Bishop Creek Battleground

The state's plaque here says the reason for this battle is lost. It is not lost. Cattle driven into the valley from 1861 had eaten the irrigated crops the Nüümü and Newe lived on, and people took beef because their food was gone. On 6 April 1862 a militia of sixty under Colonel Mayfield attacked, was driven back, and spent the rest of the day pinned in an irrigation ditch — Paiute work — until darkness let it retreat. Three of the militia were killed.

What the plaque says

On April 6, 1862, a battle took place around this site between newly arrived citizens of the Owens River Valley and the Paiute and Shoshone Indians, original inhabitants of the land. The reason for this battle is lost in obscurity, but brave men on both sides died here for a cause which they held to be inviolate.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bishop — 5.0 mi
  The Eastern Sierras working capital, and the home of the Nüümü who were traded out of their own valley.
• Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest — 17 mi
  Trees older than the pyramids, growing on white dolomite at ten thousand feet.

More markers nearby

• San Francis Ranch — 2.1 mi
• First Permanent White Habitation in Owens Valley — 8.1 mi
• Laws Narrow Gauge Railroad Station and Yard — 8.5 mi
• Mayfield Canyon Battleground — 11 mi