10 Facts About William Ormsby

William Matthew Ormsby was an early settler of Nevada who was instrumental in the establishment of Carson City and the Nevada Territory.

Major Ormsby was killed leading a Militia force against Paiute Indians in what was called the Pyramid Lake War.

William Ormsby joined William Walker's filibustering expedition to Nicaragua and returned to California afterward.

William Ormsby presided over a meeting in Genoa which selected Judge James Crane to go to Washington, DC, in an effort to create a new territory, which they thought should be named "Sierra Nevada".

Major William Ormsby moved to Carson City and bought land to the southwest of Curry's proposed capitol site, where he constructed a hotel called the William Ormsby House.

William Ormsby's group did not succeed in 1859 in getting the federal government to designate a new territory.

William Ormsby opened his hotel in 1860, in the wake of the Comstock Lode, as more settlers and prospectors rushed to the area.

William Ormsby bought McMacklin's store and was appointed as a judge in a murder trial, indicating his stature in the town.

William Ormsby had become friendly with Tru-ki-zo or Truckee, a Paiute elder or chief.

William Ormsby arranged to educate Truckee's two granddaughters, 13-year-old Sarah Winnemucca and her younger sister Elma, who came to live in the William Ormsby household.