William Sherley Williams

The mountain south of town wears his name, and so does the town. William Sherley Williams — Old Bill — was a Missouri trapper, onetime circuit preacher, and wilderness guide who ranged this high pine country in the fur-trade years, fluent in Ute and Osage and half-legend in his own lifetime. He was killed in 1849 in the Colorado mountains while guiding the wreck of Frémont's fourth expedition. He never lived to see the railroad town of 1881 take his name. The bronze on the corner keeps him roughly where he would want to be.

What the plaque says

William Sherley Williams. Sculpture by B.R. Pettit. "Old Bill" was born January 3, 1787 in North Carolina. He died March 24, 1849. In that 62 year life span he did a heap of living, most of it in the wilderness. In the late 1700's and early 1800's the mountain men were trappers. In the quest of fine furs, these master trappers shoved ever westward in the raw, new frontier, braving untamed Indians, Grizzlies and worse - the cold relentless winters in the vast unexplored mountain wilderness. Their's was a lonely existence beset by many hazards. Fortunate were those who were able to live through a trapping season and get to rendezvous in the spring. After the fur market dwindled these frontiersmen became the trail- blazers of the west.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Williams — 0.5 mi
  The last town on Route 66 to lose its traffic to the interstate — a rail gateway to the Grand Canyon since 1901, bypassed only in 1984 after a court fight, and revived twice over.
• Oak Creek Canyon — 32 mi
  The switchback drive from red rock to ponderosa on State Route 89A

More markers nearby

• The "World Famous" Sultana — 0.3 mi
• Last Town Bypassed by I-40 — 0.4 mi
• Santa Fe Railway Freight Depot — 0.4 mi
• Grand Canyon Hotel — 0.4 mi