Photographs, correspondence, scrape books, published articles
and organizational flyers of the Bill Williams Mountain Men reenactment
group.
Collection Number:
AHS-ND 860
Language:
English
Repository:
Arizona Historical Society/Flagstaff Archives
PO Box 6022
Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6022
Phone: 928 523 5551
Fax: 928 774 1596
Email: ahsnad@infomagic.net
Biographical Note
The Bill Williams Mountain Men organization was started by a group of Williams, Arizona
professionals/businessmen who wanted to recapture the spirit of the early American
Southwest fur trade industry. The namesake of the organization, and the man that
Williams, Arizona, as well as a nearby volcanic cone and river were named after, was a
fur trapper named William Sherley Williams. Bill Williams was born January 3, 1787 in
Rutherford County, North Carolina. He moved to St. Louis, Missouri as a young man where
he worked in the fur trade industry and was an interpreter for army in its dealings with
the Osage Indians. As the fur trade industry moved west, Williams trapped in the area
north of Taos, New Mexico. He died March 14, 1849, killed by Ute Indians while camping
north of Taos, New Mexico.
The modern day Bill Williams Mountain Men reenact the lifestyle of the original fur
trappers by dressing in period clothing, taking horseback trips, and participating in
"rendezvous" held throughout the country.
Scope and Content Note
The collection is (1) linear foot in volume. Included are 131 photographs depicting
group activities; one film reel from the KOOL Television company; (2) folders of
scrapbook materials; and magazines and other published materials related to the
organization's activities. This collection would be of primary interest to researchers
studying the activities of historical reenactment groups.
Organization
3 Series: I. Photographs; II. Correspondence/Articles/Scrapbooks; III.
Publications
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner
of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her
transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and
hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for Northern Arizona University, its
officers, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person
asserting that he or she is an owner of copyright.
8 folders (5 inches). Photographs of Bill Williams Mountain Men activities and
also Thomas E. Ways 50th class reunion (1.2); including early photograph of
Methodist Church in Williams, Arizona.
Box-folder
1.1
Photographs (#1-32) of Bill Williams Mountain Men activities taken by
Curtis M. Whitaker and Thomas E. Way,
January 1961
Box-folder
1.2
Williams, Arizona 50th class reunion; Methodist Church, ca. 1919;
Williams, Arizona 7th grade class photo, 1922; Williams, Arizona High School
class photo and signatures (photocopy), 1927; 50th reunion in 1977 with, Miles
H. Cureton, Dr. Dermont W. Melick, Edward M Hoffmeyer, Doris Duffield (Smith),
Zella Hudson (Cox), and Stanton Carr,
1977
Box-folder
1.3
Photographs (#40-69) of Bill Williams Mountain Men activities taken by
either Curtis M. Whitaker or Robert Ziriax and Thomas E. Way. The subjects,
dressed as "Mountain Men," include: Hurley Wright, Durward Reed, Jerry Payne,
George McNelly, Jerry Duffield, Martin Flohr, Bill Lilly, John Girvin, Louis
Landry, Everett Coffee, Wayne Purcella, Denton Dean, and Thomas E. Way,
1955-1956
Box-folder
1.4
Bill Williams Mountain Men photographs (#70-92),
1954-1959
Box-folder
1.5
Bill Williams Mountain Men photographs (#93-106),
ca.
1960
Box-folder
1.6
Bill Williams Mountain Men photographs (#107-119). Including: John F.
Monroe, Fred Theroux, Hurley Wright, Paul Tissaw, Denton Dean, Bill Fillmore,
Everett Coffee, Louis Landry, Cecil Graham, Louie Peters, Bill Nixon, Gordon
McDowell and Thomas E. Way. Photographs are presumed to be from rendezvous
rides,
ca. 1954-1959
Box-folder
1.7
Bill Williams Mountain Men photographs (#120-131). Including: Ben
Fillmore, Bill Lilly, Louis Landry, Denton Dean, Jake January, Verne Carothers,
Fred Theroux, Paul Tissaw, Ray V. Stewart, Thurman Mayes, Rod Graves, and
Thomas E. Way,
ca. 1954-1961
3 folders. Scrapbooks of Bill Williams Mountain Men activities, including
correspondence between Stewart L. Udall and Thomas E. Way.
Box-folder
1.9
Scrapbook. Approximately (12) articles written about Bill Williams
Mountain Men activities (table of contents included); typed copy of essay
"Early Day Medical Practice in Williams, Arizona" by Dermont W. Melick, M.D.;
Dermont W. Melick obituary; letter from John F. Monroe to Tomas Way, April 13,
1959; letter from Secretary of the Interior, Stewart L. Udall, February 9,
1961; handwritten notes by Thomas E. Way (?); sign-up list and signatures of
participants in ride form Williams, Arizona to Washington, D.C.,
ca.
1960
Box-folder
1.10
Correspondence. Articles regarding Bill Williams Mountain Men
activities, including a typewritten essay "Dr. Melick and the Bill Williams
Mountain Men" by Thomas E. Way,
ca. 1950's
Box-folder
2.1
Articles regarding Bill Williams Mountain Men activities, including a
typewritten essay "The Beginning of the Bill Williams Mountain Men" by Thomas
E. Way,
ca. 1954-1987
4 folders. Publications. Bill Williams Mountain Men activities recounted in
magazine and newspaper articles.
Box-folder
2.2
Magazines including: National Geographic article with photo of Bill
Williams Mountain Men (p. 459), April 1961; Mountain Men, Arizona Rendezvous,
1955 (2 copies); Santa Fe Magazine, October 1960 and April 1954; Arizona Highways,
February 1961; Town Tatler, January 14, 1961; A Summary of Travel to Brand
Canyon, by Tomas E. Way, 1980; Scenic Southwest, Fall 1944; VFW, June/July
1992; A Map of the Heart of Washington District
of Columbia, 1961,
1944-1992 (not inclusive)
Box-folder
2.3
Magazines including: Arizona Highways, "Rendezvous: West from
Flagstaff", May 1985; Mountain Men, 1804-1956, vol.3, 1956 (2 copies);
Sportswear and Accessories, clothing catalogue, 1963-1964; Western Gateways,
Winter 1965,
ca. 1963-1985
Box-folder
2.4
Magazines including: Arizona Mountain Men, January 1961; Bill Williams
Mountain Men, Labor Day Rodeo, 1973 program; 1956 Jaycee World's Championship
Rodeo: Celebrating Phoenix' Diamond Jubilee, souvenir program; World
Championship Rodeo, program, 1955; Bill Williams Mountain Men, Labor Day Rodeo,
1985 program; Bill Williams Mountain Men, Labor Day Rodeo, 1978 program;
"1804-1954 Mountain Men, Arizona Rendezvous" program (2 copies, one is
autographed),
1956-1985
Box-folder
2.5
Bill Williams Mountain Men related newspaper articles,
1960-1991
