American frontiersman (1787?1849)
"Old Bill" Williams
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Born
| (
1787-01-03
)
January 3, 1787
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Died
| March 14, 1849
(1849-03-14)
(aged 62)
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Cause of death
| Murdered by
Ute warriors
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Nationality
| American
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Occupation(s)
| Mountain man, trapper, guide, interpreter
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Spouse
|
A-Ci'n-Ga
(
m.
1813; died 1825)
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Children
| 2
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Parents
| - Joseph Williams (father)
- Sarah (Musick) Williams (mother)
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Relatives
| John Allen Mathews
(son-in-law)
[a]
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William Sherley "Old Bill" Williams
(January 3, 1787 ? March 14, 1849) was a noted
mountain man
and
frontiersman
, known as
Lone 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 the
Osage Nation
, having two children who both married
John Allen Mathews
.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Williams was born on January 3, 1787, on Horse Creek, a branch of the
Pacolet River
, under Skyuka Mountain in
Polk County, North Carolina
, into a
Welsh
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 the
Continental 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 to
St. Louis
, then part of
Spanish Louisiana
.
He learned reading, writing, and math from his parents, and received at least one year of formal schooling.
As a child, he liked to explore and learned to trap animals for their furs, and found he had a gift for languages.
At seventeen he left home to be a travelling
Baptist
preacher and after seven years switched to
fur trapping
.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
Williams was a master
fur 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.
Life among the Osage
[
edit
]
During the 1810s and 1820s, he lived with the
Osage
Indians in Missouri. While residing with the Osage people he became fluent in their language, created an
Osage language
dictionary, and helped translate the
Bible
into Osage.
He also worked for the United States as an Indian agent starting around 1813.
In 1821, he assisted in negotiations between the Cherokee and Osage to end a war that had broken out.
He was called "Red-Headed Shooter" by the Osage and left after the death of his wife in 1825.
Marriage and children
[
edit
]
Williams married A-Ci'n-Ga, a full-blood
Osage
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 parents
horses
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 to
boarding school
in
Kentucky
where they met
John Allen Mathews
.
Mary Ann married Mathews in the mid-1830s and after her death in 1843, Mathews married her sister Sara.
Williams great-grandson thru Sara is
John Joseph Mathews
.
Travels West
[
edit
]
In 1824 he was issued a license to trade with the
Kickapoo tribe
.
From 1825 to 1826 he served as part of a survey of the
Santa Fe Trail
.
[1]
He was hired by the survey's Commissioners
George C. Sibley
,
Benjamin Harrison Reeves
, and
Pierre Menard
, alongside
Joseph R. Walker
and
Joseph C. Brown
, to be part of a survey of the trail. They followed a route from
Fort Osage
to
Santa Fe
.
During the expedition he was an interpreter for a treaty with the Osage signed on August 10, 1825;
he also witnessed a treaty with the
Kaw people
on August 16, 1825.
Biographer Alpheus Hoyt Favour notes that it is hard to distinguish myth from fact between the years of 1825 and 1841 in Williams life.
He definitely traveled the
Southwestern 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 a
Ute
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 some
Ute people
.
In the fall of 1832,
Albert Pike
created a pen sketch of Williams while the two were traveling together.
In 1833-1834, he accompanied
Joseph R. Walker
on his expedition to
California
.
[1]
Other members of the expedition included
Benjamin Bonneville
,
Joseph Meek
,
Alexis Godey
,
Antoine Janis
,
William Craig
,
George Nidever
, and
Zenas Leonard
.
Historian Michael Snyder noted that during this expedition he showed "utter disregard" for the lives of Indians.
In the fall of 1840, he went trapping with
Kit Carson
and other trappers near the
Green River
.
He spent 1841 and 1843 on expeditions to the Northwest and New Mexico.
[1]
Historian Michael Snyder, an
Oklahoma State University
professor and
Osage Nation
citizen, noted Williams's reputation declined as he aged. He wrote "Old Bill degenerated as he aged, becoming increasingly dirty, drunk, and dishonorable."
In one instance he's claimed to have killed 25 innocent Indians and he frequently stole horses from
Spanish
missions during his expeditions.
Fremont's Fourth Expedition and death
[
edit
]
In November 1848,
John C. Fremont
hired Williams to guide his ill-fated
fourth expedition
through the
Southern Rocky Mountains
.
[1]
Fremont sought to find a railroad route through the Rockies along the
38th parallel north
. Williams warned Fremont against following his intended route through the
La 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 towards
Taos
, 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
murdered Bill Williams and Dr. Kern in the mountains by for trespassing on
Ute lands
.
[1]
Honors
[
edit
]
"Old Bill" is portrayed in an 8-foot-tall
bronze
sculpture by
B. R. Pettit
, erected in 1980 in Bill Williams Monument Park in
Williams, Arizona
, a town named after him.
[23]
Bill Williams Mountain
and the
Bill Williams River
in Arizona, and
Bill Williams Peak
and the
Williams Mountains
in Colorado are named for him.
[1]
The
Bill Williams Mountain Men of Williams, Arizona
, founded in 1953, are named after him.
[24]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Mathews married both of Williams' daughters.
- ^
Historian Michael Snyder notes this is similar to a traditional Osage name for a third daughter.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Meehan, James (December 2021).
"Williams, William Sherley"
.
ncpedia.org
.
NCPedia
. Retrieved
3 December
2023
.
- ^
Richmond, Patricia Joy (Summer 1987).
"Trail to Disaster: John C. Fremont's Fourth Exhibition into the San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado"
(PDF)
. Ayer y Hoy en Taos. Taos County Historical Society
. Retrieved
December 21,
2023
.
- ^
"Williams, William Sherley"
.
encyclopedia.com
.
The Columbia Encyclopedia
. November 16, 2023
. Retrieved
3 December
2023
.
- ^
Howell, Wendy (January 8, 2019).
"Out of the past: Bill Williams and the naming of a town"
.
Williams News
. Retrieved
3 December
2023
.
- ^
"Old Bill' lives on: Bill Williams Mountain men"
.
Williams News
. April 26, 2009. Archived from
the original
on December 2, 2010
. Retrieved
3 December
2023
.
Works cited
[
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]
External links
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Other
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