Yesterday, I wrote about the military presence in the region during the 1860s. There is a little follow up about how the locals took matters into their own hands so to speak. Those early day Honey Lakers were an independent lot. They had to. Their numbers so small, and far removed from the gold fields, they had no choice but to be resourceful and make do the best they could with their own resources.

Since military assistance was not reliable, Honey Lakers took matters into their own hands. Captain William Weatherlow usually was the one to form a posse when needed during the conflicts of the Indians and settlers. During the Pyramid Lake Indian War of 1860 the residents of Janesville built their own stockade for protection known as Fort Janesville. In 1864, a local militia was formed known as the Honey Lake Rangers which functioned similar to a National Guard Unit.

Tim