William Sherley Williams, (sculpture).

William Sherley Williams, (sculpture).

Pettit, Bill R., sculptor.

William Sherley Williams, (sculpture).

Bill Williams, (sculpture).

1980. Dedicated April 26, 1980.

Digital Reference:

Figure: bronze; Base: concrete inset with small chunks of stone.

Figure: approx. 8 ft. x 34 in. x 24 in.; Base: approx. 7 x 38 x 37 in.

(On left side of shoulder stock of flintlock rifle:) Pettit/7/80 (On plaque on base, raised:) WILLIAM SHERLEY WILLIAMS/SCULPTURE BY B. R. PETTIT/"OLD BILL" WAS BORN JANUARY 3, 1787 IN NORTH CAROLINA. HE DIED MARCH 14, 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 THEIR QUEST OF FINE FURS, THESE/MASTER TRAPPERS SHOVED EVER WESTWARD IN THE RAW, NEW FRONTIER, BRAVING UNTAMED INDIANS,/GRISSLIES 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.

THE MOUNTAIN MEN SCOUTED/THE TRAILS, ESCORTED AND GUARDED EMIGRANT PARTIES AND SURVEYING EXPEDITIONS ACROSS THE GREAT/UNKNOWN REACHES OF THE UNEXPLORED WEST. OLD BILL FIRST VISITED THE PRESENT SITE OF WILLIAMS/IN ABOUT 1826. HE WAS SAID TO HAVE SPENT THE WINTER OF 1832-33 IN THIS AREA. IN 1954 A GROUP OF/WILLIAMS CITIZENS FORMED THE BILL WILLIAMS MOUNTAIN MEN ORGANIZATION TO PERPETUATE THE LORE,/MEMORY AND ROMANCE OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN OF OLD-IN PARTICULAR, OLD BILL WILLIAMS FOR WHOM A/TOWN, A MOUNTAIN, AND A RIVER WERE NAMED (On second plaque on base, raised:) THIS MONUMENT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF/(list of names)/MONUMENT DEDICATED APRIL 26 1880 signed

Standing figure of William Sherley Williams with shoulder-length hair and beard. He wears a fringed buckskin jacket, leather pants, a fur cap, and moccasins. He carries a powder horn and a leather pouch on proper left hip. Proper right hand holds the barrel of a flintlock rifle, the butt rests at his feet. Proper left hand rests on the proper right forearm. Figure is placed on a raised earth hillock.

Portrait male -- Williams, William Sherley -- Full length

Occupation -- Other -- Pioneer

Occupation -- Hunter -- Trapper

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Dress -- Accessory -- Hat

Outdoor Sculpture -- Arizona -- Williams

Administered by City of Williams, Administration, 113 South 1st Street, Williams, Arizona 86046

Located Monument Park, 820 West Bill Williams Avenue, Williams, Arizona

William Sherley Williams (1787-1849) was a mountaineer, guide and trapper and is generally credited with being the first American to explore Northern Arizona. A town, a mountain and a river were named after him. Nearby Arizona State Historical Marker Concrete inset with bronze plaque reads: BILL WILLIAMS MOUNTAIN/ELEVATION 9,264 FT./THIS MOUNTAIN WAS NAMED FOR/A COLORFUL MOUNTAINEER, GUIDE AND/TRAPPER WHO IS GENERALLY CREDITED/WITH BEING THE FIRST AMERICAN TO/EXPLORE NORTHERN ARIZONA-1830/OR EARLIER. WILLIAMS LIVED AT/DIFFERENT TIMES AMONG THE OSAGE/AND UTE INDIANS, AND EARLIER HAD/BEEN A BAPTIST CIRCUIT RIDER IN/MISSOURI. HE WAS KILLED BY INDIANS/IN 1849./ARIZONA DEVELOPMENT BOARD/1962

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Arizona survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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