The first white settler in the vicinity was Robert Matthews, employed by the post traders at Fort Buford to cut hay for the cavalry horses. In the 1870's he established himself some distance below the present town, near where Stony Creek flows into the Little Muddy. Here he kept a stock of goods for sale, and often hired crews of woodcutters to supply the demand for fuel for the steamboats. A post office known as Little Muddy was established on his ranch. Although Matthews was the first permanent settler in the immediate Williston area, the first white man to settle in Williams County outside a trading or military post was George Grinnell. Born in Maryland, he served as a spy for Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Army of the Potomac, was honorably discharged, and in 1865 accompanied a military wagon train from Fort Snelling, Minn., to Fort Berthold. The next year found him established as a "woodhawk", furnishing fuel to the steamboats, near the mouth of Dry Fork Creek, where he operated a sawmill until advised that he was on Government property. Part of each year he hunted along the Missouri, and for a time in 1875 was with a party of gold seekers in the Musselshell country of Montana. It was common practice of the period for hunters, traders, or trappers to select a "woman of convenience" from among the Indians. In many instances these women were mistreated and even held in contempt by the very men who took them from their tribes. Grinnell was one of these men. In his earlier days along the Missouri he lived with a pure-blooded Indian woman, later discarding her for an educated and talented half-breed, Josephine Manuri. One bitter cold winter day Josephine's small son had wandered from the house and been lost. Several men were ready to search for the youngster but Grinnell, wishing to show his contempt for his wife, threatened to kill the first man to go after him. In the group was George Newton, buffalo hunter and pioneer Williston businessman, who replied, "Then you've got me to kill," and went out and brought the child back to his mother.