LAKE TAHOE-"Paiute War 1860" (coming Event)

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Col. John Coffee "Jack" Hays (January 28, 1817 – April 21, 1883) was a captain in the Texas Rangers and a military officer of the Republic of Texas. Hays served in several armed conflicts from 1836–1848, including against the Comanche

people in Texas and during the Mexican-American War.




Biography

Jack Hays was born at Little Cedar Lick, Wilson County, Tennessee. Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson, was his great aunt. He spent much time with the Jacksons at the Hermitage while he was growing up, prior to the Jackson

presidency. His father Harmon Hays named his son for long-time family friend and Jackson protégé Colonel John Coffee.[1] Jack's brother was Confederate General Harry T. Hays of New Orleans. His sister, Sallie Hays Hammond, was the mother

of John Hays Hammond.[2]

In 1836, at the age of 19, Hays migrated to the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston appointed him as a member of a company of Texas Rangers because he knew the Hays family from Tennessee. Jack met with Sam Houston and delivered a letter of

recommendation from his uncle Andrew Jackson.

In the following years, Hays led the Rangers on a campaign against the Comanche and other tribes in Texas, and succeeded in weakening their power. In 1840 Tonkawa Chief Placido and 13 scouts joined with the Rangers to track down a large

Comanche war party,[3] culminating at the Battle of Plum Creek.[4] Later, Hays commanded the force against the invasion from Mexico of 1842. During the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), Hays commanded the First Regiment of Texas Rangers

at the Battle of Monterrey, established six companies along the northern and western frontier of Texas, and commanded the Second Regiment of Texas Rangers in Winfield Scott's Mexico City campaign.[5] The Rangers excelled during this

conflict, gaining nationwide fame.
Marriage and family

On April 29, 1847, in the Magnolia Hotel, Hays married Susan Calvert, a descendant of George Calvert, First Baron Baltimore, in Seguin, Texas, where he had his home.[6][7]

The Comanche had great admiration for Hays. Upon news of the birth of Hays' first son in California, Chief Buffalo Hump sent the Hays family a gift, a golden spoon engraved "Buffalo Hump Jr."

When John Hays Jr. married Anna McMullin in San Francisco, two Texas Ranger legacies were combined. Her father, Captain John McMullin, was one of Jack Hays' closest friends; he had followed him to California. In 1850 McMullin was elected

the first Sheriff of Sacramento.

Post-war years
Texas Rangers Captain John Coffee Hays.jpg

In 1849 Hays was appointed by the United States government as the US Indian agent for the Gila River country in New Mexico and Arizona.

The next year the Hayses joined the migration to California. Hays was elected sheriff of San Francisco County in 1850, and later became active in politics. In 1853, he was appointed US surveyor general for California.[8][9]

Hays was one of the founders of the city of Oakland. In the following years, he amassed a considerable fortune through real estate and ranching enterprises. In 1860, while in Virginia City, Nevada, on business, he heard the news of the

First Battle of Pyramid Lake. He commanded a force of volunteer soldiers at the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake.

During the Civil War, Hayes retired from military involvement.

In 1876, Hays was elected as a delegate to the Democratic Party national convention, which nominated Samuel J. Tilden for the presidency of the United States.

Jack Hays died in California on April 21, 1883, and was interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland



Second Battle of Pyramid Lake
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The Second Battle of Pyramid Lake (a.k.a. Battle of Truckee River) took place in response to the U.S. defeat at the First Battle of Pyramid Lake. A well-organized force of militia and regulars, under the capable leadership of famed Texas

Ranger Col. John C. “Jack” Hays, defeated the Paiute warriors under Chief Numaga. This was the final engagement of the Pyramid Lake War of 1860.

Background
For more details on this topic, see Pyramid Lake War.

On May 6, 1860 a band of Paiutes raided Williams Station along the Carson River, near present-day Silver Springs, Nevada, killing three white settlers at the station. In response to this Maj. William Ormsby led a group of vigilantes from

Carson City and Virginia City against the Paiutes near Pyramid Lake. The vigilante force was ingloriously defeated and Ormsby killed. This defeat prompted local settlers to send a call for help to nearby California.[5]
Prelude

Colonel John C. Hays responded to the call and traveled to Carson City to organize a regiment of 500 volunteers which he dubbed the “Washoe Regiment”. Another 165 volunteers came from the nearby California communities of Placerville,

Sacramento and Nevada City. Hays then marched his regiment to Virginia City.[5]

The U.S. Army also responded to the call. Captain Joseph Stewart left Fort Alcatraz with 144 Regulars from the 3rd U.S. Artillery and 6th U.S. Infantry regiments. Stewart arrived in Carson City to await further developments.[4] In the

meantime, Hays had marched out of Virginia City to Williams Station where he skirmished with 150 Paiutes before the warriors pulled back to Pyramid Lake.

The Paiutes returned to their village at Pyramid Lake near the mouth of the Truckee River. They sent their women and children into the Black Rock Desert as a protective measure.
Battle
Col "Jack" Hays led the volunteer forces

Colonel Hays retraced Ormsby’s path along the Truckee River and encamped near present-day Wadsworth. There, Captain Stewart joined the volunteers with Colonel Hays in overall command.

On June 2 the battle began[6] when Hays sent out an advance party of two companies while the main force moved 8 miles downriver from their camp much more cautiously than Ormsby had before. The advance party, moving toward the Paiute

village, encountered the remains of Ormsby’s command on the field of the previous battle which remained unburied.[3] The Natives then made a rapid advance upon the soldiers in the shape of a wedge. The advance party made a hasty

withdrawal.

Colonel Hays selected an ideal location to make a stand. It was a narrow canyon, about a mile wide, anchored to the west by steep mountains of the Virginia Range. To the east ran the Truckee River. Both geographical features prevented

any flanking maneuver by the Natives. A rocky butte lay in the center of the field. To the west of this butte, rain had cut lateral gullies into the sandy ground providing natural breastworks which either side could have used to make

successive stands in the case he was forced to retreat.[3]
Numaga was the Paiute high chief

The Paiute charge had taken possession of the butte and now extended their own line from the river well into the rocks of the mountains to the west. The Paiutes had advanced so quickly that all geographical features advantageous to the

fight were now in their hands. The soldiers were forced to deploy on level ground to the south. Captain Stewart deployed his Regulars in a skirmish line to the west of the butte along the base of the mountains while the volunteers formed

to the east along the river.

Captain Edward Farris Storey and Captain J. B. Van Hagan, commanding two companies of volunteers from Virginia City and California respectively, decided to make a charge against the butte even before Hays got the entire main force in

place. Storey and Van Hagan succeeded in seizing the butte and for a short time were subjected to flanking fire as the Natives began to surround them from the river bank and mountain slopes. This forward position was relieved as Hays

advanced the main body forward. Stewart drove the warriors from the mountain slopes while Hays and the volunteers steadily advanced along the river. Eventually the two sides maintained a continuous line of battle opposing each other

roughly a mile long.[3]

The battle continued for some time with neither side gaining a clear advantage. After fighting for nearly three hours the Paiutes finally retreated up the canyon toward the lake.[4]

On June 4, Captain Stewart took up pursuit of the Natives coming upon the abandoned village at the mouth of the Truckee River. Colonel Hays followed Stewart northward in pursuit. On June 5 Hays sent a group of scouts through a canyon

northeast of Pyramid Lake. These scouts were ambushed and Private William Allen was killed. He was to be the last casualty of the war.
Aftermath
Fort Churchill was built in the aftermath of the battle

Shortly after Allen’s death, Colonel Hays returned with the Washoe Regiment to Carson City where he disbanded the regiment. Major Ormsby’s body was temporarily interred where it lay near Pyramid Lake, but was later moved to a cemetery in

Carson City. Captain Storey, who was mortally wounded in the battle, was buried in Virginia City. Both Ormsby and Storey would have Nevada counties named after them.[7]

Captain Stewart stayed in the Pyramid Lake area for a few more weeks but the Paiutes never returned.[4] His soldiers eventually built several earthen forts around the lake. Stewart abandoned these forts in favor of a larger fort along

the Carson River. Stewart began construction in 1861 and named the post Fort Churchill.

RIFLES 1860
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ukiFcTNS3Q