchill
for Sylvester Churchill, Inspector General of the U.S.
Army. Construction on the fort began on July 20, 1860
and was completed in 1861. Built to provide protection
for early settlers and the mail route along the Pony
Express, the fort became an important supply depot for
the Union Army during the American Civil War. Average
strength during this time was 200 soldiers, but the post
was abandoned in 1869 shortly after the conclusion of
the Civil War. The abandoned buildings were sold at an
auction for $750 after the state of Nevada declined to
take possession of the property.
On Line
Data
Cities Fernley Yerington (county
seat) Census-designated
places Dayton Silver City Silver
Springs Smith Valley Stagecoach Other
unincorporated
places Argo Artesia Bucklands
Station Cambridge Churchhill Como Davis
Station Greenville Hoye Hudson Johntown Ludwig Lux Marshland Mason Mound
House Nordyke Palmyra Pine
Grove Ramsey Rapids
City Rockland Simpson Stone
Cabin Sutro Sweetwater Thompson Tippecanoe Twin
Flat Walker
River Weeks Wellington Willington
Springs Wichman
In 1860 a band of Paiutes and
Bannocks attacked Williams Station along the Carson
River in retaliation for the kidnap and rape of two
young Paiute girls by the proprietors of the station. In
retaliation a small group of volunteer soldiers and
vigilantes led by Maj. William Ormsby attacked the
Native Americans, starting the so-called Pyramid Lake
War. Ormsby's force was defeated and in response Colonel
John C. Hays and Captain Joseph Stewart led a larger
force of volunteers and U.S. Regulars to defeat the
Natives at the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake. Captain
Stewart, leading the Regular contingent, afterward
established a permanent U.S. Army fort along the Carson
River near the location of where the hostilities began
at Williams Station. The post was named Fort Churchill
for Sylvester Churchill, Inspector General of the U.S.
Army. Construction on the fort began on July 20, 1860
and was completed in 1861. Built to provide protection
for early settlers and the mail route along the Pony
Express, the fort became an important supply depot for
the Union Army during the American Civil War. Average
strength during this time was 200 soldiers, but the post
was abandoned in 1869 shortly after the conclusion of
the Civil War. The abandoned buildings were sold at an
auction for $750 after the state of Nevada declined to
take possession of the property. 
