William Ormsby
| William Ormsby | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1814 Greenville, PA |
| Died | May 12, 1860 Pyramid Lake, NV |
| Military career | |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | First Battle of Pyramid Lake |
William Matthew Ormsby (1814 – May 12, 1860) 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 vigilante force against Paiute Indians in what was called the Pyramid Lake War.
William Ormsby was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania in 1814. His title of "Major" may reflect service in the state militia.
With thousands of other men, Ormsby moved to California in 1849 during the California Gold Rush. His efforts at gold mining and horse sales in the West were mostly unsuccessful. He joined William Walker's filibustering expedition to Nicaragua and returned to California afterward.
Undeterred by his earlier struggles, Ormsby moved to Genoa, Utah Territory (later Nevada) in 1857 as an agent for the Pioneer Stage Line. Ormsby and other supporters of the stage line favored western Utah Territory as the focal point of their overland stage route. Ormsby presided over a meeting in Genoa which selected Judge James Crane to go to Washington, D.C. in an effort to create a new territory, which they thought should be named "Sierra Nevada". Abraham Curry also shared the vision of a new territory and foresaw that Carson City in Eagle Valley would become the new territory's capital. Curry left a large tract of land in the center of the valley open for the possibility of a capitol building.
Major Ormsby moved to Carson City and bought land to the southwest of Curry's proposed capitol site, where he constructed a hotel called the Ormsby House. His group did not succeed in 1859 in getting the federal government to designate a new territory. But, the discovery of the near Virginia City brought them new hope. Ormsby opened his hotel in 1860, in the wake of the Comstock Lode, as more settlers and prospectors rushed to the area. He also bought McMacklin's store and was appointed as a judge in a murder trial, indicating his stature in the town.
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