Williams, Arizona

The City of Williams is named after famed mountain man William "Bill" Sherley Williams. Born on January 3, 1787 on Horse Creek in Rutherford County western North Carolina. Much of his early life was spent in Missouri, where he was a traveling preacher. He became a master fur trapper and became known by the nickname of Old Solitaire or just Old Bill Williams. Bill Williams William Sherley Williams the mountain man mastered several Indian languages and lived with the Osage Indians and then the Ute Indians during his life time.

He also trapped in the Yellowstone country and in Texas and went to California on an expedition in 1833–34. After that he spent much time in the mountain country and along the Santa Fe Trail. In 1848, Williams, who was one of the most colorful of the mountain men, joined John C. Frémont's fourth expedition at Bent's Fort as a guide. Frémont, disregarding the advice of Williams, led the group toward the headwaters of the Rio Grande, where most of the party perished of cold and starvation. Frémont retreated, blaming the episode on the guide. Williams was killed by the Ute while retracing the path of the expedition.