The war was preceded by a series of increasingly violent incidents, culminating in two pitched battles in which 79 Whites and 25 Indigenous people were killed.

The Shoshone and Paiute had subsisted on the sparse resources of the desert by hunting deer and rabbit and eating grasshoppers, rodents, seeds, nuts, berries, and roots.

Native Americans partly adapted to the change by trading finely woven baskets, deer, and rabbit skins for food and goods.

Cattlemen told William Weatherlow, a local militia captain, that Numaga and the Native Americans were extorting two cattle a week from them.

In 1857, Major William Ormsby (who later died in the First Battle of Pyramid Lake) and a man known as "Smith" were agents for the overland stagecoach.

On October 5, 1857, Ormsby sent an express letter for ammunition to be ready for an emergency, foreseeing conflict with the Washoe people due to murders and robberies.

Thereafter, Paiutes under Numaga fought alongside Whites against raiding parties of Pit River Natives from across the Sierra Nevada.

[citation needed] The Carson City newspaper Territorial Enterprise reported in December 1859 that Whites were doing all they could to alleviate the starving Natives, offering them bread and provisions.

Territorial Governor Isaac Roop sent Captain William Weatherlow to ascertain whether Paiute or Pit River Indians were responsible.

The governor directed Weatherlow and Thomas Harvey to meet Numaga at Pyramid Lake and ask him about the murders and to honor the treaty and turn over the killers.

Weatherlow pressed the chief to follow the treaty, and Numaga finally stated he would not intervene if his people committed depredations against settlers, would refuse to come back to the city to resolve anything peacefully, and, aware of the recent silver discoveries, demanded $16,000 for the grazing land.

However, on February 12, 1860, Governor Roop wrote to Brevet Brigadier General Newman S. Clarke, commander of the Department of the Pacific, stating that the Honey Lake Valley was in danger of Paiute attack.

On May 6, a raiding party led by mixed-race Bannock warrior Mogoannoga attacked the station, killing five Americans and burning down the establishment.

When a Paiute party found the settlers at Williams Station, they claimed the boy only heard the dog yelp and not any missing children.

The Carson City Rangers arrived first at the ruins of Williams Station, stopping to rest and wait for the other volunteer groups.

That night, Judge John Cradlebaugh of the Carson City Rangers told his men that he did not come to wage a war to defend white civilization, but rather to protect threatened communities.

On May 12, the Whites were attacked and routed by Paiute forces under the command of Chief Numaga, approximately five miles south of Pyramid Lake.

Natives interviewed in 1880 for historian Angel Myron's History of Nevada reported that the Whites panicked when the assault began and threw down their guns, surrendering, but instead were killed.

[14][8]: 70 In response to the First Battle of Pyramid Lake, settlers called upon Texas Ranger Colonel John C. Hays, who organized a militia of local volunteers dubbed the "Washoe Regiment".

[3] In addition to the volunteers under Hays, the US Army responded by sending a detachment of artillery and infantry from Fort Alcatraz, California.

Small skirmishes and raids continued until August, when an informal cease-fire between Numaga and white surveyors working in the area north of Pyramid Lake was achieved during a meeting at Deep Hole, Nevada.

A few riders distinguished themselves during this time, especially Robert "Pony Bob" Haslam, who accomplished (out of necessity) a 380-mile round trip (610 km) between Lake Tahoe (Friday's Station) and Fort Churchill and back with only nine hours of rest around May 10 of 1860.