Willard Pehall Bounds (1857-1916) was a historic U.S. Marshall in Idaho and blacksmith who was the father of Lillian Marie Disney.
History[]
Background[]
Willard Pehall Bounds was a blacksmith and Marshall in the town of Rainbow Ridge during the 19th century. He had a daughter named Lillian Marie Bounds. Willard eventually retired from marshal-work and became a president of the amoral Big Thunder Mining Company which dug up and stole gold from Big Thunder Mountain, upsetting its native spirits and causing disasters.
Appearances[]
Frontierland[]
A photo-op building in Disneyland's Frontierland was labelled as belonging to "Blacksmith & U.S. Marshall Willard P. Bounds". The U.S. Marshall's Office next to Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland would have the same signage.[1]
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad[]
Outside of the attraction is a framed notice signed by retired Marshall Willard P. Bounds, identifying him as a member of the Big Thunder Mining Company.
Trivia[]
- Willard, Barnabas T. Bullion and Henry Ravenswood are all characters who have been identified as president of the Big Thunder Mining Company. Bullion has his portrait hung up in Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad where Willard is also identified as president.
- Willard could be placed as having been president around/after 1888, due to a sign pointing to Grizzly Gulch in the version of the ride which identifies him as president.
- Bounds is not the only Disney family member referenced in Frontierland lore. Walt Disney's grandfather Kepple used to have advertisements for his farm business in the Magic Kingdom's Frontierland.