William S. Williams
Encyclopedia
William S. Williams was a noted mountain man
and frontiersman.
.
and trail guide, fluent in several Indian languages, who lived with the Osage
Indians and then the Ute
Indians. He served as a sergeant and scout with the Mississippi Mounted Rangers during the War of 1812 and encountered local tribes, learning their languages and customs. His ability to communicate in the different languages made him valuable to the government and military for tribal negotiations. After military service Williams became a Protestant tribal preacher. He gradually adopted native spiritual beliefs, and then started a family, assimilating into life as a fur trapper and never returning to European-American life. Williams was named "Lone Elk" by numerous Native American tribes.
of the time. He was an respected figure among the mountain men and worked with many including Uncle Dick Wooton
, Joe Walker, Alexis Godey, George Nidever
, Zenas Leonard, Antoine Leroux
, Lucien Maxwell
, Dick Owens, Kit Carson
, and infamously with John C. Frémont
on his fourth expedition. As an Indian fighter he had noted encounters with Blackfeet
, Apache
, Comanche
, and Modoc Indians.
, Arizona, and the Colorado and Little Colorado River regions. Williams was with Joe Walker's historic exploration of Yosemite Valley.
after other mountain men had rejected Frémont's proposition. Once the team entered the mountains Williams changed his mind due to the heavy early snowfall, warning to not continue and insisting on a southern route. Frémont continued, and the expedition was defeated within the first mountain range with ten expedition members dying of starvation and exposure.
River: Bill Williams River
Mountain: Bill Williams Mountain
Mountain man
Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...
and frontiersman.
Birth
William Sherley Williams, known as Old Bill Williams, was born January 3, 1787 in Horse Creek North CarolinaAshe County, North Carolina
- History :Historical evidence shows that Ashe county was inhabited by Native Americans, which included the Cherokee, Creek, and Shawnee tribes. Pieces of broken pottery, arrowheads, and other Native American artifacts have been found, indicating their presence...
.
Early life
Williams was a master fur trapperFur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
and trail guide, fluent in several Indian languages, who lived with the Osage
Osage Nation
The Osage Nation is a Native American Siouan-language tribe in the United States that originated in the Ohio River valley in present-day Kentucky. After years of war with invading Iroquois, the Osage migrated west of the Mississippi River to their historic lands in present-day Arkansas, Missouri,...
Indians and then the Ute
Ute Tribe
The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...
Indians. He served as a sergeant and scout with the Mississippi Mounted Rangers during the War of 1812 and encountered local tribes, learning their languages and customs. His ability to communicate in the different languages made him valuable to the government and military for tribal negotiations. After military service Williams became a Protestant tribal preacher. He gradually adopted native spiritual beliefs, and then started a family, assimilating into life as a fur trapper and never returning to European-American life. Williams was named "Lone Elk" by numerous Native American tribes.
Career
Williams explored, trapped, and later guided travelers through the far western frontierAmerican Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
of the time. He was an respected figure among the mountain men and worked with many including Uncle Dick Wooton
Richens Lacey Wootton
Richens Lacy Wootton , often referred to as "Uncle Dick" Wooton, was an American frontiersman born in Virginia, but lived most of his life in Colorado....
, Joe Walker, Alexis Godey, George Nidever
George Nidever
George Nidever was an American mountain man, explorer, fur trapper, memoirist and sailor. In the 1830s he became one of the first wave of American settlers to move to Mexican California, where he made his living in fur trapping...
, Zenas Leonard, Antoine Leroux
Antoine Leroux
Joaquin Antoine Leroux, aka Watkins Leroux,was a celebrated 19th century mountain man and trail guide based in New Mexico. Leroux was a member of the convention that organized New Mexico Territory.-Biography:...
, Lucien Maxwell
Lucien Maxwell
Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell was a rancher and entrepreneur who at one point owned more than . Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in United States history....
, Dick Owens, Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
, and infamously with John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
on his fourth expedition. As an Indian fighter he had noted encounters with Blackfeet
Blackfeet
The Piegan Blackfeet are a tribe of Native Americans of the Algonquian language family based in Montana, having lived in this area since around 6,500 BC. Many members of the tribe live as part of the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana, with population centered in Browning...
, Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
, Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, and Modoc Indians.
Travels and Exploration
His travels included Texas, California, the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, the Santa Fe TrailSanta Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
, Arizona, and the Colorado and Little Colorado River regions. Williams was with Joe Walker's historic exploration of Yosemite Valley.
Frémont's Fourth Expedition Controversy
In November 1848 Frémont sought Williams to lead a transcontinental railroad survey into Sangre de Cristo rangeSangre de Cristo Mountains
The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are the southernmost subrange of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States...
after other mountain men had rejected Frémont's proposition. Once the team entered the mountains Williams changed his mind due to the heavy early snowfall, warning to not continue and insisting on a southern route. Frémont continued, and the expedition was defeated within the first mountain range with ten expedition members dying of starvation and exposure.
Death
Williams died shortly afterwards at age 62 in March 1849 when ambushed and killed by Ute warriors. He was returning to Taos from helping to retrace the expedition trail.Related Geography
Town: Williams, ArizonaWilliams, Arizona
Williams is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States west of Flagstaff. Its population was 2,842 at the 2000 census; according to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 3,094. It lies on the route of Historic Route 66, Interstate 40, and the Southwest Chief Amtrak...
River: Bill Williams River
Bill Williams River
The Bill Williams River is a river in western-central Arizona in Mohave County; the river proper is the northern border of La Paz County which it drains in the north, as well as areas of far western Yavapai County...
Mountain: Bill Williams Mountain