The incident that made the lake better known was a conflict in 1854 between settlers and the Indians living in the Sevier Valley near Salina. John W. Gunnison was leading a U.S. government survey party west to find a possible "central route" to California. Gunnison's arrival coincided with a local incident in which four Indians were killed. Gunnison pursued his survey work and a few days later camped near the mouth of the Sevier River at the north end of Sevier Lake. Early next morning, the camp was attacked; Gunnison and six of his men were killed by retaliating Indians. Mormon settlers for a time were suspected of complicity because they were hostile to the government and hoped to keep the territory to themselves; but they were later cleared of any complicity in the matter.