In 1978, a large rock in the Spokane River was named Willie Willey Rock. He said he’s heard stories of Willey lifting up trucks while their owners changed flat tires and of talking despondent businessmen out of jumping off the Monroe Street Bridge. No one is a bigger fan of Willey than Spokane Valley resident, 'Maras'. Known across the country as “Spokane County’s Wild Man” this eccentric individual’s death was reported as far away as Ottawa, Canada.īefore death, he was usually portrayed as a curiosity, a nonconformist or a bum. On May 13th, 1956 Willey died in a car accident at the age of 72. Willey was never able to regain ownership. They lived out of his camper while Willey went back to work attempting to recover the land he once owned. “No matter where I go, the cops give me a rough time.” “I am back in Spokane because this place is no worse than any other place,” Willey told reporters in 1951, after 10 years of travels. He returned to Spokane in 1951, having added a few more pets to his entourage. Then in 1946, after turning his truck into a camper, he went out on the road again, this time with his pets: one coyote, one bull snake, two dogs, five skunks, six white rats, and twelve guinea pigs. In Portland, it was for trying to convince a young woman to disrobe. In Chicago, they threw him in jail for wearing only shorts. Willey was not met with open arms in many of the cities he visited. His plan was to sell photographs of himself along the way and at the fair. In 1933 Willey decided to get out of Spokane for a time and travel across the country to the World’s Fair in Chicago. The new owner took issue with this and continually contacted the police in an effort to remove Willey from the land. Willey refused to leave the land he believed was rightfully his. Once, after serving some jail time, he returned home to find his property had been sold to another owner.
Spokane area newspapers had began paying special attention to Willey because of his appearances in court wearing only khaki shorts and a long beard. “Anything that grew out of the ground, he could make food out of it,” said Adding a green sun visor in the summer and rubber boots in the winter. Whatever the reason, at a certain point he decided he only wanted to wear shorts.
Some say it was a dispute with his church. There are many stories about why Willie stopped dressing conventionally. Short on clothes but long on beards and intrigue, Willie Willey and his 'shorts only' style made an impression on twentieth century Spokane.
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