Battle of Bishop Creek

In 1861, cattle were being driven over the Sierra Nevada Mountains to feed the mining boom town of Aurora.

The consequences of the disastrous winter caused by the Great Flood of 1862 and the encroachment of the cattle on the food supply of the Owens Valley Paiute led to the threat of starvation for them.

Threatened settlers concentrated their herds 30 miles (48 km) north of Owens Lake at the meadows on Oak Creek.

Following the arrival of these militia forces, they were combined with the local settlers under Colonel William Mayfield, as senior officer.

On April 6, 1862, Mayfield and his militia encountered and engaged the Paiute in the Battle of Bishop Creek, where his force attacked but was driven back and were pinned down and had to hold out in a ditch until nightfall.