Background
Flake was born in North Carolina. In 1850, his father was killed while examining a colony site in California.
Flake was born in North Carolina. In 1850, his father was killed while examining a colony site in California.
In 1858, William Flake married Lucy Hannah White and a year later started a cattle ranch in Beaver, Utah. Flake was called by Church leaders to enter into a plural marriage. William Flake and Prudence Kartchner were married in 1868.
William left with a wagon train and herds of cattle for the Little Colorado River region of Arizona and arrived in January 1878.
Despite much hardship after spending 13 months on the trail and a winter living in stables and wagons, the settlement survived. In the fall of 1878, Erastus Snow, an Latter- Day Saints (Mormons) Apostle, visited and joined with Flake naming the town Snowflake: "Snow for me and Flake for you." Flake became a rancher and prominent cattleman, noted for his generosity and assistance to his neighbors.
In 1883, Flake was imprisoned in the Yuma Territorial Prison for a short time for unlawful plural marriage, a common charge used to prosecute Latter- Day Saints (Mormons) men under the Edmunds Acting. He replied, "Neither.
In 1959, Flake was posthumously nominated and then inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in the Hall of Great Westerners for his contributions as a colonizer and cattleman.
When he died, the flag at the Arizona State Capitol was flown at half staff in honor of his contribution to the settlement of the state.