"Old Bill" Williams | |
|---|---|
 Old Bill Williams byAlfred Jacob Miller | |
| Born | (1787-01-03)January 3, 1787 |
| Died | March 14, 1849(1849-03-14) (aged 62) |
| Cause of death | Murdered byUte warriors |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Mountain man, trapper, guide, interpreter |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | John Allen Mathews (son-in-law)[a] |
William Sherley "Old Bill" Williams (January 3, 1787 – March 14, 1849) was a notedmountain man andfrontiersman, known asLone Elk to the Native Americans. Fluent in several languages, Williams served as an interpreter for the government and led several expeditions to the West. He married into theOsage Nation, having two children who both marriedJohn Allen Mathews.
Williams was born on January 3, 1787, on Horse Creek, a branch of thePacolet River, under Skyuka Mountain inPolk County, North Carolina, into aWelsh family. He was the fourth of nine children born to Joseph Williams and Sarah Musick. Sarah's family was from Virginia. Joseph was from North Carolina and served seven years in theContinental Army, receiving a 274-acre land grant on Horse Creek in North Carolina as pay.[1] In 1794 the family sold the land and moved west toSt. Louis, then part ofSpanish Louisiana.[2] He learned reading, writing, and math from his parents, and received at least one year of formal schooling.[3] As a child, he liked to explore and learned to trap animals for their furs, and found he had a gift for languages.[4] At seventeen he left home to be a travellingBaptist preacher and after seven years switched tofur trapping.[1]
Williams was a masterfur trapper and trail guide, becoming fluent in several Native American languages among the tribes he knew the best.[1] His ability to communicate in the different languages made him valuable to the government and tribes for negotiations.[5]
During the 1810s and 1820s, he lived with theOsage Indians in Missouri. While residing with the Osage people he became fluent in their language, created anOsage language dictionary, and helped translate theBible into Osage.[6] He also worked for the United States as an Indian agent starting around 1813.[7] In 1821, he assisted in negotiations between the Cherokee and Osage to end a war that had broken out.[8] He was called "Red-Headed Shooter" by the Osage and left after the death of his wife in 1825.[6]
Williams married A-Ci'n-Ga, a full-bloodOsage woman whose name translates to "Wind Blossom",[b] circa 1813. A-Ci'n-Ga was a member of the Big Hill band and the Buffalo clan. He courted her in the traditional Osage fashion, gifting her parentshorses and asking their consent for the marriage. They had two children: Mary Ann Williams, born in 1814; and Sarah Williams, born in 1816. After A-Ci'n-Ga's death between 1819 and 1825, he sent his two daughters toboarding school inKentucky where they metJohn Allen Mathews.[6] Mary Ann married Mathews in the mid-1830s and after her death in 1843, Mathews married her sister Sara.[9] Williams great-grandson through Sara isJohn Joseph Mathews.[6]
In 1824 he was issued a license to trade with theKickapoo tribe.[10] From 1825 to 1826 he served as part of a survey of theSanta Fe Trail.[1] He was hired by the survey's CommissionersGeorge C. Sibley,Benjamin Harrison Reeves, andPierre Menard, alongsideJoseph R. Walker andJoseph C. Brown, to be part of a survey of the trail. They followed a route fromFort Osage toSanta Fe.[11] During the expedition he was an interpreter for a treaty with the Osage signed on August 10, 1825;[12] he also witnessed a treaty with theKaw people on August 16, 1825.[13]
Biographer Alpheus Hoyt Favour notes that it is hard to distinguish myth from fact between the years of 1825 and 1841 in Williams life.[14] He definitely traveled theSouthwestern United States and may have married a Spanish woman and had a child, but Favour notes there is scant evidence. Similar stories exist about him marrying aUte woman and being adopted by the tribe, but Favour is skeptical due to the lack of evidence; however, Williams was definitely fond of and close with someUte people.[15] In the fall of 1832,Albert Pike created a pen sketch of Williams while the two were traveling together.[16]
In 1833-1834, he accompaniedJoseph R. Walker on his expedition toCalifornia.[1] Other members of the expedition includedBenjamin Bonneville,Joseph Meek,Alexis Godey,Antoine Janis,William Craig,George Nidever, andZenas Leonard.[17] Historian Michael Snyder noted that during this expedition he showed "utter disregard" for the lives of Indians.[18]
In the fall of 1840, he went trapping withKit Carson and other trappers near theGreen River.[19] He spent 1841 and 1843 on expeditions to the Northwest and New Mexico.[1]
Historian Michael Snyder, anOklahoma State University professor andOsage Nation citizen, noted Williams's reputation declined as he aged. He wrote "Old Bill degenerated as he aged, becoming increasingly dirty, drunk, and dishonorable."[20] In one instance he's claimed to have killed 25 innocent Indians and he frequently stole horses fromSpanish missions during his expeditions.[18]
In November 1848,John C. Fremont hired Williams to guide his ill-fatedfourth expedition through theSouthern Rocky Mountains.[1] Fremont sought to find a railroad route through the Rockies along the38th parallel north. Williams warned Fremont against following his intended route through theLa Garita Mountains in winter, but Fremont proceeded with his 35 men and 150 mules. The expedition eventually became hopelessly mired in deep snow and 11 men and all but a few of the pack animals died.[21] Williams led a rescue party south towardsTaos, and the survivors of the expedition eventually managed to follow.[22]
In March, Williams and Dr. Benjamin Kern returned to the La Garita Mountains in hopes of finding more survivors. On March 14, 1849,Ute warriors killed Bill Williams and Dr. Kern in the mountains for trespassing onUte lands.[1]
"Old Bill" is portrayed in an 8-foot-tallbronze sculpture byB. R. Pettit, erected in 1980 in Bill Williams Monument Park inWilliams, Arizona, a town named after him.[23]Bill Williams Mountain and theBill Williams River in Arizona, andBill Williams Peak and theWilliams Mountains in Colorado are named for him.[1]
TheBill Williams Mountain Men of Williams, Arizona, founded in 1953, are named after him.[24]
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