Williams news., 1903-02-28
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
 OUTLOOK FOR WILLIAMS
Showing the Necessary Hardships Undergone by the Early Settlers and the MasterfuI
 Development of Our Resources

After taking a look at Williams
 of today, the average visitor goe'
 away with the impression that the
 town has bright future in store
 Such is undoubtedly the case, but
 the Williams of today, and the
 Williams of a few years since, are
 as different as it were possible tc
 be. So, let us glance backward and
 review the varied scenes as they re- cur to us through the kaleidoscope of memory:-
 Not so many years ago-in fact, there are yet people living here who we'll remember it-the valley at the base of Bill Williams lofty dome, where the little city of Will Hams now costly nestles, was cov- cred with a luxuriant growth of wild grass and majestic pines. The hardy cattlemen ventured hither with their herds and reared their families, enduring bravely the vii cisitudes of the wild, free life, bat tling with, occasionally, and ulti- mately overcoming the crafty red man, who attempted to drive them from off their hunting grounds. Later on came the railroad, the precursor of empires. With it's advent came other settlers and the employees of the line. who began to erect for themselves homes. Eas- tern capital, seeking investment, decided upon the erection of lum- Der mills, thus inducing people to make their homes here, where they could find employment at good wages. Stores were opened up and other business houses rapidly sprang into existence. The rail- road headquarters were located here, and the towns future ap- peared bright, indeed. Schools and churches were soon erected, and the population enjoyed nearly all the privileges of their eastern breth- ren, besides having the joyous op- portunity of living near to Natures heart and inhaling her pure and sweet-scented breath. Ventursome spirits, roaming over the plateau to the northward, made the discovery of vast fields of copper ore. Others, after visit to the great and then almost unknown Grand Canyon, dreamed of the day when a rail- road should carry tourists to it's rim from all parts of the world.
 About this time the town received what, by many, was pronounced it's death blow. The railroad company decided, for certain reasons, to re- move the division point. About this time, also, the town suffered another severe blow by the burn ing of the large box factory estab- lished here by the Saginaw (now Saginaw and Manistee) Lumber company.
 Did the town crumble to dust? Did the grass grow in the streets? No! Her business men were built of metal that knew no defeat. h. ducements were held out to the lumber company to rebuild, and this was done, with the result that today we. have one of the best equipped saw mills. and box fac tories in the southwest.
 Through the untiring efforts of the immortal Buckley" O'Neill the attention of eastern capital was brought to the mines in the vicin- ity, and the practicability of a rail road fo1 tourist travel and for haul ing out the ores, duly set forth. A was organized in the east and work on the mines begun. A smelter was erected at Williams; a railroad started building to the Canyon, tapping the mines en route. The promoters were laughed at; some claimed that the mines were