On August 26, 1998, the Pyramid Lake Museum, which is located outside of the largest desert lake in the world, first opened to the public after the construction of a new pyramid shaped building in Nixon, Nevada. The area of Nixon, Nevada was named after former Nevada state senator George Stuart Nixon, who owned the Nixon Mansion.
The Pyramid Lake Museum was established within the boundaries of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation and gives an extensive history of the Northern Paiute People.
The museum exhibits a Northern Paiute Native American story about how the natives believed that the Pyramid Lake formed.
The museum has multitude of photographs of the diverse geography of the lake itself. Interestingly, once every seven years an algae bloom causes the water in Pyramid Lake to turn into a dark turquoise.
The Pyramid Lake War, also known as the Paiute War, the Washoe Indian War and the Pah Ute War, forced the Paiute Natives into reservations, located in Pyramid Lake, the state of Oregon and the Washington Territory, after they lost the Second Battle of Pyramid Lake.
During the journey to reservations within the state of Oregon and the Washington Territory, hundreds of Northen Paiute Indians died, from the harsh winter conditions that they faced.
In addition, the museum has an exhibit on the Ranch Rock festivals that occurred on Pyramid Lake in the 1980s and Burning Man, after it moved from Baker Beach, California to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada.
Hamilton Historical Records 