Williams news., 1909-08-21

the trall. They set to work and continued their labors for some five
 years. At the end of this period some of the original members of the
 party had become wearied with the strenuous life, and others, in ac- cordance with the way of the west,
 had shuffled off in one way or an- other. Ralph Cameron, however.
 was still at work on the trail, as was one of the other Cameron boys and lone companion. But in the end his two associates became weary of the tedium and confinement of the cliff sides, and the future states
 man bought their shares and con- tinued the work.
 Not long after this Cameron got
 his roadway in working order and
 brought out some bags of ore. h. cidently, he sold the despised cop
 per mine for good round sum. and
 matters were going we'll on a ranch
 he had established near by. In
 Williams, the nearest town to his holdings, he had established head quarters, and was becoming a man of affairs in that mountain hamlet
 But all this time work was pro- gressing on the trail, which was being gradually made better. x X k *
 When the trail was completed and Ralph Cameron had become a man of affairs in his community, he aroused more or less local pride and business ambition in the village of Williams, and a bonus of $2O,OOO was subscribed toward the building of a railroad out to the rim of the canyon. Eventually some one was found who would undertake the task, and the work was begun. The Santa Fe furnished for this con- struction secondhand rails that had been taken off the main line, and took mortgage on the new road as security for the purchase price. The building became em- barrassed, and the Santa Fe took over the line. ,-.
 "When the great trunk line found it had line to the very rim of the Grand Canyon it's directors were overioyed, and began to look about for methods of improving their property. Their first discovery was that they were hauling tourists by the hundred to the canyon rim and that there all these were paying fee to private individual, Ralph Cameron, for the real journey into the depths of the great chasm. This trail as tourist traffic proposition seemed to be worth as much as their railroad, and they thought it would be better if they owned both. They first attempted to have the franchise of the builder of the trail revoked, but Cameron got himself elected county supervisor and ex tended his own franchise. They took him into the courts, and he succeeded in winning enough of the suits to retain possession of the trail for five years. They carried the matter to the department of the interior and later to the forest ser vice in attempts to get Cameron's revoked. But the plucky | builder of the trail was always on hand with an able defense, and | usually won out.
 Finally the time of his franchise was about to expire and his county had not the authority to extend it for him. He went to the legisla- .ure of the territory and had bill introduced that would give the county that privilege. The bill passed, but was vetoed by the gov ernor. All of which gave the issue prominence throughout the terri .ory and called the attention of the entire commonwealth to the fact hat this man was fighting single handed the great corporation tooth and toe nail. Cameron marshaled his forces and passed the bill over