in 1876, the first settlers in the area who were not native-american, were cattle and sheep ranchers of european descent. in 1881, the town's founding fathers named the settlement "williams" in honor of william sherley "old bill" williams a noted mountain man and frontiersman. although "old bill" never lived there, the settlers also named a river the bill williams river; and a mountain bill williams mountain after him. an 8-foot-tall bronze sculpture by b. r. pettit, was erected in 1980 in the bill williams monument park of williams. the town's population continued to grow and as such soon had its own post office.