The bucolic scenes along Williams Creek today belie valley's bloody past during the Rogue Indian Wars. Several skirmishes occurred between the Indians and prospectors along Williams Creek, which flows north from the Siskyous into the Applegate River. The creek was named for Captain Robert Williams, who led a band of volunteer miners in several forays against the natives. Oregon historian H.H. Bancroft described one incident in which Williams and his men tricked a band of Applegates to surrender and then murdered 18 of them in 1853.