hope all you Hill hunters will indulge me while I give you a short Bio of my great grandmother's brother. I would like to find at least one of his descendants to compare notes with. Although much was written about him, nothing was said about a wife or children. Let me know if this rings a bell with anyone. Thanks, Maryjozy@aol.com In a book called "A Land Of Sunshine" Flagstaff and its Surroundings by George H Tinker, Published in 1887 there is a fairly detailed account of Walter J. Hill. It says: "Walter J. Hill.----In a frontier county, while accustomed to find on every hand evidences of health and prosperity, we seldom expect to discover culture, refinement and elegance. A ranchman's home would be about the last place where it would be looked for, yet a visitor to the residence of Walter J. Hill, at Volunteer Springs, will find himself surrounded by all of the luxuries that make life enjoyable to a man of education and taste." "Walter J. Hill, who is only 33 years of age, is a native of the Green Mountain State, having been born at Montpelier, in Washington County, Vermont in the year 1854. About the close of the war, when a small boy only eleven years old, he set out alone from New England and made his way to Texas, where he got employment on a cattle range and was one of the first that ever drove cattle from there to Kansas over the Chisam trail, which was no joke in those days with hostile Indians on every hand throughout the whole route. Later he was employed to drive a bunch of cattle from Texas to Nevada, which was a still more perilous journey. After remaining in Nevada for some little time, he started---working for wages---and drove stock across the Mojave Desert into Arizona, up to the very place where he is now located and owner of the property. This was in 1876, and he was then only 22 years of age. There he has remained since, built up the splendid place here described, and is to-day the largest individual owner of sheep in Arizona. The story of such a life is as romantic as anything ever read of in a border novel. It must have been full of danger and hair-breadth escapes, but not the the "bad Man" order whose business is fighting. It is simply the story of a plucky Vermont boy, who, by determination, endurance and honest hard work, has accumulated a fortune and finds himself surrounded with all of the comforts and many luxuries of life before he has reached the prime of his manhood." This book also describes Hill's luxurious (Tinker called it commodious) home and all its accompanying structures as well as giving details of his wool production. Voting Registers show that Walter Hill was still in Flagstaff in 1894. Walter J. Hill is mentioned several times in a book called "They Came To The Mountain" written by Platt Cline. He was the one who said Walter lost his fortune and went to California. With all that information I was unable to find out if he was married and to whom. I obtained a California Death Certificate for a Walter J. Hill who died November 1, 1918 at age 62 in San Diego County- File #48333. The certificate had mostly "unknown" on it, so no proof that it is the one I was looking for. No parents name and no wife. It did say this man was born in Vermont in 1856, was an Iron Worker at the time of his death and was a widower. He died from "Locomotor Ataxia" and malnutrition. A Fred K. Wood was the informant. Walter was buried at Greenwood, San Diego on November 5, 1918. Undertaker was University Undertaking Parlor in San Diego.