One day in 1888, coming from his saloon where he had been drinking heavily, Grinnell began to abuse his wife, who ran from him to a nearby field where several men were plowing. Too drunk to pursue her on foot, he mounted his horse and followed her to the field where, in an attempt to strike her with the butt of his pistol, he fell from his horse, carrying his wife down with him. The two struggled for several minutes, none of the bystanders daring to interfere for fear of his gun. Suddenly Grinnell relaxed and lay quiet. He was in the habit of wearing around his neck a long leather watch thong with a sliding knot, and in the struggle his wife had clung to this thong and strangled him. After ascertaining that Grinnell was dead one of the onlookers remarked, "Let's go get a drink," and they all retired to his saloon, leaving the body as it was. Later a coroner's jury at Williston absolved the woman of all blame in the death of her husband with the unique verdict that Grinnell "... came to his death through an act of Almighty God, by the hand of His agent, Josephine Grinnell." With the coming of the railroad Williston was moved to higher ground farther W. It was only a tent colony and a few log cabins when the rails were laid into it in 1887, and it was said to have had a saloon on each corner of its one business block, with seven or eight others between. The late Joseph Stroud, pioneer Williston merchant, related that on the occasion of his first visit to the new town he was attracted by a large crowd of men on the street, engaged in rolling a man over a barrel. Inquiring of a bystander as to the cause of the man's accident, he was informed that the victim had taken a drink of water by mistake. By 1900 a steady influx of homesteaders into the Williston area had begun, and by 1910 the most desirable lands in the surrounding territory had been settled. Williston's population of 5,000, which has fluctuated little in the last 20 years, was attained by 1915. An important factor in the rapid growth of the city was the location here of the division headquarters of the G. N. Ry. The roundhouse, car repair shop, and huge ice house require the services of a large force of men. The railroad stockyards E. of the city accommodate 93 carloads of livestock, and have loading equipment for 23 cars; many trainloads, of western sheep and cattle are fed in transit annually. On several occasions a million bushels of grain have been handled at Williston in a year. The city is an important primary turkey market, and thousands of birds are shipped to holiday markets each year.